Newsletter 20.09.2025

Last week at GISA was filled with exciting events, special visits, and a wonderful sense of community spirit!

Football Meets Finance – Sports & Financial Literacy

On Tuesday, September 16, the special event “Football Meets Finance” took place for the second time, bringing together sports and financial education in a unique way. Thirty girls from diverse backgrounds came together not only to train their football skills with legendary coach Petra Landers and her Faces of Football team but also to gain valuable knowledge about managing money through engaging financial literacy workshops led by the Sparkassen Foundation.

Participants included girls from the NGOs Chance for Children and Universal Wonderful Street Academy (UWSA) as well as GISA students. A special highlight was the visit from representatives of the Ghana Football Association, whose presence gave the young players extra motivation and recognition.

The event concluded with a thrilling mini-tournament, where the girls competed with great enthusiasm and team spirit. Special thanks go to David Detzler, a dedicated parent, and Collins Osita Onyisi, the husband of one of our teachers, who volunteered as referees and ensured fair play throughout the matches.

Thanks to photographer Evgeny Makarov, everyone can look forward to professional photos capturing the unforgettable moments of this day.

This event was a shining example of successful collaboration: GISA, Faces of Football, the Sparkassen Foundation, and the partner NGOs worked hand in hand to create a day full of opportunities, new friendships, and meaningful experiences for the girls.

We are especially grateful to the Sparkassen Foundation, whose generous support made this project possible and sent a strong message for equal opportunities and empowerment.

A Journey Into the Past – and an Important Message

On Wednesday, GISA welcomed back Dr. Dr. Martin Keweloh and his brother Thomas Keweloh, who both attended the former Ramseyer Memorial School – one of GISA’s predecessor schools – from 1974 to 1980.

With old photographs and entertaining anecdotes, they took the Grade 7/8 students on a journey back to the 1970s, showing how school life, learning, and the community have changed over the decades.

Dr. Dr. Martin Keweloh is now a renowned oral and maxillofacial surgeon representing the German professional society on a European level.
Thomas Keweloh serves as Chief Physician of Internal Medicine in Soest, Germany, leading a large team of doctors.

To close the visit, Dr. Dr. Martin Keweloh gave an impactful prevention talk about smoking, sharing clear facts and striking images to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco use.
A heartfelt thank you to both Martin and Thomas for this inspiring visit that connected the school’s past with valuable impulses for our students’ future!

First Aid Training for Secondary Students

Also on Wednesday, our secondary students participated in a special first aid training session. Under the professional guidance of Miriam Böhme, a dedicated parent and pediatrician, they practiced essential skills such as the recovery position, CPR, basic emergency care, and bandaging techniques.

This hands-on training was not only exciting but also an invaluable experience that could help save lives in an emergency.

New Delicacies at the Marketplace

On Thursday, Helen Richards made her debut at the GISA marketplace in the Swiss Club. Known to many parents from various local markets as a specialist in baked goods and fermented products, she will now be joining our marketplace every Thursday morning.
[Placeholder for photo and catalog link]

The parent groups have already shared the invitation link to the Swiss Club Coffee Chat, which takes place every Monday and Thursday during drop-off time. It’s a great opportunity for parents to meet, chat, network, and enjoy coffee together. Even if you don’t drink coffee, you’re very welcome to join and organize alternative beverages with other parents.

Esi Djentuh will continue to run the marketplace on Mondays and Thursdays and, like Helen, is happy to receive pre-orders (+233241899184). On Mondays, her sister Gifty will also join, taking over the informal legacy of Jeremiah with her own baking talents. Gifty’s catalog is currently in progress and will be shared soon.

Cheering for Emil Agyekum – A Moment of Pride

On Friday, Grades 5–8 turned the school into a mini stadium as they gathered to cheer on our former student Emil Nana Kwame Agyekum during the 400-meter hurdles final.

Emil attended the former RMS Swiss School, now GISA, from 2004 to 2006.
We are incredibly proud to follow his athletic journey and to see the amazing accomplishments of our alumni.
Congratulations, Emil – your GISA family is cheering for you! 🎉🏃‍♂️💪

Successful Fire Drill Practice

During Friday’s fire drill, everyone—students and staff—responded immediately and quickly gathered in an orderly manner at the designated spot on the basketball court. The drill went smoothly and provided an opportunity to practice the proper procedures, ensuring that everyone knows how to act safely in the event of a fire or other emergency. 

Excellence Scholarship Program – Applications Now Open

Our brand-new Excellence Scholarship Program is now open for applications. We are searching for the brightest young minds in Accra – a big step towards equal educational opportunities. Applications are open until October 15.

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day

On Monday, September 22, 2025, the school will remain closed in observance of Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day (Founder's Day), as confirmed by an official press release from the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior.

German beginners’ course

Starting Tuesday, September 23, we will offer a German beginners’ course for all members of the GISA community. The course will take place every Tuesday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Swiss Club and will be led by our experienced DaF teacher Denise Schoechert. Participation is free of charge, with only learning materials to be purchased individually.

This is a wonderful opportunity to take your first steps in learning German – together, with fun and in a supportive environment!

Kindergarten and nursery

 In the nursery, both new and familiar children are growing closer together, and the sense of community within the group is becoming much stronger. 🌈

In a sensory box filled with colorful glass stones, the children were able to engage their senses, explore different materials, and practice their fine motor skills.

🎨 A color experiment using finger paints inside a sealed freezer bag allowed the children to discover and mix colors while expressing their creativity. 🤗 This week was all about the joy of shared experiences and discoveries. 

This week, we started our new theme, “My Body” 👦👧.
During circle time, we learned and practiced how to point to and name different parts of the body 👂👃🖐️👀, supporting language development, vocabulary building, and self-confidence.

During learning time, the children worked in small groups to build towers with LEGO and wooden blocks 🧱. This activity focused on perseverance, concentration, and teamwork, while also strengthening fine motor skills, problem-solving abilities, and cooperation.

The children had the exciting opportunity to watch a football match ⚽ as spectators, showing great enthusiasm and interest. This experience fostered attention, understanding of rules, and a strong sense of community.

We also explored different musical instruments 🎶🥁🎺 and listened carefully to their sounds. The children discovered how uniquely each instrument can sound, enhancing their auditory perception, musical understanding, and concentration.

To match our theme, “My Body,” the children created arts and crafts ✂️🖍️, learning through play to explore and understand their own bodies while developing creativity, fine motor skills, and body awareness.

During free play and active games such as Fire, Water, Storm 🌊🔥🌪️, My Right Seat Is Empty, and Chinese Whispers 📢, the children experienced the joy of playing and learning together, strengthening social skills, language, and movement.

We also practiced a fire drill 🚨. The children learned how to behave calmly, orderly, and as a group in case of an emergency, building safety awareness, self-control, and a sense of responsibility.

A very special highlight this week was celebrating birthdays 🎂🥳:
On Monday, we celebrated Svea from the nursery, and on Friday, Jasper from the Shark Group. Happy Birthday! 🎉

We are excited to continue exploring our “My Body” theme in the coming weeks and look forward to many more exciting discoveries with the children 🌈.

Primary School

This week, the children in Grade 1/2 explored different emotions in their ethics class. They created their own "Feelings Memory" game and played it with great enthusiasm. In addition, many creative stories were written and recorded on the iPad. The themes ranged from witches on farms and exciting football matches to dogs and cats, and even an unusual encounter in a cemetery.

In mathematics, the focus continues to be on strengthening number sense to build a solid foundation for further learning.

In this week's English lessons, we continued our phonics journey, focusing on vowel sounds and the alphabet. Specifically, we explored the /sh/and /th/ sounds. We wrapped up with a fun library lesson on Jolly Phonics, where the students enjoyed reading and exploring books. 

A great way to end the week! 📚

This week, in class 3/4 German class started the new unit “How do I write a letter?”. The topic was introduced with a short story from the book Yours Sincerely, Giraffe, which sparked interest. Afterwards, the structure of a letter was explored: sender, recipient, date, greeting, body text, and closing. In the next lessons, students will write their own letters and put what they have learned into practice.

This week in English, we explored another wonderful Roald Dahl book, Charlie, and the Chocolate Factory. The class listened to the audiobook and discussed how Roald Dahl used adjectives to describe the characters and setting.

We also worked on cutting out characters for our posters and learned some key vocabulary.
Take some time to ask your child to share their thoughts and favourite parts of the book — they’ll love telling you all about it! 🍫📚✨

This week, things got really hands-on: our young fashion designers picked up needle and thread for the very first time. With great concentration and growing confidence, they began by marking their practice patterns on the fabric with tailor’s chalk before carefully cutting out the pieces.

Next came the real challenge: sewing the pieces together! It took a lot of focus to keep the right spacing and follow the correct sewing direction – not nearly as easy as it looks.

With patience and practice, the students managed to connect their first fabric pieces step by step. By the end of the day, everyone was proud of their creations – some made small bags, others crafted little pillows. Now, the excitement for the next steps in the project is growing, stitch by stitch.

Secondary school

In German class, Grade 5 worked with several interactive spelling exercises this week, which went really well. In biology, we explored the classification of animals, while in math we started learning about the associative and commutative laws.

In history, our time travel continued into the Neolithic Age, focusing on hunters and gatherers and the adaptability of people living in that era. A special highlight on Wednesday was the first aid course: it was not only very informative but also a lot of fun for the students.

 This week brought many exciting moments and new learning experiences for our Grade 6 class.

Together with Grade 5, the students took part in a first aid course. Everyone showed great interest, had lots of fun, and learned a great deal with the help of the wonderful instructors.

In addition, the first German assignments and tests were successfully completed – an important milestone that required a lot of focus and effort. In German class, the focus was on writing a “prompt word story”: the children practiced creating an exciting, cohesive story using a set of given words.

In history, Grade 6 began their journey back to the Stone Age, gaining initial insights into what life was like for people during this period.

In ethics class, we explored the topic of friendship, focusing on the ten virtues of a good friendship. This wasn’t just a theoretical discussion – students also shared and reflected on their own experiences.

Things got especially creative during our comic project, which we worked on together with Grade 5. First, the students completed their partner comics, and then they designed their own comics, with a particular focus on expressing emotions through facial expressions.

All in all, it was a varied and inspiring week for Grade 6, filled with joy in learning, new experiences, and lots of enthusiasm.

n German class 7/8 , the weekly schedule focused on “discussing and arguing.” This led to lively discussions on current topics – and it became clear how important it is to listen to others and to justify one's own opinions well.

Mathematics was also challenging: the 8th grade worked on factoring terms – an important foundation for later calculations with equations. At the same time, the 7th grade practiced adding and subtracting variables – an important step on the way to confidently handling algebraic expressions.

In history class, the students explored the life and work of Martin Luther.

A special highlight took place on Wednesday:  In the morning, we were visited by a former student who attended our school over 50 years ago. In a very personal conversation, he not only shared exciting impressions from his school days with us, but also talked about the important topic of addiction prevention, especially the dangers of smoking. His experiences and insights gave many of us food for thought.

On the same day, both classes had the opportunity to take part in a first aid course. The students not only learned how to respond correctly in emergency situations, but also had the chance to practice their skills – whether it was applying bandages or placing someone in the recovery position.

Everyone also showed great commitment in physical education class: they trained at various stations on the topics of fitness and performance. 

 📅 Dates & Outlook

Monday, 22.09.2025
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day (Founder´s Day)
– no classes

🗓 Tuesday, 30.09.2025, 6:00 pm
Annual General Assembly (AGM)

📘 Thursday, 02.10.2025
Pedagogical Day – no classes

🇩🇪 Friday, 03.10.2025
German Unity Day – no classes

🍂 Monday, 06.10. – Friday, 10.10.2025
Autumn Break

📢 Wednesday, 15.10.2025 – Save the Date!
Children’s Rights Walk in Jamestown in support of the NGO Universal Wonderful Street Academy
➡ Participation only when accompanied by at least one parent
➡ The school will organize a bus for the joint trip
More information to follow.

🗣 Saturday, 18.10.2025
"130 Million – German Connects" – Day of the German Language on the GISA campus, together with numerous German-speaking institutions

🕯 Thursday, 13.11.2025
St. Martin Lantern Walk

📖 Friday, 21.11.2025
Reading Day & Maths Night

🎄 Saturday, 29.11.2025
Christmas Market

🎅 Thursday, 04.12.2025
Visit from St. Nicholas