English - German Swiss International School

GIST SNewsletter
of GSIS
No. 37 February 2009
Dear School Community
GSIS Idol is coming up later this week, and again our
students will be showcasing an impressive range of
talent. We hope many of you will join us in the IB Hall on
Friday to enjoy the lively and entertaining show and to
support the students’ efforts to raise funds for refugee
children. As a school we are committed to encouraging
and fostering the talents of our pupils. As teachers, we
expose them to scientific, literary, aesthetic and athletic
activities, and we hope that, in one way or another, we
spark the interest(s) that will make our students stand
out as special and unique.
We know, of course, that school, important as it is in the
life of children and adolescents, is not the only influence
in their lives. Family, friends, peers and instructors
outside the school all play a very important role in helping
young people grow into independent, self-directed and
responsible citizens.
As parents and teachers, we know that we have fulfilled
our deepest mission when we see our children and
students take steps on their own, full of confidence and
prepared to take risks. Our aim must be to make them
independent, and we are successful to the measure that
our children and students do not need us any more.
In this sense, we take encouragement and pride from
students who show initiative and demonstrate that
they can do things on their own: put on their own art
exhibitions as did Tiffany and Christina Zau and Angela
Huang recently, or produce their own publications, as did
David Pickerell. We salute them for their courage and
their determination. We applaud them for their generosity
when they donate the proceeds of their work to benefit
the needy, and we are grateful for the privilege of helping
so many promising students discover and develop their
talent.
With warm regards
Dr. Jens-Peter Green
Principal
David Pickerell
Tiffany Zau
Angela Huang
What’s Inside?
Christina Zau
News Round-up 2-5
Departments 6
Features 7-8
Personnel Matters 9
Diary Dates 9
1

News Roundup
Cambodian Teacher Training Project
With the support of GSIS I was able to contribute to educational development in Cambodia
through the Cambodia Teacher Training Project. This initiative aims to provide support
and build capacity within the Teacher Training Centre in the Kandal province. The International
Baccalaureate Office and UNESCO sponsor the project jointly. Novice Khmer teachers observe
you while you model a variety of teaching strategies and methodologies such as collaborative
learning, questioning techniques, and instructional methods. All resources used within the
lessons were to be locally produced, not commercially acquired and used in a constructive manner. Passive
learning was strongly discouraged.
The lessons were conducted at four different schools, the conditions of which
were in stark contrast to what we have here at GSIS. Located in rural settings, the
schools were in low rise buildings with a dirt playground. The classrooms were
equipped with long wooden tables and chairs. There were wooden shutters on
the windows but no glass. There is no power, lights, paper or even a fan, in 90%
humidity and 34-degree heat. The concrete floors have no coverings, which make
the classrooms extremely dusty. The teaching resources were minimal, restricted
to four paperback textbooks for each grade level. One textbook for Khmer language,
Mathematics, Science and Social Studies shared between 100 children.
The experience was very rewarding and the student teachers appreciated the
opportunity to observe how other teachers taught around the world. It was a
wonderful example of how we can make a difference by sharing our experiences.
People connecting to people, really does build capacity and support positive
change. It reinforced my belief that education is the prime mover in improving
lives and building a better future.
English language education is not widely accessible in Cambodia and in future
years the project hopes to develop this further for Khmer teachers and its children.
I thank GSIS for allowing me the time to facilitate this service and the Khmer people for their joy in learning.
Connie Kenny, Deputy Head of English Primary
TED - Talks you really should see!
Angie Nehmzow and I would like to take a few seconds of your time to introduce
you to TED.
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It is an annual conference in the
USA that brings together inspirational speakers who share their ideas, experiences
and dreams. Over four days, fifty speakers each give an 18-minute talk, and in addition
there are shorter performances of music, comedy and dance. We believe these talks
are of special significance to anyone who has an involvement or an interest in education.
We also believe that these talks are great for families to share and will really stimulate
debate in the family home!
The speakers are exceptional people who are invited to share their knowledge. They come from a multitude of different
backgrounds, cultures, and areas of expertise. The scope of the talks goes beyond the three themes mentioned above
to cover science, business, the arts, philosophy and many other topics of great relevance to our world today. The aim
is to encourage communication of ideas and interaction between people from all fields and cultures.
Continued on page 3
2

News Roundup
Sample TED Talks
Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight
Jill Bolte relates the personal
experience of her stroke from
an unusual viewpoint. As a brain
researcher, with a scientific
background in mental disorders, she describes with
wit and candour the singular occurrence of studying
her own brain, as her faculties shut down one by one.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_
taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
Jonathan Harris: The Web’s secret stories
An astonishing blend of art and
computing is used to analyse
“feelings” gathered live from the
Internet
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_
harris_tells_the_web_s_secret_stories.html
Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with
the best stats you’ve ever seen
Doctor and researcher Hans Rosling
presents statistics with clarity
and urgency, to show that popular
opinion on third-world countries is
misconstrued. Aesthetically-pleasing animated data
support his convincing and optimistic arguments,
that there is an abundance of data that shows trends
of improvement for more of us than we may have
realized.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_
shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html
David Merrill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think
MIT grad student David Merrill
demos Siftables -- cookie-sized,
computerized tiles you can stack and
shuffle in your hands. These futuretoys
can do math, play music, and talk to their friends,
too. Is this the next thing in hands-on learning?
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_merrill_demos_
siftables_the_smart_blocks.html
Continued from page 2
Angie and I have put together a collection of what
we believe are some of the best of these talks at:
http://delicious.com/GSIS_TED
We have organized these links using delicious.com
for easy accessibility. Delicious is a book-marking
site in which website links are compiled, tagged and
displayed in one place.
If this has whetted your appetite then you can find
more than 200 TED talks at http://www.ted.com/
We hope this is of interest to you, please take a look
at least one of the talks. We find that once someone
has seen one talk, they will keep coming back for
more! If you have any suggestions for further talks
to bookmark then please email Angelique Nehmzow
at 16412@gsis.edu.hk or Graeme Deuchars at
gdeuchars@gsis.edu.hk
Graeme Deuchars, Head of Learning & Teaching
Technologies & Angie Nehmzow, Y12C
Free Rice
FreeRice features a
programme with
which you can test
your skills in various
subjects and help
battle world hunger
at the same time.
For each answer you
get right in the online
quizzes, ten grains
of rice are donated
through the UN World
Food Programme to
help end hunger. The
subjects available
include languages
(English, German,
French, Spanish, and
Italian), art, chemistry,
geography and mathematics. Visit freerice.com to
improve your skills and knowledge, and help heal
the world while you’re at it!
3

News Roundup
Mothers’ Committee
More tables were sold this year at the Flea Market.
The weather was much warmer but we all had
to contend with the extreme humidity and before
everybody could set up their stalls, wet tables had to be
wiped down. Most bargain hunters arrived early and a
brisk day of trading could be seen. At the clothes stall
remnants from the bazaar were on offer; all clothing
sold was new and had been donated to the school
from many factory owners. At the end of the day,
the remaining clothes were boxed up and donated to
charity.
On Tuesday 24 February, the Mothers’ Committee had a
great morning delivering donuts to all Primary classes
for Fasching, a German custom. Here in Hong Kong
many children and teachers dressed up in brightly
coloured carnival outfits and went to school as normal.
It was a delight walking around the school seeing how
much fun they got out of wearing their costumes. Jelly
donuts always go down well with children, and adults
for that matter; they are delicious round balls of lovely
soft white fried dough, full of raspberry jam, coated in
sugar. Try and eat one without licking your lips!
Preparations have already started for the annual ball.
Tickets will be going on sale shortly for “THE CARNIVAL”
to celebrate the GSIS 40th Anniversary. It will be held
on 5 June at the Conrad Hotel. Being such a special
event we hope that many parents, teachers and friends
will attend and join in the wonderful celebrations.
Commemorative mugs and pins will be on sale in the
school shop from 9 March.
Bookshop News
You cannot imagine a child’s
bookshelf without an edition
of “Kommissar Kugelblitz
und die Pizzabande”. Now
there’s the chance to meet
the author Ursel Scheffler
in person. She will be
at GSIS on 26 March 2009
at 18:00 to read from her books and give
autographs. The bookshop provides a wide range
of her books. Please come by and have a look...
we look forward to seeing you.
The bookshop is open on Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays from 10:30 – 13:30.
4

News Roundup
Sports News
Inter-School Athletics Championships (Division 2)
Day 1 Heats: Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Day 2 Heats: Friday, 6 March 2009
Day 3 Finals: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Venue: Wanchai Sports Ground
The following students were selected to represent GSIS in the Inter–School Athletics Championships.
Girls A Grade
Charlotte Chan – 100m, Hurdles, 4x100m
Rachel Haslam – 200m, High Jump, 4x 100m
Irene Armentrout – 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Tine Braig – 400m, 4x 400m
Vanessa Voegtlin – 400m, 4x 400m
Hannah Lee – 800m, 4x 400m
Laura Limbert– 800m, 4x400m
Cheryl Leung –Shot Put, Discus
Jennifer Au – High Jump
Claire Hackett – 4x100m
Joanne Harries – 4x400m
Marie Neirynck – 4x100m
Cecilia Cheung –Shot Put
Ulrike Hinrichs –Discus, Javelin
Yoon Hur – Long Jump
Jill Hirzel – 1500m
Amanda Cheng – 1500m
Rachael Foo – Javelin, 4x400m
Gigi Lo – Long Jump
Girls B Grade
Anthea Leung – 400m, High Jump, 4x400m
Dana Slosar – 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Fabienne Chiang – Long Jump, 200m, 4x100m
Kellyann Burlage – 800m, Long Jump
Clare Lim – 800m, 4x 400m
Julia Raber – 400m, 4x400m
Rafaela Igler – Discus, 4x 100m
Louise Penczek – Discus, Hurdles, 4x 400m
Alexandra Frey – Javelin
Charmaine Che – 1500m
Serena Lousich – 1500m
Anna Herrmann – 4x100m
Tanja Buchholtz – Hurdles, High Jump, 4 x 100m
Isabelle Becker – 4x400m
Nadia Hausler – Javelin, 4x100m
Heather Pickerell – Shot Put
Rachel Sung – Shot Put
Girls C Grade
Adeline Rudolph – 100m, High Jump, 4x100m
Larissa Stark – 200m, 4x400m
Katharina Dreyer – 200m, 4x100m
Leah Fremgen – 400m, 4x400m
Sophie Yeow – 800m,100m Hurdles,4x400m
Elaina Cayrouse – 800m, 1500m
Marina Narain – High Jump
Julia de Candido – Long Jump, Shot Put, 4x100m
Nadine Wagner – Long Jump
Julia Zschiesche – Shot Put
Caroline Rudolph – 4x 100m
Jaqueline Lung – 4 x 400m
Jane Lui – 1500m
Cheyenne Held – 100m
Joanna Kornblum – 400m, 4 x 100m
Officials
Frederike Zurlutter on 2nd and 12th March
Alicia Ho and Tiffany Hui on 6 March
5

Department News
Primary School
GSIS Extends a Helping Hand to the Children of Nepal
On Monday 10th of February, Mr Philip Holmes, who represents the
Esther Benjamins Trust, visited the assembly of the German Primary
Department. The charity looks after Nepalese children who have been
abducted and work in Indian circuses. Mr Holmes’ charity is instrumental
in rescuing them, housing them and providing them an education and job
training for the older children in Kathmandu.
Mr Holmes was presented a cheque for HK $17,790 by Ms Lila Gurung, one of
the employees of GSIS. The money was donated by parents, students and staff
and was much appreciated by Mr Holmes. He talked
to the children about modern day child slavery and
showed them photos of the children in Nepal. Mr
Holmes then presented the school with a mosaic
butterfly, made by the rescued children in Nepal as a
“Thank You” to GSIS.
Secondary School
Susanne Goschin, Head of German Primary &
Mary Bourke, Head of English Primary
Drugs, Alcohol and Young People – What Parents Need to Know
Business College
GSIS Secondary Parents of Y9-13 and K08-13 and Faculty are invited to an informal Information
Evening on the subject of drugs and alcohol. The evening will feature three experts who will
address the topic of drugs and alcohol from a teenager’s viewpoint, explain the current scene and
outline what parents should know and recognise.
WHEN: 18:30 – 20:30, 10 March 2009
WHERE: IB Hall
Advance registration is required. All invited parents will receive email from school with reply option.
Mary Peart, Head of English Secondary &
Jens Eggert, Head of German Secondary
On 12th February three colleagues from Asia Pacific Management Institute KAPLAN visited
BC 1F. In cooperation with the National University of Ireland in Dublin, Kaplan offers parttime
studies lasting 18 months and leading to the Bachelor of Business Studies. University College
Dublin is part of the National University of Ireland and has a long tradition as one of the oldest
business schools in Europe. Hong Kong’s Higher Diploma is accepted for admission. Our graduates
have the same status and thus have the opportunity to participate in this attractive programme at
the same time as working in Hong Kong. Our trainees expressed a keen interest in the content and
organisation of part-time studies in Management, Finance, Marketing and Logistics. After completing their bachelor’s
degree, students may go on to study for a postgraduate master’s degree or doctorate.
Stefan Pauli, Head of Business College
6

Features
What is the best way to deal with computers when they are idle? … Part 2
You may remember that, in the last issue of the GIST, I
revealed the scale of energy wastage by “idling” computers
running effectively on full power between log-ins. The obvious
solution is to shut down all computers unless one user is taking
over immediately from another, but teachers and students resent
this inconvenience. Here are some facts about the computers in
our school:
•
•
•
There are about 7 different models of computer used all
over our school.
They have varying ages which range from 1 to almost 6
years, with the oldest in the Sixth Form study room and the
hallways, and the newest in the computer labs.
Their boot up times range from a minimum of 1 minute 27
seconds to a maximum of about 3 minutes 26 seconds.
Location Maximum Time (m:ss)
M313 / M314 3:26
Staffroom 2:20
AV 2:05
U203 2:26
Sixth form study room 2:35
These values have been measured and recorded by the staff of the IT Department.
•
•
Custom disk images have to be loaded into student computers when they start up to restore the normal
configuration and applications, a process which accounts for the majority of the boot up time.
There are different disk images for different sets of computers. The largest belongs to those in the computer
labs (about 22GB), as it includes more software, resulting in the slowest boot up times (average. 3 minutes 20
seconds).
What do the numbers tell us?
Even the slowest computers do not take ‘a long time’ to boot up. For the computers in the Middle Building computer
labs, about 2 minutes of the 3 minutes and 20 seconds is occupied by the phase between switch-on and the login
page.
What should we do?
In this time, teachers can introduce the lesson, start the class and give any instructions. By the time they finish the
preparatory talk, all computers will already have reached the login page; no different from the state in which the
computers are normally found. How much energy that will save will hopefully be calculated by the next issue.
Thanks to Dinesh Alwani and Roland Bernal of the IT Department for the above information.
Emily Koo
Y13B
Unfortunately, we do not possess a data logger capable
of capturing the rapidly changing values of current
throughout the duration of the boot-up period. Video
is used to record data (this is a still) which then has to
be extracted manually.
7

Features
The Visit
Two days before
Valentine’s Day,
most Year 12 German
students and a few Year
11 students enjoyed the
privilege of attending
a final year IB Theatre
students performance
of “The Visit”.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s
masterpiece, “Der
Besuch der alten Dame, is a play which is on our German A level syllabus,
and was seen by our teacher, Mrs Silva Matias, as an opportunity for us to
see the play on stage.
Although it perhaps wasn’t the best play to get us into the spirit of
Valentine’s day, the Li Po Chun United World College actors put on a
truly enthralling performance that kept us on the edge of our seats all
evening. The plot follows the return of a billionaire, Claire Zachanassian,
to her bankrupt hometown Güllen, where she exacts revenge on her first
love, Alfred Ill, by offering the town one billion if they kill him. The stars
of the show were no doubt the two main characters, Alfred and Claire,
played by Blair Cameron and Oda Davanger, respectively. Individually and
together they were very convincing, both conveying a strong sense of their
character. Ill’s intensely complex emotions coupled with Zachanassian’s
appropriately stoic lack of them created some very tangible tension on
stage, which gave the play depth and colour.
The students who had been assigned the minor roles had clearly also
worked hard to engage with their characters, with one or two exceptions.
The majority of the actors were able to establish a sense of personality,
expressed either through their tone of voice or through gestures. The
painter, stationmaster and policeman all put on impressive performances,
contributing to several moments of comic relief. As a whole, the Güllen
population was able to display a very strong sense of unity, as well as
a gradual degradation of individualism and morals, which are central
themes of the play. The moment of climax, which is indisputably at the
end of the second act, was also well marked, with Ill’s mental breakdown
vividly portrayed.
In times of global financial crisis, this play has become strikingly
contemporary, as well as being timeless. Congratulations are therefore
definitely in order for this motivated and talented group of international
drama students, who deserve very high praise for their performance, and
made our perception of ,,Der Besuch der alten Dame” more intense.
Angelique Nehmzow, Y12C &
Jill Hirzel, Y12B
8

Personnel Matters
1
2
Diary Dates
We are pleased to
welcome Sigrid
Berg (1) and Stella Tong
(2) to GSIS.
Having moved from
Germany to Hong Kong
in 2006, Sigrid joins us
as the new Afternoon
Activities Co-ordinator.
Stella joins us with 10
years’ school library
experience as the new
Assistant Librarian in
the Junior Library.
Please extend to these
ladies a warm welcome
and help them settle in
at GSIS.
Susanne Vaih, Head of
Human Resources
2 Mar: Y02 Assessment, Return of GCSE and A level
subject choices
3 Mar: Sprachdiplom B1 Written, Inter School Athletics
- Girls (8:00 am - 5:00 pm) Wanchai Sports Ground
4 Mar: Sprachdiplom B1 Orals (to 20.03.09)
5 Mar: Y07 Geography fieldtrip, Inter-House Tennis
Competition (4:00 pm - 5:00 pm) Hong Kong Tennis
Centre
6 Mar: Inter School Athletics - Girls (8:00 am - 5:00 pm)
Wanchai Sports Ground, GSIS Idol (6:30 pm), IB Hall
9 Mar: Primary Book Week (to 13.03.09), Primary
Assembly (lesson 4) IB Hall
10 Mar: Y12 Biology fieldtrip (provisional)
12 Mar: Inter School Athletics - Girls (8:00 am - 5:00
pm) Wanchai Sports Ground
13 Mar: Deadline for handing in HKAYP booklets (Y11 &
Y12), Extraordinary General Meeting
17 Mar: Parents’ Information Day (4:30 pm - 7:30 pm)
18 Mar: Parents’ Information Day (8:00 am - 1:00 pm),
ESD (8:00 am - 12 noon)
Get the GIST
Future Publications
The GIST will be posted on the GSIS Website on the
following dates:
APRIL EDITION: 1 April
MAY EDITION: 4 May
JUNE EDITION: 1 June
Please email communications@gsis.edu.hk with any
feedback or questions that you may have.
Distribution Information
Each time The GIST is published, we will email you
with a link to the latest edition. Therefore, should
you change your e-mail address kindly inform us
promptly. Please send any personal information
changes to info@gsis.edu.hk. The GIST is also
accessible directly from http://mygsis.gsis.edu.hk/
CalendarNews_gist. The name The GIST combines
‘GSIS’ and ‘The GSIS Times/Tribune’; it is also the
English word for ‘das Wesentliche’, the essence.
19 Mar: Inter-House Tennis Competition (4:00 pm - 5:00
pm) Hong Kong Tennis Centre, A Level Final Exam
Drama Performance - MPR (7:00 pm)
20 Mar: A Level Final Exam Drama Performance - MPR
(7:00 pm)
21 Mar: Evangelical Church Bazaar (10:00 am - 4:00
pm) Old Gym
23 Mar: Y02 Assessment
24 Mar: GCSE Drama Exam (7:00 pm) IB Hall
25 Mar: GCSE Drama Exam (7:00 pm) IB Hall
26 Mar: Inter-House Sports Competition Football -
Senior Boys (2:00 pm - 3:30 pm), Sports Hall
27 Mar: Inter-House Sports Competition Hockey -
Senior Girls (2:00 pm - 3:30 pm), Sports Hall, GSD
“Lesekönig” Competition(lesson 3 & 4) Junior Library
30 Mar: Inter-House Sports Competition Hockey -
Junior Girls (2:00 pm - 3:30 pm), Sports Hall
9