The German School London (german: Deutsche Schule London; DSL) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

school based in the grounds of Douglas House in Petersham in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

. It is accredited by the German government's

Central Agency for German Schools Abroad The German Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (german: Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen, ZfA) is an agency of the Federal Office of Administration, itself an agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, that operates and manages ...

, as a "Deutsche Auslandsschule" ("German School Abroad"). The school includes a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, pre-school, elementary school, middle school and upper school. The German School London is one of approximately 140 schools that the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

established internationally to promote the

German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the country of poets and thinkers). German cultu ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

in other countries. The German School London has established a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

system so that students can, in addition to completing the German

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, also choose graduate with the

International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

History

The

bought Douglas House and grounds in 1969, and built a school around it, with the house itself becoming the reception and administrative offices. The school opened in September 1971. The school was founded to primarily serve children of diplomatic staff from the embassies of German-speaking countries (West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), while some

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

children were enrolled.Moore,

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

br>PT90
(actual page number unstated).

Campus

The school consists of four main buildings – a building for the upper and middle school, a newly established building for the elementary school, a building for pre-school and kindergarten, and a sports building including a gym, a swimming pool, and changing rooms. Additional school buildings, designed by the German firm Kersten Mertinoff & Struhk, were erected in the grounds between 1972 and 1983. The executive architects were W H Marmorek and Clifford Culpin & Partners. Douglas House was placed on the

Grade II* listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

list in 1983. Further contemporary buildings have been constructed on the campus, including a building for computer studies in 2000 and a new sports hall in 2017.

Curriculum

The school largely follows the curriculum of German state (''Bundesland'')

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. English is taught from the first year. The aim is for students to be fully bilingual when they graduate from the school, so as to be equally equipped to attend either German-speaking or English-speaking universities.

Kindergarten and pre-school

The bilingualGerman and English are both used. kindergarten and pre-school focus on preparing the children for elementary school, and helping them develop self-confidence and independence. Since July 2013 the school has been exempt from the British EYFS (

Early Years Foundation Stage The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework for early years education in England. The term was defined in Section 39 of the British government's Childcare Act 2006.Childcare Act 200online The equivalents in Wales and Scotl ...

) learning and development requirements and is now guided by Baden-Württemberg's curriculum.

Elementary school

The curriculum in the elementary school consists of German, English, mathematics, social studies & sciences, music, arts, religion and physical education.

Middle school and upper school

In middle and upper school students study 10 to 13 subjects – German, English, French or Latin, mathematics, physics, chemistry, music, arts, religion or ethics, history, geography and politics. Students can choose to study Spanish as an additional language. The school offers a broad and differentiated education with bilingual units for different talents, and prepares students for university.

Qualifications

Students in Years 11 and 12 can, if they wish, study for both the International Baccalaureate and the German

. The school has offered the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

since 2010; it is taught in English, although students who take German as an A1 language can graduate with a "bilingual IB Diploma".

School life

The school provides networking opportunities for adults from the German community. Much of the community's social activities and sporting clubs for Germans are organised around the school, which "provides a forum for the expression of Germanness".Moore,

br>PT92
(actual page number unstated).

Sport and the arts

Teams from the school have taken part in international sporting events in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, often playing against teams from other international schools in the UK, and sometimes in tournaments against international schools across Europe. Students also take part in school concerts and in the

Jugend musiziert ''Jugend musiziert'' is a music competition for children and adolescents in Germany on regional, federal and national level. ''Jugend musiziert'' in Germany In Germany, the nationwide competition refers to young adults up to 20 years and for the ...

competition, an international music competition in Germany between children and young people held at regional, federal and national level.

School exchanges

The school operates a programme of school exchange visits, where the students visit a different school for a day and participate in the classes, and family exchange visits where they meet their exchange partner on a Friday afternoon and spend time with them and their family until the Saturday. There are also programmes for students in Years 10, 11 and 12, where they visit the Russell School to teach the German language and culture to

Year 5 Year 5 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fifth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between nine and eleven however some childre ...

students.

School charity

The school has its own charity group, ''DSLaktiv – Schüler für Schüler'', founded in 2010. Every year students in the group choose a different charity to support and organise activities and projects to fundraise for it.

School events

As well as teaching the German curriculum the school promotes German culture. Every school year there are readings by prominent German authors and poets, and performances by musicians. The school has ''a Frühlingsfest'' and ''

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

'' celebrations, as well as ''

Weihnachtsmarkt A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: '' Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chri ...

'', a Christmas fair. There are also regular ''

Frühschoppen ''Frühschoppen'' (pronounced , meaning: an alcoholic drink before midday in company) is the German and Austrian tradition of meeting up at a pub, inn or tavern in the late morning, usually on Sundays. The specific customs vary from region to reg ...

'' events.

Faculty and staff

The German School's teaching staff consists of local teachers with German and English backgrounds, and teachers from Germany who are seconded by the German Government.

Operations

The School Association's Board, an unpaid group that operates the school, determines the school's financial, economic and legal business, as well as budgeting and personnel matters.

Notes

References

Sources

* Moore, Fiona (2012). "The German School in London, UK: Fostering the Next Generation of National Cosmopolitans?" (Chapter 4) in Coles, Anne and Fechter, Anne-Meike (editors). ''Gender and Family Among Transnational Professionals'' (Routledge International Studies of Women and Place).

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. , 9781134156207.

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1971 establishments in England Bilingual schools Educational institutions established in 1971 German international schools in Europe Private co-educational schools in London Private schools in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames International Baccalaureate schools in England International schools in London Petersham, London