DSK International (DSKI; 神戸ドイツ学院 ''Kobe Doitsu Gakuin'') is an international school on

Rokkō Island is a man-made island in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan. It is located in the southeast region of the Port of Kobe. The island has a rectangular shape, and covers . The residential area of the island, featuring apartment buildings—man ...

, in Higashinada-ku,

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. DSK International is an International IB school in Kobe for ages 2 to 12. The school provides curriculum in three languages: German, English and Japanese in two branches (German and International). DSK International offers three programmes for learners ages 2-12: Playgroup, Early Years and Primary Years Programme (PYP).

History

DSKI, the second oldest German international school in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

region,Our School

Archive
. Deutsche Schule Kobe International. Retrieved on November 1, 2015. and one of the oldest schools for foreign students in Japan, was founded in 1909.BrochureArchive
. Deutsche Schule Kobe. p. 4/24. Retrieved on November 1, 2015. It was intended to serve expatriate and missionary families from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The school was established as relations between Germany and Japan strengthened.Kudo, Akira. ''Japanese-German Business Relations: Co-operation and Rivalry in the Interwar Period'' (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies).

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 ...

, October 2, 2012. , 9781134750092. p
31
In 2002 the School Board decided to add an international section: the European School was to serve the English speaking community and teach an international curriculum. Since then, we the school has provided learners with curricula in German and English. In 2009 the school moved into its fifth school house on Rokkō Island, a beautiful, environmentally friendly building. It is home to a school community which values its history with its German roots and prepares children from various countries and cultures for a shared future. In 2017 came another big change for the school with the name change to DSK International or DSKI for short.

Programmes

DSKI offers three programmes of instruction based on age: Playgroup (1 to 3 years), Early Years Programme (3 to 5 years) and Primary Years Programme (5 to 12 years).

Playgroup

Playgroup is a parent-child programme that meets once a week, Thursday mornings as of 2016, in two groups. The activities focus on introducing children ages 1 to 3 to the school and different cultures, promoting pre-literacy skills, like listening and speaking, and improving social skills.

Early Years Programme

The Early Years Programme consists of a Pre-Kindergarten class (2 years old) and the Early Years/Kindergarten (3 to 5 years old). The Early Years Programme is IB-accredited and prepares learners for entrance into the IB Primary Years Programme. Learning in the Early Years Programme is centered around supported play in a safe, secure environment. Teachers facilitate play activities that focus on language and reasoning skills, autonomous thinking and problem solving, manipulative skills and creativity, emotional growth and cognitive development.

Primary Years Programme

DSKI uses two educational plans to create a comprehensive, inquiry-based programme: the Primary Years Programme authorized by 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 D ...

and the Thüringer Curriculum. Classrooms teachers integrate language, mathematics, science, art, personal and social education, drama and ICT (technology) into units that focus on discovering more about who we are and the larger world. Specialist teachers provide music, physical education and language learning (German, English and/or Japanese).

References

External links

Deutsche Schule Kobe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsche Schule Kobe International Elementary schools in Japan German international schools in Japan International schools in Kobe 1909 establishments in Japan Educational institutions established in 1909