From 21 to 25 January 2026, 18 students from class 9d of the Nelson Mandela School in Berlin met with 20 students from various Year 8 classes of Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 8 im. Kawalerów Orderu Uśmiechu in Świdnica at Morawa Castle in Poland to work together on the project “Memories for the Future,” which was initiated years ago by our former school social worker Bernard Szulc.

During the last week of school before the winter holidays, this year’s Berlin UNESCO Student Seminar took place at various UNESCO Project Schools in Berlin with students from Years 10 and 11. Over the course of the week, the group addressed topics such as hostility towards queer people and anti-feminism in social media, as well as other political challenges of our time. At the end of the week, the students designed stickers with messages for civil society in order to draw attention to social injustices. The Nelson Mandela School was also one of the venues hosting the seminar.

On Thursday, January 29, 2026 the Year 7 Ballad Festival took place. The German groups from all Year 7 classes presented a variety of ballads on stage. Among the performances were Pirate Jenny by Bertolt Brecht, The Glove by Friedrich Schiller, and John Maynard by Theodor Fontane. The presentations were varied and full of enthusiasm. Both students and teachers had a great time, and the festival was a big success.

On January 9, the well-attended auditorium hosted the school-wide final of “Jugend debattiert” for grades 9 and 10. The topic of this year's debate was the question “Should a general compulsory service (civilian or military) be introduced for young people after they complete their school education?”

… was the hotly debated topic of the two finals in Years 9 and 10 as part of ‘Jugend debattiert’ (Youth Debates) on 11 December 2025. Both debates were of a high standard and demonstrated the pupils' nuanced understanding of the issue. Many thanks to all the debaters involved, the moderators and especially the judges, who evaluated the debates very competently and fairly! Emma (9b) and Emilian (9a) qualified for the next round in Year 9, while Henriette (10a) and Rasmus (10c) qualified in Year 10.