Lutz van Dijk on the Life in Masiphumelele
On 2.6.2023, the author Lutz van Dijk gave the 8th graders a detailed impression of life in the township Masiphumelele near Cape Town. This is the topic of his novel "Themba", about which the pupils had talked in the subject German.
In his novel, he tells the story of a boy who becomes infected with HIV and is left to fend for himself after his mother contracts AIDS. As in all his novels, Lutz van Dijk based his work on real life stories that he got to know through his work in Masiphumelele.
Together with his husband, Lutz van Dijk founded "Hokisa" in 2001, a home for children infected with HIV who need support. In his exciting lecture about his work in "Hokisa" and as a writer, Lutz van Dijk gave the students a comprehensive insight into the causes and problems of the South African townships and answered the many questions that arose for the students at the end.
Lutz van Dijk had already given a lecture on the background of his novel "Kampala-Hamburg" to the 10th grade students in January.
Important school updates
Messages from Principal Dr. Bauer (31 May 2023)
During the planned strike days from 5 to 7 June 2023, compulsory attendance will continue to apply for all students.
Rally for Diversity
On 12 May 2023, many students and teachers from our primary and secondary gathered in the schoolyard to demonstrate their solidarity for diversity in our school.
Partnering with the Home of Legends
Given Rapholo, Paul Curtis and Christopher Langhans travelled to Mthatha in March to discuss the cornerstones of our new exchange with St John’s College in Mthatha, the home of legends. Our team was able to build a rapport with students and teachers, explore the possibilities regarding the logistics and nature of the exchange, and meet a wide variety of invested individuals and parties.
The contact was established through the global UNESCO coordination in Paris and, eventually, the South African National Coordinator and National Department for Education member, Mamela Fuzile.
On our arrival in Mthatha, we received an unprecedented warm welcome at the airport from students, alumni, and teachers with performances, songs and traditional dress. The school also organised a welcoming reception which was followed by many productive meetings to discuss the funding and purpose of our future exchange.
Exploring Neurodiversity
In April and May 2023 5B class had an amazing opportunity to learn more about neurodiversity and
mental health from one of IB12 students.
"Learning about neurodiversity in school has never been more important. In the last five weeks I have been working with students of a 5th grade class to teach them about autism, adhd and depression. As increasing awareness for them becomes more and more important in light of current suicide rates. I believe It is the first step to helping young people find the help they deserve at this school. It is imperative that today's youth knows they have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to neurodiversity and depression. By teaching them about tools and
methods to help themselves and be understanding of others ,I hope to prepare them more for the challenges ahead. " - Zero Ring, IB12
We'd like to thank Lex Kartanė for organising these lessons, 5B team for being on board, Zero Ring for sharing their valuable expertise and all 5B students for being so enthusiastic, open and creative during the experience.
Can't wait for more collaborations between Primary and Secondary campuses.
Long Night of Knowledge
The science department invited to a colorful and cheerful Long Night of Knowledge on May 12.
A fascinating insight into the world of physics, chemistry and biology awaited the visitors in the rooms on the 2nd floor. While the math class presented exciting experiments on probability theory, the bio rooms offered informative TED talks as well as the opportunity to microscope various specimens. In addition, students of the STEM course explained self-developed ecosystem models and the winning team of the last Make@thon presented their competition entry for sustainable mobility to all interested parties. In the physics room, students from the advanced course explained the transformer and generator, while students from the WPU course demonstrated the properties of electromagnetic radiation using a variety of model experiments. In the chemistry room, visitors were delighted by the colorful hands-on experiments and impressive fire reactions.
The afternoon offered many students, including those from primary school, a special opportunity to learn more about science.
Special thanks go to all the students and colleagues who actively helped with the preparation and implementation of the afternoon.
Fashion Revolution Day 2023
On 4/27-23, the school's internal Fashion Revolution Day took place at Nelson Mandela School - as part of the international Fashion Revolution Week. Every year during this week we commemorate the more than 1,300 victims of the garment industry who died ten years ago in the collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh and would like to make a statement against fast fashion through an ongoing sewing activity to upcycle clothing. At the same time as the very well-attended sewing action on 12 sewing machines, which were made available to us for the day by the Jugendkunstschule Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Apart from this, the students of the secondary school were able to sift through second-hand clothing and take it home, so that it can be given an extended life. An exhibition on the Fashion Revolution rounded off the event. We were supported by the fashion designer Wilfried Pletzinger, who has been supporting our school in terms of fashion projects for many years.
Special thanks go to the students who actively supported the day of action and act as ambassadors for Slow Fashion in and outside of our school.
Second success in the UNESCO reading competition
On 21.03.2023 the reading competition of the UNESCO Project Schools in Berlin took place on the topic "Strong Children" for the 6th and 7th grades.
The Nelson Mandela School was successfully represented by two students:
Elisabeth (grade 6) took a fourth place and Rasmus from grade 7, like last year, took a third place. Congratulations for this great performance!
