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. 

With 11 athletes, our Sport Club International at the Nelson Mandela School Berlin e. V. took part in this year's Weißensee Cross Country Run on 7 December 2025. With great enthusiasm and outstanding support from the accompanying audience, classmates, parents and siblings, our runners competed in the 1.6 km, 3.2 km and 12 km disciplines. Our talented runners Simon (1.6 km) and Elisabeth, as well as our NMS alumnus Lucas (3.2 km), achieved great results in the shorter distances. The SCI-NMS put in a particularly strong performance in the discipline for which the organiser had not even planned a youth classification: the 12 km distance – here, our school club had the most participants of all the clubs registered.

On 17 and 19 November, students from classes 7c and 8c, together with their teacher Dr Ahke, discovered what scientific work looks like in the modern laboratories of the Free University of Berlin.

Class 8c spent an exciting experimental day at the NatLab, embedded in an escape room centred around the mysterious “enigmatic Galmei Society”. To uncover its secret, the students needed both scientific skill and strong teamwork. In the first part of the day, small groups reconstructed the steps of industrial zinc extraction. Afterwards, they explored two important everyday applications of the element: the zinc–air batteryand brass.

From the 19-22 of November, the JFKS hosted their 34th annual BERMUN model UN conference with over 700 students attending from around the world in order to discuss this year's theme : “Building a Rules-Based Order to Withstand Authoritarianism". Thanks to our director, Ms McCabe, seven students from our MUN-club in the secondary had the privilege of taking part as delegates representing Iran in the PC, DC, SOCHUM, WTO and SpC as well as Tunisia in the Security Council. In addition, Amélia IB13, was a student officer, chairing in the SOCHUM committee. Over three days our delegates debated topics such as neocolonialism, nuclear proliferation, combating state sponsored terrorism, the situation in Syria and many more. Each committee also had a guest speaker which added a further layer of knowledge and professionalism to the event. The keynote speaker Herr Putscher, former alternate executive Director of the World Bank , highlighted how existing institutions needed to be strengthened. While a further special speaker event discussed ‘War in Europe: How is Peace with Russia Possible?’, a very timely topic given recent suggestions for a ‘peace plan’. This topic was discussed by Dr K. Wittmann, former Brigadier General and currently at the University of Potsdam along with Dr B.M Scianna from the same university. A further special moment was during the opening ceremony when we watched a moving ,live performance by members of the National Ballet of Ukraine. Conferences such as these allow our students to expand their public speaking skills, become more active in politics and build connections with young people from around the world. This year’s BERMUN has taught us that change is possible if we all take action. We encourage secondary students to join us on Thursdays at 15:05 in N0.4 to take part in lively debates. We wish to thank the Friends of NMS for their support.
Mathilda 11c

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Human Rights Convention, the Federal Ministry of Justice invited guests to a winter workshop day. After the official welcome by Federal Minister Dr. Hubig, the group was given a tour of the building. This was followed by an introduction to Prof. Nußberger's book entitled Frei und gleich. Die Menschenrechte (Free and Equal: Human Rights), which presents exciting cases on difficult human rights issues at the Court in Strasbourg. This was followed by a lively interactive exchange with students sharing their opinions. Finally, the European Competition was presented. It was an interesting day with insights into the work of the judiciary.