It is now over 77 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27th January 1945, there were less than 7,000 survivors who stood up to tell the world what had happened at the extermination camp. Millions died at the hands of the National Socialist regime. With the number of holocaust survivors decreasing it is vital that we don’t forget.

The History Department at Leipzig International School actively works with local organisations and individuals to create opportunities to learn from history and keep the memory of the victims of the Holocaust alive. In a project with the Bürgerbewegung Archiv e.V. and the Stoplerstein project, the lives of two former residents of Leipzig were researched under the direction of a member of our History Department, Mr Bell: Moses Azderbal, who was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, and his daughter Edith, who died in the deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Students in our 6th grade won prize money in the German President’s History Competition, and they donated this money for the purchase of the Stolpersteine for Moses and Edith.
On 14 September, Moses Azderbal’s granddaughter Eve Krügler came to Leipzig to take part in the stone-laying ceremony. This ceremony was attended by our grade 9 history students, Mrs Postma, Mr Bell and all those involved in the project.
The ceremony took place at Nordstr. 41 in Leipzig, the place where her family house had once stood.
Eve, Moses’ over 90 years old granddaughter and Holocaust survivor, explained to the students that a funeral ceremony for her grandfather and aunt could not take place because the bodies were destroyed in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The stones are a reminder of their lives, a place of remembrance and commemoration.

We as a school have taken on the responsibility for the maintenance of the stones and on the 9th November will be cleaning and taking part in an observance of remembrance at Nordstraße 41. We want and need to keep the memory of Moses and Edith Azderbal alive.

Football – probably the most popular team sport is also played a lot in the schoolyard and in PE classes. It is considered one of the most favoured sports and plays a major role in the lives of many of our learners. Football is played in the schoolyard during the break, club training takes place in the afternoon and at the weekend the favourite club can be seen on TV.

At our school, too, football is one of the favourite sports of many of our students. So it’s no surprise that three boys from 4AM – Philias, Matwey and Felix – had the idea to organise a football tournament during lunch break in which all football-loving learners in primary school could participate. They approached the Hort Team and explained their idea. With the lifting of the Covid restrictions, they wanted to find a way to play together in a competitive but friendly atmosphere. After a few brainstorming sessions with Mr Archie they came up with the idea of the LIS Champions League, which they presented in a recent assembly.All interested students then had one week to form a team (five players + one substitute), come up with a team name and register their team for the league by writing all the information on a piece of paper and putting it in a box in Hort – serious business! The boys opened the box and found that there were lots of registrations, which gave them a bit of a headache. But they managed to work out a system where everyone played everyone else, over a period of seven weeks, with matches taking place six times a week. It was a complicated affair, but they managed to organise everything very well!

It was a great success as children from all grades came to watch and cheer on their friends. After all the games were played, the top four teams competed against each other in a small knockout competition, and so the winner was crowned!

Well done everybody, we are very proud of you!!!

We are aware of the unique opportunity we have as members of the LIS community and we enthusiastically embrace our responsibility to make a positive impact on ourselves, on others and on the world. We Lions are proud! True to this motto, our Head of School, Ms Brandie Smith, had the honour of passing on the gifts collected by our families to the children of Rosenweg School this morning. Each class received a trolley full of presents, which the children were then allowed to unwrap in the classroom. The gifts were pre-sorted so that everyone got exactly what was best for their class and age.

A big thank you to our school and kindergarten parents and the entire LIS community for their generosity in collecting so many wonderful gifts for the disadvantaged children again this year. In addition, 600.00 EUR of donations were transferred so that the school came a little closer to its dream of buying a wheelchair swing.

The gifts for the women's shelter were already collected last week. The management of the women's shelter also expressed their gratitude and were very happy about the presents. Thank you all very much!

U14 GIRLS:
The girls finished in 10th place overall, which is commendable since out of a team of 4 they only had 2, so if you see Katherina or Emily please give them a huge well done!

U14 BOYS:
The boys finished in 2nd place overall! This is our only badminton team (U14 or varsity) where we didn’t have to make any last minute changes due to sickness, although one did have a cast on his arm until last week!

Congratulations 

VARSITY GIRLS:
The girls finished in 2nd place overall! Again this is an amazing result as two varsity girls were unable to travel due to injury or sickness and all the reserves were unable to travel, so the night before travel after frantic emails and phone calls, we managed to find two replacements to make a team. Phew, and what a team!

Tina was the best 3rd seed in singles!

The girls also won the Sportsmanship award – our first this season ????

VARSITY BOYS:
The boys finished in 10th place, even though the two boys (Jongmoon and Nils K) won nearly all their games. Because they didn’t have a complete team (like the U14 girls), they were unable to place higher. We lost our first 2 seeds to high fever the afternoon before travel, and unfortunately not enough reserves could make it to complete the team.

However, it has been a huge learning experience for all, and the coaches and chaperones have been so impressed with the students who did attend the tournaments – we are so proud!

Every year, our Grade 10 students face the daunting task of a marathon of external examinations across nine weeks from April to June as they take on the demands of the Cambridge IGCSE programme. This programme enables students to sit a variety of subjects, all of which produce an individual result and grade. In this way, unlike the IB Diploma, students don’t pass or fail the IGCSE but instead gain a series of individual credentials and, more importantly, invaluable preparation for what comes next within a globally-renowned and challenging international programme.

For the IGCSE Grade 10 Class of 2022, our students were taking their very first set of external assessments having been unable to take the Cambridge Checkpoints examinations during the initial COVID year of 2020. In this context, we were delighted with the professionalism shown by our students over the examination weeks, with their conduct in the examinations exemplary. A huge thanks from me also goes to Mr. Jamie Wilkinson and Ms. Isabel Van Dyck, who led the examination session with aplomb, guiding the students and offering invaluable support and counselling during countless hours of examination invigilation.

On August 18th, our results were released, and it is safe to say we were delighted with the outcomes. With 87% of all entries gaining A*-C grades, 60% gaining A*-B grades, and 37% of all entries gaining A*-A, this is impressive indeed. A grand total of 17 students gained 5 or more A* or A grades, with 4 students gaining only A* or A grades (and nothing below). Most pleasing of all was the way in which students tackled the demands and have considered their efforts as they now embark upon the IB Diploma programme – a course for which they are well-prepared to be successful.

Special mention should be made of the students who gained all A* and A grades – congratulations, and we look forward to your continued success over the coming years:

Tina W – 8 A*, 2 A
Clara W – 6 A*, 2 A
Fatima A – 5 A*, 4 A
Mayrah L – 5 A*, 4 A

Once again this year, everyone – students, teachers and parents alike – has been looking forward to the Christmas season and the joys and traditions that come with it. At LIS, we actually have a tradition of our Christmas concert, which is the musical highlight of the year. However, due to the Corona pandemic, our last Christmas concert was in 2019 and for two years we all had to miss out on this musical treat.

We are all the more excited and proud that our students and staff were able to perform together again last week under the fantastic musical direction of Ms Annie Hedenig and Mr Paul Foulkes. So before we all head off for our winter break, two concerts were held for the primary and secondary school. From the usual classics to jazzy pieces, the programme was entertaining and enchanting, not to mention it gets you in the Christmas spirit.

Our entire community came together to enjoy the joy of music, the sense of togetherness it creates and the wonder it can elicit from us all. Families, friends, staff, students and parents came to the Schaubühne Lindenfels to sing, listen, marvel and support.
From Jingle Bell Rock to Hanukkah hits, the performances ran the whole spectrum of festive songs. Duets, solos and ensemble songs alternated with instrumental interludes from an incredibly accomplished orchestra. The audience was particularly enthralled by the performances of our special guests, including a number of alumni, parents and even an LIS interpretation of Elvis Presley.
Mr Foulkes and Ms Annie as well as Ms Emily Flanagan managed to tease every ounce of enthusiasm and energy out of their students.
And let’s not forget that these shows are also an incredible opportunity for our students to gain confidence. Best of all, students can learn from each other and with each other. Primary students get a taste of music in secondary school, everyone makes friends across the grades and is encouraged by more experienced musicians.

A big shout out to our music directors, Ms Annie and Mr Foulkes, Ms Emily Flanagan, our primary and secondary teachers and the school management and administration, who all worked hard on the logistics for this school-wide performance. To all the parents who supported their children, and to everyone who worked behind the scenes – from ticket sales to ushers and volunteers to sound and lighting engineers – thank you for your great support. And of course a heartfelt thank you to everyone in the show who gave their time and energy at the end of a busy year to bring us this special joy – thank you so much!