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.

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.

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.

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. 

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!

Last week on Tuesday, March 21st was 'The international day to eliminate racial discrimination', also known as Harmony Day in some parts of the world. We took this opportunity in the primary school to reflect on what classes are doing to promote inclusion and anti-racism in their classes. A presentation was created and shown at an assembly on Friday the 24th of March.

Theater-Dance Performance and Project Week

The project week was a dance-theatre workshop related to the performance piece “Patterns”, that was performed at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse. It was conceived of by Magda Korsinsky and was developed together with the Black women* performers. It was based on their everyday experiences as Black women*. 

The choreographer/director Magda Korsinksy reconceived the piece for NMS students and came on the first project day to introduce the work and then her assistant Tatiana Mejia Matos and the musician from the play, Jarita Freydank, continued the workshop for the rest of the week leading up to the assembly on March 24th. One group of fifth grade students and one group of sixth grade students participated and each group created their own piece with movements based on the patterns of their lives. Such patterns included talking to friends, cooking with a parent, or playing video games. One student from each group learned to accompany the dancers on the drums. The dance was performed at all three assemblies so that the entire student body could experience this performance piece based on the patterns of the lives of NMS students.

Aus einem Zeitungsbericht aus Finnland / From a newspaper report from Finland

The Nelson Mandela International School from Berlin undertook a 2-week dive into the Finnish education system in order to explore how STEAM and phenomenon-based learning look like in the everyday reality of a school. Twelve students and seven teachers were hosted by Experience Workshop in Jyväskylä, and the Viitaniemi lower secondary school became their partner school. During these intensive two weeks, students visited the classes at the Viitaniemi school on an everyday basis, teachers divided their time between jobshadowing and teacher training.

On Friday 10th and Saturday 11th, 6 students from Grades 8 ,9 and 11 took part in BMUN, the Model United Nations conference hosted by the Katholische Schule Liebfrauen, Berlin.
The students were part of several committees which discussed topics related to the banner
theme of Solidarity in Advancing Sustainable Development For All.
The conference not only provided the students with a platform to use their debating skills
but also, an arena where they honed their persuasive, diplomatic skills.
They also were able to make new friends and interact with students from other Berlin
schools.
Our students executed their roles well but particular praise goes to Tom 9a and Sergey 11b
who won the Best Delegate Award in their committees of ECOSOC and the Security Council
respectively.
These conferences provide an excellent opportunity for our students to engage in topical
issues. The MUN group are eagerly preparing for the next conference.

This year, for the first time, queer victims were also commemorated in the Bundestag's annual hour of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism. This had been achieved by a petition of the successful youth author Lutz van Dijk.

Our school was fortunate that Lutz van Dijk, who lives in Amsterdam and Cape Town, came to Berlin for this commemoration and could be won by the German department for a reading from his novel "Kampala - Hamburg" in front of the 10th grade students.

From a young age, Lutz van Dijk's eventful life was marked by political commitment against poverty in the South African townships, against discrimination against queer people and for the memory of the victims of National Socialism. At the reading held in the auditorium, he therefore impressed not only with his novel, but also with many personal stories and emphasised again and again how important it is to set goals in life and to believe in their realisation.

On January 25, the 7th grade celebrated the annual Ballad Festival in the aula. Representatives of all 7th grade German courses delighted the audience with entertaining and exciting productions of famous ballads such as "Der Erlkönig" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or "Der Handschuh" by Friedrich Schiller.

To honor the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27th, the Elective "Duke of Edinburgh Award - Training" went on a search for traces in the Bavarian Quarter this week. There we were able to learn more about the biographies of Jewish residents with the help of an audio walk about the history of the quarter under National Socialism. In addition, we were able to clean some Stolpersteine along the way and thus commemorate the victims inscribed on them. Thanks to the efforts of the Elective participants, many stones in the Bavarian Quarter are shining again and catch the eye of passers-by.

The first Abitur-Skitrip took place this year. A group of 24 students from grades 12 and 13 spent a week in Seeboden, Austria. They were accommodated in a chalet and commuted to the nearby ski area on the goldeck mountain. The students ranged from beginners to those who had been skiing since they could walk. Skiers of all abilities were welcome. Divided into two groups, they learned the basic techniques of alpine skiing - from short swings to carving. Of the slopes, they held presentations about the mountain climate, history, and culture of the ski-sport. The students spent their free time competing in a group tournament - complete with boardgames, puzzles and synchronized skiing. They also had time to enjoy the beatiful scenery on the mountaintop and the regional delicacies available at the Skihut. A warm thank you to Herr Röthenmeier and Herr Schauer for organizing and supervising the trip!