Our Erasmus+ activities are picking up speed. From 22.4. to 24.4.2024 four teachers from Ankara visited the secondary school campus of the Nelson Mandela School as part of a job shadowing mobility. During the school day, the Turkish teachers observed lessons in various subjects taught by different colleagues and visited Berlin in the afternoons and evenings. In addition to observing lessons, they were able to talk to Christiane Reiß-Schmidt, the head of the middle school, Fabian Wandtke, who is in the process of setting up a maker space, and Annemieke Akkermans, the head of Media Studies at the school. The focus was on the implementation of digital learning and the associated personal responsibility of the pupils.

On April 24, the Nelson Mandela School celebrated the 10th Fashion Revolution Day after the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed, burying more than 1,300 people. The tailors, working in catastrophic conditions, had to produce clothes around the clock for major European fashion brands in order to meet the industrialized nations' demand for fast fashion.

For the past ten years, we have commemorated this tragedy by joining the International Fashion Revolution as a school community, which takes place one week around the 24th of April every year. This year, as every year, we opened up the opportunity for around 125 students to learn how to use sewing machines expertly, turning discarded clothes into new functional items and garments. We were supported by fashion designer Wilfried Pletzinger and hobby tailor Birgit M'Pandzou as well as students Lotte Holland (11c) and Lian Baumann (10c). In addition, five learning groups were able to learn about water pollution and its prevention from the "Sailors Clean" initiative, which was founded by former NMS student Leander Baumann.

Once again, the NMS Primary school took part in an initiative to promote a safer journey to school. On Tuesday 23^rd April, the street around P23 was closed to traffic, between 7:30am and 8:15am. A 'short-but-sweet' car-free haven was created, a stark difference from the regularly chaotic and occasionally dangerous scene that our children have to navigate on their way to school. The NMS Primary students were able to unleash their street-chalk creativity, turning Pfalzburger Straße into a giant artwork. The Parents' Café took to the street, accompanied by the NMS Apparel Store. And some artistic students, under the expert supervision of Lex, painted a joyfully vibrant zebra crossing, in the place where we really should have one! Sadly, the NMS orchestra was not allowed to perform on the street, but they still put on a fantastic show in the Foyer. What a lovely way to start the day! It was a truly happy occasion, enjoyed by staff, parents, and students alike. 

In this year's reading competition organised by the Berlin UNESCO project schools, Carolina Barrera from class 7b was delighted to take 5th place. Emilia Garavy from class 6a was one place ahead of her and came fourth overall. She even came first in her age group (Year 6)!

The theme of this year's competition was friendship and love. Carolina impressed with the text "Courage is ..." by Jennifer Wiener. (The jury expressly praised her choice of text.) And Emilia kept the audience enthralled with an extract from Joanne K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Both also mastered the spontaneous reading aloud of an unpractised text, the second challenge in the competition, with the jury choosing the novel "Grüne Gurken" by author Lena Hach. The text humorously tells the story of a child who comes to Berlin from a village in Hesse and tries to find his feet in the big city, wondering about the "crazy" residents here.

Cakes and Zines festival is a celebration of zine culture, art, community, and diversity. This
year’s festival took place on Saturday 16th March on TU Berlin grounds and along many zines
featured our primary campus students' work. Three of NMS students attended the festival and
not only enjoyed exploring other people's work and tasting delicious vegan cakes, but made
important connections. Kourosh says: “I also really enjoyed the zine festival. It meant a lot to me
to be invited and to be part of this.”

The two students Lin Schwaag (8b) and Esther Wiedemann (8a) wrote their own songs in music lessons in seventh grade. Since then, songwriting has stayed with them and they have continued to work on new melodies and lyrics alongside their music lessons, both alone and with the support of their music teacher Felix Theuner. On 17.03.2024, the time had finally come: both students were able to present their own songs at the state competition Jugend musiziert at the Jazzinstitut Berlin. After an intensive rehearsal phase in the preceding weeks, they stood in front of a jury of singer/songwriters, accompanied by their music teacher on the piano, and were each allowed to present three of their own songs. In the subsequent discussion, the jury particularly praised the flow and energy of the songs, as well as the empowering content and the successful lyrics. Esther won 1st prize with 23 points and also a special prize for a performance at the JugendFEIER in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie with a fee of €1000. Lin achieved a 2nd prize with 20 points.

Congratulations on this outstanding achievement!

Since October 2023, the Grade 11 basic music course has been part of the Querklang+ project in collaboration with the University of the Arts. Under the guidance of the artists and students Ari Merten, Leander Kessel and Verena Lobert and their music teacher Felix Theuner, the students have tried their hand at experimental artistic and interdisciplinary work. 

The students learned to work in an interdisciplinary way during the process and put together the piece Is this the real life? Based on music, they embarked on a trip through various genres together, discovering their artistic personality and pushing their own boundaries. The premiere took place on 18.03.2024 as part of the Maerz-Musik Festival at the Universität der Künste.

Lucia from 7a, Carolina from 7b, Sara from 7c and Abigail from group 7c/d competed in this year's 7th-grade reading competition; 7d sent Nickles to the race. The students initially presented a brief passage from a book of their choice on the subject of love or friendship, then in the second round, they were required to read a more complicated passage that they were unfamiliar with. Carolina demonstrated the most persuasive mastery of this to the second semester jury and she will now represent the NMS in the competition of the Berlin UNESCO schools on 18.4.24, together with a person from grade 6. Congratulations!

We, Mr Wingerath's drama class, would like to invite you to our play, which will be performed on March the 14th at 6 pm in the auditorium of the Nelson Mandela School and on March the 15th at 11.30 am in „Die weiße Rose“. Our play is named after the gift of the same name "Wah-Du-Raa", which was presented to the NMS as part of a co-operation project between Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Kalpitiya. The "Wah Du Ran" dance project is being carried out in cooperation between the Nelson Mandela School and St Anne School, Thalawila, (Kalpitiya) Sri Lanka and the Education for Sustainable Development department of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district. "Wah Du Raa" is a dance theatre piece that seamlessly interweaves the principles of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The performance is inspired by the creative aesthetics of improvisational theatre, the dynamic and expressive dance style of so-called "German Dance" and the rich cultural heritage of traditional Kandyan dances from Sri Lanka.

From 28 January to 1 February 2024, 14 students from Years 11 and 13 of the Nelson Mandela School Berlin met 20 Polish students from Strzegom in Morawa, Poland.

On the first day, after we had settled into our beautiful and historic rooms, we got to know the students and teachers from Strzegom over coffee and cake. This was followed by lively games with the Polish group to get to know each other and break the ice. The visit to the Groß Rosen concentration camp the next day was one of the most moving moments of our trip. The students were guided through the exhibition and the grounds by Polish museum staff and, after a minute's silence, were given the opportunity to lay flowers for the countless victims of Nazi terror.

In the afternoon, the students were able to explore the town of Świdnica together for a few hours and then we travelled to Kreisau. There we were given a guided tour on the topic of "Resistance in the Nazi era" near the "Berghaus", the conspiratorial meeting place of the resistance fighters of the Kreisau Circle, including Helmut James Graf v. Moltke.

These are the last days for our students in Seville. On Monday they will be back at NMS! We are very much looking forward  hearing their stories!
Since the first exchange round with Seville was a success, the Spanish department is beginning to plan the second round!
Would you like to dive into the Spanish language and culture even more than just in your Spanish lessons?  
Are you ready to welcome an exchange student into your home for a period of 6 weeks?
Are you in year 9 or 10 next school year?
If yes, please contact your Spanish teacher or Ms. Velazquez directly!

This year's UNESCO project day took place on 01.02.2024. As part of 14 different workshops on the topics of anti-racism, anti-Semitism, colonialism, but also musical and dance-based discussions on the topic (Rhythm is life/ Voguing), the pupils were able to choose different workshops in advance according to their interests and attend them on the project day.
The day started with a joint assembly in the auditorium, which was accompanied by speeches from the school spokesperson Jasper and the organizer Ms. Wandtke. Principal Dr. Bauer gave opening remarks and former State Secretary Ms. Saraya Gomis sensitized the school community to racism in everyday life and how it can be countered. An explanatory video by Ufuq on the topic of discrimination enlightened the school community and set the mood for the day.
After a short break, the various workshops began and the respective groups dealt with the different topics in a very differentiated and critical way. They have led to a diverse discussion of current topics and hopefully broadened the students' horizons.
Franziska Wandtke/ 03.02.2024