German International School Sydney
General Overview
German International School Sydney is a co-educational day school offering high quality bi-lingual education from Preschool up to Year 12. A playgroup for under 3 year olds runs weekly.
Here at German International School Sydney we are dedicated to developing each individual student’s full potential and committed to the best of European and Australian educational and cultural values mediated in a caring community. Highly qualified teaching staff and peaceful bush land settings allow for close attention to our students’ individual needs and provide a relaxed and stimulating learning environment.
German International School Sydney is registered with the Board of Studies and accredited by the German education authorities. In 2009 and 2018 we were awarded “Excellent German School Abroad”.
To complement the existing government funded school buses, the school offers four private bus routes. More info can be found here: www.germanschoolsydney.com/en/school life/school-buses
Enrolment without German language knowledge
When enrolling in the Preschool, Primary School, Junior or Senior School in Year 11 for the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB), German language skills are not a prerequisite.
Preschool
German International School Sydney caters for children from 3 to 5 years of age. Children can attend 5 days per week or alternatively have the option of attending 2 or 3 consecutive days. Naturally, the progression towards becoming bilingual usually occurs when children have frequent exposure to languages. For this reason we recommend that children attend for 5 days.
German International School Sydney provides a creative curriculum embedded in the NSW Curriculum Framework. Within this they have possibilities to explore the real world driven by their interests and needs. We view children as protagonists and encourage them to construct the curriculum together with parents and teachers.
All of the Preschool teachers at German International School Sydney are bilingual, highly qualified and experienced working for Preschools in both Australia and overseas.
Primary School (Kindergarten - Yr 4)
The core concept of our holistic teaching and learning approach is a team of two teachers who work together ensuring that each child achieves their individual potential. Six lessons of English and five lessons of German are the foundation of an intensive language concept. In addition to that, we provide intensive language support in Maths and General Studies. These two subjects are taught in German. An additional teacher supports students with German as an additional language and assists the whole cohort in the development of conceptual thinking and research skills. Arts, Music and PE are all taught in German with integrated language support (CLIL) provided by the subject teacher. The students have a choice of subject for Religion (taught in German) or Ethics (in English) from Year 1. Our co-curricular program also has a strong focus on language learning, ranging from language activities to Literature or Drama. Our 35-lesson week is completed by one library lesson and 4 supervised homework lessons (5 in Kindergarten). This learning time also forms part of a holistic enrichment program which ranges from class circle time (student wellbeing) to individual or group support in different development areas.
Junior School (Yr 5 to 10)
Our students have the opportunity to choose Maths, Biology, Humanities and History in either English or German. Geography, Physics, Chemistry and Ethics are taught in English and Art, Music, Religion and Sport instructed in German. German is offered as a foreign language for students not fluent or who don’t speak German and from Year 6, French is available as a foreign language and Spanish from Year 8. Our highly recognised academic standards enable our students to transfer effortlessly to either our International (IB) for Years 11 and 12 or other national or international schools.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
The International Baccalaureate (IBDP) is widely recognised by Australian and overseas universities as the entry qualification of choice. The IB Diploma Programme, for Years 11 and 12, is offered at German International School Sydney in English, or bilingual with selected subjects in German and English.
The overseas students attending German International School Sydney live with friendly host families.
The IBDP is a comprehensive two year programme involving a curriculum model which is focused on six academic areas including Studies in Language & Literature, Language Acquisition, Individual and Societies, Experimental Sciences and Mathematics. For their sixth subject students have a choice of Visual Arts, French, Spanish, and Science of Psychology offered as an online course.
The academic areas available have been selected to ensure breadth of experience in languages, humanities, science and mathematics. Our IB programme is an excellent foundation for studying anywhere in the world and can be designed to be fully bilingual.