Why Cross-Stream Activities And Intercultural Competence Are The New Focus At German Swiss International School (GSIS) Hong Kong 

Always known for its academic results, German Swiss International School (GSIS) Hong Kong is promising to focus on life skills such as cultural awareness, communication, open-mindedness and more. Here’s what’s new at GSIS Hong Kong.

If you’re a mama in Hong Kong, chances are that you know of the German Swiss International School Hong Kong, but did you know it has two equally successful streams? GSIS is part of a network of over 135 German Schools abroad, and is a leading dual-language institution in Hong Kong. It’s well known for its academic excellence and its stringent admission process (how many of us clinked champagne when our kids were successful in securing admission?).

GSIS offers two streams with diplomas that are globally recognised – the German International Stream (GIS) with the German International Abitur (DIA) and the English International Stream (EIS) with the IGCSE and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) accreditation. Under the direction of its new school principal, GSIS plans to enhance its cross-stream activities to live up to its ‘one school – two streams’ approach.

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Why Is It Important To Focus On Cross-Stream Activities & Intercultural Competence?

To answer this, we turned to the new school principal, Ms. Alexandra Freigang-Krause. Originally from Germany, Freigang-Krause has nearly 30 years of experience in the field of education, working in Germany, France, the US and now in Hong Kong. She explains why intercultural competence is key to her vision and GSIS’ new focus.

In our globalised world, anyone who is interculturally competent, will have an advantage. Having said that, many people mainly think of bilingual education when asked to define intercultural competence. But it is much more and it resides on three pillars.

Freigang-Krause elaborates,

1. First, the knowledge you acquire about a different culture.
2. Next comes the right mindset of openness and tolerance that needs to be developed.
3. And last but not least, adopting the skills that allow you to interact appropriately with people of a different culture.

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What Other Areas Does GSIS Hope To See Improvement In?

The academic excellence of GSIS is undisputed. With students getting excellent results, both streams open doors to the best universities worldwide. Some areas still need improvement and Ms. Freigang-Krause says,

Given our German-Swiss heritage, there is currently not enough contact with the German language. That is why making the German language and culture more visible and audible in the school is on my agenda. I would like to see every person working at GSIS being able to speak 10 words/expressions in German. We are talking about the very basics here like “Guten Morgen”, “Guten Tag”, “Auf Wiedersehen”, “Bitte” and “Danke” etc.

(We hope to) enhance cross-stream activities to live up to our ‘one school – two streams’ approach.

The increased cultural awareness is not the only future-facing focus of the school. GSIS is also committed to doing more in the field of sustainability and contributing towards protecting the environment.

After all, we are talking about one of the major challenges of the 21^st century. Young people at our school receive an excellent education and we want to prepare them for a world that is still inhabitable and worth living in.

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Gaining Admission And Entry Points To GSIS

Many international schools attract a largely expat (and often transient) population. When asked if that is a challenge for GSIS, Ms. Freigang-Krause reiterates,

We are not solely dependent on the expat population. We have our three entry points into our German Language Programme; the first being in Kindergarten with our bilingual approach. The second is our CLIPPY Programme in Primary School and the third is our Fast Track Programme starting with K06. In other words, students with no prior knowledge of German can come to our school and take the German International Abitur in the German International Stream.

With wider interest in GSIS, the school hopes to expand to larger sections of the Hong Kong population and nurture a culturally diverse and inclusive environment. Ms Freigang-Krause believes in fostering an environment that encourages open dialogue and collaboration, ensuring that parents, students, and staff feel valued and respected as the school continues to strive for excellence.

German Swiss International School (GSIS) Hong Kong, 11 Guildford Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, 2180 0511, [email protected], www.gsis.edu.hk

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