General Information

The German School Nairobi is a German School Abroad supported by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2011, the school was awarded the seal of an "Excellent School Abroad."

The medium of education is German. It is a co-educational, multi-ethnical, non-denominational school. Education is up to the German "International Abitur"(DIAP) - the German equivalent of the "A" level (Class 12). The DIAP qualifies students to study at universities and colleges in Germany at an affordable rate, and is recognised by all EU member states, as well as the majority of non-EU countries.

The scholarship programme was started in February 2008, and we now have 36 scholarship students at the school. Each year in September, the German School Nairobi invites scholarship applications from students of all nationalities, who have (or would have) completed Year 4 by December of that year (generally aged 9 - 10). Applicants are assessed on their academic performance. Applicants must therefore be of a high academic standard and be willing to work hard on a continuous basis. The scholarships are awarded up to Abitur level, and are reviewed every semester.

The school offers a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, and scholarship students are expected to participate in these, along with their fellow class-mates.

Successful applicants are enrolled from January of the following year and undergo an intensive 6-month German language course to prepare them for the beginning of the next academic year, which typically begins in August. From this semester, the students join a mainstream class (Class 5).

The Scholarship does not cover full school fees. Students are expected to pay 25% of the tuition fee. Books and other school materials, meals and transport are not included either.

Selection procedure

All applications received by the set deadline will be assessed by the scholarship committee and only those candidates deemed suitable will be called for interviews and tests in November, after which the successful candidates will be notified accordingly.The school's decision on each application is final and irrevocable.

Applications should be addressed to:

German School Nairobi

Scholarship Application

P.O. Box 978

00621 Nairobi

E-mail: dsn_secretary@germanschool.co.ke

Chris, who took part in the very first German intensive course under the Scholarship programme in 2008, is now in the middle of doing his Abitur examinations; simultaneously, five "fresh" students have joined us in our 2013 German Intensive Course, and are ready to find their way here at the school and to become a part of the school family!

Three girls and two boys joined the GSN on the 18^th of January 2013. They, along with their parents, were welcomed with a small ceremony, which has now become traditional at the school. From now till the end of the academic year in July, these five young people possibly have the biggest challenge of their lives - to master a difficult and completely unknown language, called German! Ms Rode and Ms Stegen are there of course, as teachers to help them succeed in every step of the way. They can also get assistance from their "minders", students from Class 4, with whom theyhave lessons in a couple of other subjects. These minders are there to help them in class, help them to settle down in their new environment and in a completely new education system, and last but definitely not least, to make new friendships.

And furthermore, the new scholarship students can turn to any of the other 30 scholarship students already in the school, who may be familiar with possible problems, and would be willing to lend a helping hand.

Best of luck, Abby, Bekote, Daniel, Krystal and Muturi!

"Hallo, wie geht´s?" - "Danke gut und Ihnen? - "Wunderbar!"

We are pleased to say that after 6 weeks of being at the German School Nairobi, our new scholarship students of 2012, Crystal, Grace, Megan, Prudence, Kena and Rahim are still here, filled with enthusiasm!  The children are confronted with these strange sounds, new letters of the alphabet, not to forget the very difficult grammar rules. However, they are dealing with them with joy and motivation! "Learning German is easy and difficult. Both. The pronunciation is the most difficult. And there are many difficult words. But it is also easy!"

"Is it true, that there are 1500 types of sausages in Germany?" Along with the language, the students are interested in the civilisation and culture of the country. "Oh, Beethoven was born in Germany!", or "...and Einstein also wrote a German book, didn't he?" "Has Germany ever won the Olympic Games?" There is a lot to learn and to discover. In addition to intensively learning the German language, the 6 students are also joining Class 4 students in Mathematics, P.E. and Art lessons. "This school is aaaawesome!"

This year too, it was 6 young Kenyans, who successfully completed the requirements of our academic scholarship, and were welcomed to the school on the 12^th of January. The 9 - 10 year old students, (4 girls and 2 boys), along with their parents attended the welcoming ceremony in Gymnastics Room of the school, befittingly decorated for the occasion. It was here that they were welcomed both to the school and to a new chapter of their lives.

After a few words of welcome from the Acting Headmaster Mr Baur, students of Class 4 greeted their new classmates with a serenade. Each new scholarship student received some flowers from their respective partner students. Each of the "older" students promised to help the new ones to settle down quickly.

Three of the new students should have no problems in settling down: Megan, Chrystal and Karen already have siblings in the school! But we hope that Rahim, Prudence and Grace will also feel at home with us very quickly. However, there is a big hurdle that needs to be crossed before then: by the end of the academic year, they must intensively learn German! The two most important people for these new students, the Foreign Language German teachers also introduced themselves:  Ms Rode and Ms Stegen. Immediately after the ceremony, the students joined them for their first lesson!

The "new" parents took this opportunity to mingle over coffee and cake in the cafeteria, to get to know each other, other parents, parent representatives and teachers better.

Once again, we wish all our new scholarship students the best of luck and every success in the school!

written by Regine von Dessauer, Scholarship Programme teacher

I was surely not the only one who was waiting the return of "our Kenyans" with mixed feelings of curiosity and worry! After long planning and preparation, everything was finally ready, and the conditions for the trip to Germany for our boys and girls from Classes 5- 9 seemed almost too ideal: A former teacher from our school had managed to find a host family for each child. It was agreed with the Friedrich-Hecker Gymnasium in Radolfzell that the children could attend their school. They would be picked from Zurich, and the Bodensee and its beautiful environment was waiting to be discovered by the students. Everyone in Germany was looking forward to welcome them. Still, something unpredictable can always happen. Our youngest student was only ten years old; one or the other of the students had never been in a plane before...

But our worries were unfounded: based on the students own comments and the extremely positive feedback we got from the parents, our fifteen students had, without exception, a happy and interesting holiday, perhaps even an unforgettable time in Radolfzell am Bodensee. The three weeks were packed with school and private activities: school excursion to Technorama Science Centre in Switzerland, meeting the Mayor of Radolfzell in the town hall of the city (evidenced by a group photo in the local press!), boat trips, barbecues, swimming and cycling, excursions to nearby and not so nearby areas. The photos of the Castle Neuschwanstein , as well as the Folk Festival in Radolfzell will be kept forever, as will the memories o the perpetual ice in the Swiss mountains - a five hour mountain climb is perhaps not every young man's ideal way of celebrating a 15^th birthday. But then, when you see the breathtaking view of snow and ice for the first time in your life, isn't this quite cool?

Naturally new friendships were formed, and last but not least, a lot of German was spoken. In fact, upon request now, a few can even imitate the Swabian dialect!

At our school almost all academic subjects are taught in German. Students therefore need to have a good knowledge of the German language.  In order to be able to accept non German speaking students not only at Kindergarten level but also later during their school career, the school now offers annually an Intensive German Language Course and Parallel Programme for non German speaking students age nine to eleven.

In November of each year the school tests and selects a limited number of applicants who will then - from January to July of the following year - receive intensive German language instruction, approximately twenty lessons weekly. In addition, they will participate in Mathematics and Sports lessons in Class 4/5. This will allow them to get to know their future Class and help them to feel at home. In the afternoons they receive homework supervision, after which they may participate in one of the extra-curricular activities we offer.

Towards the end of the course we will assess each student's progress. If it is satisfactory, he or she will be allowed to continue at the school in their respective grade when the new school year begins in August.

The new students will now participate in all subjects and be fully integrated in their Class. On three afternoons a week, they will still have classes in German as a Foreign Language. These lessons will continue for two more years, or as long as deemed necessary.

Academic scholarships for highly gifted pupils are available within the framework of this programme.