News from the School

“We learn by doing” – in Year 3, we take this statement seriously! By actively engaging with materials, tools and real-life situations, Year 3 students develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills and gain a deeper understanding of topics. Our hands-on learning this year has included:

- Reading real maps in geography
- Screen-free coding in IT
- Investigations into different science topics
- Practicing new information through singing or dancing
- Working with various maths manipulatives (tangrams, fraction tiles, mirrors, building 3D shapes)
- Practicing our oral hygiene
- Performing role-plays to build social-emotional skills

Jennifer Kalinec, Teacher Primary 3

Year 4 had a wonderful time on our class camp to Bern. On Monday, we embarked on an adventurous morning as we caught our train to Bern. As always, Year 4 was responsible and respectful during our journey.
Upon arrival, we checked in and walked over to the zoo, where we encountered a variety of animals such as leopards, seals, and monkeys. Sadly, the otters were missing!

After settling into our rooms and learning how to make our beds, we enjoyed dinner followed by playtime in a nearby park, marking a fantastic start to our trip. We all did our best to sleep despite the excitement of being at an overnight camp.
On Tuesday, our day was filled with adventures as we explored the old town of Bern. Highlights included visits to the main cathedral, Zytglogge (Clock Tower), the Parliament Building, and the Bear Park. Luckily, the bears were on the move! We also enjoyed the best playground in Bern, Spielplatz Längmuur.
 

In the afternoon, we participated in a workshop at the Paul Klee Museum, where students created different pieces of art in the style of Klee. They learned techniques using watercolors, oil paints, and even egg tempera. After learning about his life and admiring his artwork, we topped off the day with some delicious ice cream!
On Wednesday, we began the day by tidying up our rooms and checking out of the youth hostel. We then visited the Bern History Museum, where students explored how people lived from the early 19th century to the time of knights and kings. After a day full of learning and exploration, we returned home to Zürich.
Overall, the trip was a wonderful success! Students exhibited responsibility and bravery, learning not only from the activities but also from each other as they navigated a big city and the independence of having their own hostel rooms. We had a lot of fun and hopefully made some great memories.
 

Catherine Harris, Teacher Primary 4

Science: Astronomy 
This month we were working on Astronomy. We learnt about how Astronauts lives are and how they eat, sleep and work. The phases of the moon where also included in our subject.
Our project: After learning about all these different things we were assigned to make a poster about astronomy and everything we learned. We had to describe the phases of the moon, how the astronauts live, about revolution (the earths movement around the sun) and rotation (the earth turning around its own axis). We decorated them with lots of fun and anticipation.
Our second project:We had to then make a mars rover. First, we planned and wrote a letter to NASA to accept our rovers! Then we started to craft and make our rovers. We made the cameras, the battery….it all looked so realistic!
Afterwards we handed in our rovers and hoped that we would get another fun topic for science!
 

Beatrice, Daniel 

Maths
In German we have a topic about fractions. We have been learning about mixed fractions, proper fractions and improper fractions. For example, this is a mixed fraction: 2 ½ and this is an improper fraction: 5/2 .
Both fractions are the same size just written in different ways. We learned how to transform an improper fraction to a mixed fraction. We have also learned about proper fractions where the numerator (number on top) is smaller than the denominator (number on the bottom). For example, a real fraction is like this:2/4.
 

Thomas, Lina, Zoe

Project week

In project week the Schools Topic was Health. We had Monday to Thursday for Project Week and then Friday was a normal day. Year 5 and 6 had the same program. This will be about Year 5 and 6.
Monday
On Monday we were supposed to do sport outside, but it was raining so instead we split into groups of two or three and created our own five-minute-long podcasts. Later, in the day we visited the local store called Aldi and found out how much sugar was in different products.
Tuesday
On Tuesday we went to Bouncelab for the entire morning. Afterwards we went back to school and prepared for the brunch on Wednesday. We also wrote thankfulness cards to people we were thankful for in our family or the community.
Wednesday
On Wednesday it was the day of the Brunch, so a few kids made smoothies, and the rest watched some SRF Kids News. After 30 minutes our Brunch started so everyone took a cup full of delicious smoothie and some fruit, healthy pancakes, healthy muffins and granola bars all home made by us.
Thursday
On Thursday Year 5 and 6 were going into the forest for a hike all the way from School to Pfannenstiel. All the kids played the whole time. Some kids had marshmallows, so we grilled some of them. A kids group out of 4 people (Ferry, Penelope, Beatrice and Elias) even built a hole that was very nice with leaves and twigs.

Evan, Penelope
 

Der SIS-Cup ist ein sportlicher Anlass, bei dem die SIS-Schulen aus der ganzen Welt – unter anderem aus Brasilien, Italien, Deutschland und der Schweiz – in verschiedenen Wettkämpfen gegeneinander antreten.
Am 13. Mai 2025 sind Julien, Henrik, Marc, Penelope, Alice, Charlène und Miss French um 7:30 Uhr zum SIS-Cup nach Regensburg gereist. Es waren sehr intensive Tage: Die Schülerinnen und Schüler nahmen an zahlreichen sportlichen Disziplinen teil, wie zum Beispiel Unihockey, Basketball, Weitsprung und weiteren Wettkämpfen.
 

Um beim SIS-Cup mitmachen zu können, braucht man sportliches Können, Teamgeist und eine gute Portion Athletik. Die Teilnehmenden müssen sich körperlich anstrengen, im Team zusammenarbeiten, mit Stress umgehen und manchmal auch mit Enttäuschungen umgehen können – selbst Tränen gehören dazu.
Unser Team hat mit grossem Einsatz und vorbildlichem Verhalten den Fairness-Pokal gewonnen. Wir sind sehr stolz auf ihre Leistung.
Go SIS Männedorf!
 

Penelope 
Ich war sehr aufgeregt, als ich das Gelände gesehen habe. Mein Highlight war der Parkour es machte sehr viel Spass über die Hindernisse zu springen.
Charlène
Mein Highlight war, dass wir den Fairness Pokal gewonnen haben und als ich Dritte im Mile-Run geworden bin.
Alice
Mein Highlight war als wir den Fairness Pokal gewonnen haben. Ich war ein bisschen enttäuscht, weil wir es am ersten Tag nicht so gut gemacht haben, aber es ist okay und ich bin zufrieden.
Henrik
Mein Highlight war, das ich die Medaille in Frisbey-Golf gewonnen habe. Ich hatte sehr viel Spass.
 

Did you know that around 26% of the world’s landfill waste consists of paper, despite most of it being recyclable?
In April the Sustainability Team had their first “Swap Shop” event, aimed at promoting re-use and reducing waste within our school community. Children and families were invited to bring in gently used books to be swapped and shared, to give our much-loved stories a new lease on life.
The Sustainability Team collected, sorted and ran the shop over the day. Each grade had a collection of books to choose from at their allocated time. All children could take one book, regardless of whether they had donated a book. At the end of the day, we had a “fire sale” where anyone could take as many as they wanted. 
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our school families, over 300 books were collected and rehomed during the event! From colourful picture books to exciting chapter books, there was something for every reader to discover and enjoy. The event not only encouraged a love of reading but also highlighted the importance of sustainable choices in everyday life.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to all the parents who donated books and supported the Swap Shop. Your contributions helped make the event a great success and showed just how powerful our community can be when we work together for a good cause. 
Our next event is Monday 07.07.2025. The theme is “Toys and games.” If you would like to donate lightly used toys or games, please send them with your child by 03.07.2025. We will send more info via email. 
We look forward to more sustainability-focused events in the future! 
 

Catherine Harris, Teacher Primary 4 and leading the sustainability team