Dear friends of the Stella School!
Before the school year ends, we would like to get in touch with you again before the holidays. This year, the second round of the Cambridge exam took place for the fourth graders in the elementary school. The external examiners praised them highly: “We have rarely seen a group that was so well prepared, but also so nice and respectful.” A great compliment!
In the last days before the end of school, there were many excursions, graduation parties, camping trips and much more – you can learn a lot about the school life from the newsletter. We concluded the school year with school services in Vienna and Seebenstein, where we thanked from the bottom of our hearts for all the beautiful and exciting things in the past school year.
As always, a look beyond the immediate school life: The construction project in DonauCity is progressing rapidly, in Seebenstein there was an architectural competition for the planned extension for the secondary level, and in Salzburg we are preparing for the start of a small elementary school from autumn 2023. We have a lot of exciting things ahead of us…
I would like to thank you all for the wonderful cooperation and support and wish you and your families a wonderful relaxing summer!
I am already looking forward to the next school year!
Sincerely yours
Heidi Burkhart & the team of Stella International School
Contents
- Stella Seebenstein
- After-school care (Vienna)
- Kindergarten (Vienna)
- Primary School (Vienna)
- Secondary School (Vienna)
Stella Seebenstein
About 170 guests celebrated with us the first successful school and kindergarten year on June 16. In beautiful weather, our visitors enjoyed the performances and the children enjoyed game stations (face painting, braiding, can shooting, 11m shooting, target spraying, water slide, …). The physical well-being was also well taken care of. We were especially happy to welcome many children for the coming school year. In an incredibly relaxed atmosphere, all present enjoyed the successful celebration.
The Stella educational campus Seebenstein will be expanded in the next few years. Therefore, an architectural competition was announced. Now the winners have been determined and we congratulate the winning architects Robin Jax and Markus Ableidinger-Escudero as well as their architectural office WIR-ZT ARCHITEKTUR very much. We look forward to the planning and implementation of this project.
The summer season has also started in our kindergarten!
The doll corner was transformed into an ice cream parlor, which is very well visited by the children. Due to the hot temperatures, we sought shade under the trees in the garden and had a lot of fun splashing around.
Our two oldest kindergarten children will be elementary school children starting in the fall! We gave them a ceremonial send-off at the Campusfest, and their eyes sparkled when they were handed their school cones.
Immediately afterwards, they proudly marched up to the second floor to the elementary school, where they were already able to participate in classes this week. It is great that the anticipation of school now accompanies our „big ones“ through the summer.
„You do not carry the root,
but the root carries you.“
In mid-June, Florian Vorisek, a Catholic of Jewish descent, visited our school and introduced the children to the tradition of Judaism in the course of religious education. He immersed us in the life and culture of the people of Israel. We listened eagerly to his stories, celebrated Shabbat with him, and tried our hand at writing in Hebrew script. Some of us were allowed to walk dry-footed through the Jordan River with the Ark of the Covenant. We danced full of joy at the Word of God and marveled at the many unfamiliar characters in the Torah.
Also Jewish garments like a kippah or a prayer shawl with the tzitzit were explained to the children in their meaning and even tried on. We thank Florian for this wonderful insight and knowledge about the many connections between Judaism and Christianity.
On June 21, all fourth grade students successfully passed the cycling test. Afterwards, the children were escorted back to school with flashing blue lights. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the police officers, the children were able to receive their cycling licenses on the same day.
Just in time for the beginning of summer and with wonderful bathing weather, a visit to the Seebenstein outdoor pool was the best way to cool off. We are infinitely grateful to have this opportunity right on our doorstep. With pleasant water temperatures, we had a lot of fun sliding and jumping.
After a 30-minute walk, the children took a good snack on the castle lawn before they were allowed to visit Seebenstein Castle. At last we were able to take a look inside the impressive building that towers over our school. We learned many interesting things about the medieval building and its inhabitants.
The teachers‘ team would like to thank the parents for the great end-of-school present. The children have already inaugurated the gift with great joy.
Stella DonauCity
The construction project in DonauCity is progressing rapidly!
After-school care (Vienna)
The after-school care year is also coming to an end. At the end, a trip to Laxenburg was made. Immediately after the last lesson the children packed their lunches and boarded the bus. When they arrived in Laxenburg, they had a picnic in the shade. Despite the warm temperatures, the children enjoyed the extensive playground very much. They climbed, slid, swung, ran and, above all, laughed a lot!
Kindergarten (Vienna)
We didn’t let the end of the year end comfortably in the kindergarten, instead we dedicated ourselves to a project theme with the children again. This year, we chose the theme „Sea“. For three weeks, all three groups offered daily activities on the topic of the sea. During the morning circle, the children were allowed to decide which activity they would like to take part in and in which group. There was something for every child. There were artistic activities, picture books, experiments, factual discussions, baking and much more. In this way, the children were able to learn more about the topic according to their preferences.
At the end of the project, each child created a work of art on the theme of the sea, which is now on display in the kindergarten. As a final activity, all groups visited the House of the Sea.
Primary School (Vienna)
Bright children’s eyes, successful stations and great weather. Thank you for the successful Summer Festival 2023!
Our elementary school children initiated a project for children in need on their own. In the process, they collected a total of 100€ in donations. Congratulations! And a big thank you to all donors.
On the tracks of an Austrian artist: The children were impressed by Hundertwasser’s architecture with its colorfulness, individuality and closeness to nature.
In the fossil world Stetten we saw the fossil remains of the tropical sea, which was once in the Weinviertel.
And the children of grade 4a are busy riding their bikes during the bike exam in the traffic garden.
Diving into the sea of books – 4a visits the Austrian National Library.
Together, classes 2a,2b and 3a drove to Kaiserbrunn („Emperor’s fountain“) in imperial weather to visit the source of our Viennese water. After a march over hill and dale, we walked through the Rax area to the source of the water. Mr. Maslo showed and explained a lot of new things to us.
The 2nd graders attended „Danube Day“ and learned a lot about what animals live in the Danube, where the Danube flows, what keeps it clean, and who takes care of it.
And our 4th grade class had a trip to the museum village Niedersulz to finish the school year….
… as well as an overnight party with picnic and lots of games.
Secondary School (Vienna)
The 2nd grade went to the Waldviertel (Lower Austria) from June 26 – 28 for camping days. Arriving in Arbesbach, we went directly to a beautiful swimming pond to swim, play and eat ice cream. Arriving at the accommodation, the tents were set up, games were played, a carving workshop was held and dinner was eaten.
The first night was reasonably calm, but the morning and the rest of the day were accompanied by cold wind. In the morning Prof. Spalek came and we celebrated Holy Mass together. We braved the weather and in the afternoon we set out for a canoe workshop in Raabs an der Thaya. That was a great experience! Afterwards we were invited to the parents‘ house of Prof. Kropfreiter to watch a movie and to have a snack.
Much too early we had to pack up the next day. We enjoyed the days very much!
In our class we diligently collected food and cutlery for the homeless. After that, the three 1st grade students went to Barbara, who has been cooking for about 30 homeless people every day for 40 years, and gave her the food. The conversation with her was very friendly and interesting. It was a very successful action! She also gave us the prayer and the saying.
Benjamin, 1st grade high school
The 1st grade learned about the many possibilities of collage in visual education. Using examples from the artist Hanoch Piven, the students worked in small groups to create their own portraits from objects they had previously collected at home. The students had great fun finding and putting together the faces in an original way.
Finally, in visual education, everything revolved around the students‘ own handwriting in the form of handlettering. The units were held in English and the students presented sayings that mean a lot to them and then drew them creatively on the paper. In the spirit of Leader In Me, sayings such as, „Be proactive“ and „Have the end in mind“ were also chosen. The outstanding work is really something to be proud of.
At the end of the non-binding creative design exercise, we worked with real ink. The fascination with the deep black and the properties of the ink was great, as was the desire to experiment.
The last big project of the 1st grade in handicrafts was the construction of their own wooden suitcase, for example to keep their work and drawing things. In addition to drawing plans and knowledge about wood, the students learned mainly practically how to get from a few wooden boards to the finished workpiece.
Starting with the basics of the electric circuit, the 2nd grade built their own doodling machines. The enthusiasm was almost as great when screwing and soldering together as when testing the finished doodling machines.
In the 2nd grade, the sewing machine is part of the curriculum in handicrafts. After initial exercises on paper, the students quickly learned how to operate the machines and sewed their own chosen lettering onto fabric bags using zigzag stitch. These were then proudly presented in the school building.
