Im Schuljahr 2022/23 erarbeitete der Vorstand gemeinsam mit Schulleiter Oliver Schmitz und Commercial Director Matthias Krauss ein kurzes Strategiepapier, unsere "Agenda 2030".  Dabei wurde die Entwicklung der Schule in den letzten Jahren betrachtet und Anregungen und Rückmeldungen von verschiedenen Stakeholdern, wie zum Beispiel die Ergebnisse der Elternbefragungen, berücksichtigt. Das Papier legt unsere Ambitionen für die nächsten Jahre dar und zeigt auf, wie wir diese erreichen wollen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Schule auch in den kommenden Jahren attraktiv bleibt. Es fasst zusammen, was wir bereits tun, was wir anstreben und wie wir dies erreichen wollen. 

Preamble

Our purpose is “to establish maintain and conduct for the benefit of the public in or in the neighbourhood of London a German School for the general education of children, to educate children and adults in the language, literature and general culture of Germany and to promote the study of German culture in England and of English culture in Germany.” (Articles of Association of the German School Association Ltd.)  

We fulfil this purpose by operating a German overseas school (Deutsche Auslandsschule) regulated and supported by the Central Agency for Overseas Schools (Zentralstelle für Auslandschulwesen), a department of the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). The German School London is accredited by the German and British education regulators.  

This Agenda 2030 sets out the framework, principles and strategic objectives which will guide the school through the next years.  

Our Mission  

Our mission statement (Leitbild) sets out the ethos of our school. It is summarised in four core statements that express the community spirit which the school endeavours to live by:  
Living Together  
Learning Together  
Creating Together  
Building Bridges Together  

Gemeinsam Leben Gemeinsam Lernen Gemeinsam gestalten Gemeinsam Brücken bauen  

Our mission statement sets out our values and aspirations on how we live and learn together and how we expect our school community to interact. It contains the principles that guide the implementation of our charitable purpose.  

Our strategic focus in the period until 2030 is on the following themes:

The German School London puts pupils and their wellbeing at the centre of its activities. 
We promote equal access to education for pupils with special needs and also to those less privileged.  

We have a dedicated team of child psychologists, special educational needs specialists and social workers. We regularly review the need in this area and endeavour to adapt and strengthen the provision in line with requirements.  

The school has a budget for bursaries, from which fee reductions for members of the school community can be funded.  

We are seeking to establish an endowment fund to put financial support on a sustainable and long term footing.  

We regard ourselves as the starting point for educational biographies with a strong connection to Germany.  

The school offers tuition from Kindergarten through to High School. Strong early years create a sustainable foundation for the school as a whole.  

We endeavour to enable all of our pupils to be fluent on an academic level in both German and English and invest in language acquisition throughout the curriculum.  

We prepare our older students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes, so they are well prepared for life after school and can access opportunities in Germany, the UK and worldwide.  

Our main language of tuition is German. We offer additional language support to those who would benefit from further lessons in German, but also in English.  

We offer community events and provide a forum for German cultural events. This includes regular festivities as well as literary and musical events, such as readings and concerts.  

We cooperate with other German cultural institutions operating in the UK such as the DAAD as well as the German Embassy.  

Our Kindergarten offering is strengthened to offer attractive early years education for all with an interest in the German language and Germany.  

We provide specific career advice on how opportunities in Germany as well as the UK. The school will enhance careers counselling including by hiring additional specialists.  

We embody and convey democratic values and encourage social and ecological engagement. 
We foster participatory pedagogy where all stakeholders, pupils, parents and staff see eye to eye.  

We seek to abide by our mission statement in everything we do and seek to instil these values in our diverse and international school community.  

We seek regular feedback from parents and students. 
We offer on-going development opportunities to our teachers.  

Our school offers ample opportunity for pupils to participate democratically. Students elect their own representatives. A new school development structure will give them an additional voice.  

The school encourages car-free travel to and from the school and will continue to do so. We are using solar panels on our roof to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and are planning to install more.  

We strive to maintain the highest accreditations from our regulators and measure ourselves against the standards set by Ofsted for outstanding schools and by the ZfA for Excellent German Schools Abroad.  

Our workforce is our most important asset. We provide a culture of transparency and feedback and invest in their development, so they can excel in their work and have a long term future at the school.  

We invest in our site in Richmond, so we can provide high quality facilities across all areas of the school and for all of our approximately 900 students.  

We conduct regular training to ensure our organisation and our staff are prepared to meet high standards.  

Investments in the site are regular and cover maintenance as well as improvements. This includes refurbishment of the listed main building, reconfiguration of room usage as well as maintenance of the out-door sports facilities.