Deutsche Schule Kobe/European School (DESK; 神戸ドイツ学院) is a German international school on Rokko Island, in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. The Deutsche Schule Kobe / European School provides a holistic, multilingual education to learners ages 2 to 14. The school provides curriculum in two languages: German and English.
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History
DESK, the second oldest German international school in the Far East region, and one of the oldest schools for foreign students in Japan, was founded in 1909. It was intended to serve expatriate and missionary families from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The school was established as relations between Germany and Japan strengthened.
In 2002 the School Board decided to add an international section: the European School was to serve the English speaking community and teach an international curriculum. Since then, we have provided learners with curricula in German and English.
In 2009 the school moved into its fifth school house on Rokko Island, a beautiful, environmentally friendly building. It is home to a school community which values its history with its German roots and prepares children from various countries and cultures for a shared future.
In Fall 2015, the school opened the doors to its middle school program, which is currently a IB Middle Years Programme Candidate. In 2016 an additional school building was opened to house the growing middle school and provide a larger community meeting space.
Programmes
DESK offers four programmes of instruction based on age: Playgroup (1 to 3 years), Early Years Programme (3 to 5 years), Primary Years Programme (5 to 11 years) and Middle Years (11 to 14 years).
Playgroup
Playgroup is a parent-child programme that meets once a week, Thursday mornings as of 2016, in two groups. The activities focus on introducing children ages 1 to 3 to the school and different cultures, promoting pre-literacy skills, like listening and speaking, and improving social skills.
Early Years Programme
The Early Years Programme consists of a Pre-Kindergarten class (2 years old) and the Early Years/Kindergarten (3 to 5 years old). The Early Years Programme is IB-accredited and prepares learners for entrance into the IB Primary Years Programme.
Learning in the Early Years Programme is centered around supported play in a safe, secure environment. Teachers facilitate play activities that focus on language and reasoning skills, autonomous thinking and problem solving, manipulative skills and creativity, emotional growth and cognitive development.
Primary Years Programme
DESK uses two educational plans to create a comprehensive, inquiry-based programme: the Primary Years Programme authorized by the International Baccalaureate and the Thüringer Curriculum.
Classrooms teachers integrate language, mathematics, science, art, personal and social education, drama and ICT (technology) into units that focus on discovering more about who we are and the larger world. Specialist teachers provide music, physical education and language learning (German, English and/or Japanese).
Middle Years
In 2015, the school expanded by opening a middle school programme.
The DESK middle school is a candidate school* for the Middle Years Programme as of 2016. This school is following the procedural path to obtain authorization as an IB World School.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), or the Diploma Programme (and in addition the IB Career-related Certificate). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.