Hallo!!! Well it would be fair to say that 2020 brought a number of interesting opportunities to the students studying German at Christchurch Girls’ High School.

 It was to be the year where planning for the German 2021 Tour was to take place but that was quickly revised with the onset of Covid and Alert level 4! Instead, our attention was directed to online learning and teaching. Zoom calls, Skypes, Google classroom conversations, video calls, updates on Frau Schmidt’s new puppy who arrived 2 days before lockdown, and the list goes on…. It would also be fair to say that the German students embraced online learning like pro 21st century learners.

Zoom calls became a norm, (break-out rooms being a real hit!), even if it was just to keep in touch, not to work, but to simply say ‘hi’ ‘hallo!’ and ‘how are you all doing?’ ‘wie geht es dir?’

 Themed lessons from Winter uniform day, pet day and pink day all made for plenty of fun moments via the IT world of ‘zoom’ during online German lessons.

When asked, would you return to lockdown? The percentage in favour was overwhelming, which did come as a bit of a surprise. Having time to sleep a bit more, eat when you wanted to and cook and bake a lot more, sit in the sun, play with pets, go for more walks…all contributed to the feeling that for some, home was not such a bad place to spend lockdown in. A few however, hated every moment and could not wait to be back in the classroom!!!

What lockdown provided was a chance to bring life down to a more simplistic level, students were not needing to be here, there, and everywhere. It allowed for more moments to discuss the culture of the language and for some classes, they finally had time to try and bake a: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake). 

Try a German dish with sausages, mashed potatoes and Rotkohl (red cabbage). Senior students found Unorthodox on Netflix and some re-watched Deutschland ’83 and ’86!!

Food was and will always be a highlight of German classes!! No seniors ever leave Frau Schmidt’s classes without ‘ ein Stück Kuchen‘ to end the year on. 

Junior classes also enjoyed freshly baked Bretzeln to celebrate an incredible year of success, learning about the German language and culture.

Results were most definitely important to the classes learning German at Years 9 -13, but what we found this year that was even more important, was making it to the end of the year learning a bit more about oneself, those in fellow German classes, and celebrating, regardless of what the year dealt us!

We look forward to 2021 with open arms and feel as a subject area, after the events of 2020, that ‘We have got this!’ So from myself and my German students we wish you all safe and happy holidays and we trust that you will all find rest over the Christmas and New Year break.

Wir wünschen Euch und Euren Familie eine frohe Weihnachten und ein schönes neues Jahr!!

Frau Schmidt 😊 und die deutsche Schülerinnen!