The German And French School welcomed 1,500 students enrolling and visiting the new location in the Qingpu District at the beginning of last month, and opened for the new semester on September 5.

The new school is located in No.30 Zhuguang Road, Lane 399, Qingpu District, and covers an area of 50,000 square meters.

The chief representative of the school Detlef Ernst said that it was designed by renowned German architect, Dietmar Berner, and was planned to be built two years ago.

It is a mixed-type building with both Chinese and European styles. There is a big lecture stage with an area at about 200 square meters in the school for students to hold parties and meetings.

The main buildings are like towers with sharp roofs. Every two buildings are connected by a long and wide access which is just like a "bridge" in the traditional Chinese style.

The combined school with both German students and French students are taught by separate teachers.

The German school offers classes from kindergarten to high school with 40 classrooms. The numbers of students has growing rapidly from four kids at the very beginning to 520 students from grade one to grade 12 and 150 kids in the kindergarten in total now.

The German students are following a German system of curriculum.

Before taking the German High School Diploma (Abitur - the highest attainable graduation in Germany), they may study Chinese as their third foreign language besides English and French.

Most of the subjects are taught by German teachers; English in the Primary School and Chinese however are taught by native speakers. Besides the traditional subjects of the German curriculum there are even lessons in  Chinese culture as paper cutting and calligraphy.

"All of the students are very interested in Chinese culture. In my opinion, it is necessary for them to have a further understanding of the Chinese culture while they are in China," said Jurgen Schumann, principal of the school.

Schumann said that the students will also be taught how to live and design their lives. That means they will be encouraged to plan for their futures as modern global players.

The students have to stay at school for the whole day from 8am to 5pm, having their lessons and doing some sports in the school.

After class, an armada of 46 buses is bringing the students to their homes in Shanghai.

Due to the subsidies of the German government, the tuition fee at the German School is less than at other international schools: US$12,000 per year for each child.

"Besides their German High School Diploma, the students can achieve the Cambridge Certificate which entitles them to enter English speaking universities worldwide.

Together with the German Abitur, it will help them to further their studies in Germany and overseas tackling the chanllenges of a globalized world," said Schumann.

The school's Shanghai partner school is the "Foreign Language Middle School" where students learn German as their first foreign language.

Same as other Chinese students, they can take part in the Gaokao (university entrance examination in China) as well. There is another special test for them: The German Language Diploma.

After six years of studying German, they take this German Language Diploma which is organized and prepared by the German School on behalf of the German Ministries of Culture.

Together with the Gaokao this diploma entitles the Chinese students to enter a German University.

This year, 21 students have passed this diploma, five of them will study at the Hamburg University.

"Even this is part of the German School's success story,'' Schumann proudly comments.

(Shanghai Daily October 10, 2005)