Dr Christian Barkei, Principal;
Credit: St George’s International School Luxembourg
After two months of summer holidays, pupils of St George's International School Luxembourg will return to their classrooms for the start of the 2022/23 academic year next week.
St George’s International School Luxembourg opened its doors in 1990. It currently represents a community of over 850 pupils aged three to eighteen (and up) years of more than 60 nationalities.
Ahead of the first day of the new autumn term, on Monday 5 September 2022, Chronicle.lu had the opportunity to speak with Dr Christian Barkei, Principal of St George's International School Luxembourg, about the school's plans and any potential challenges foreseen for this year. On behalf of the school, Dr Barkei stated: "We are delighted to be able to start in September with fewer restrictions and are very much looking forward to a successful and happy new school year".
Chronicle.lu: Looking ahead to the new school year, what do you see as the main challenges this year, both academically and administratively?
Dr Christian Barkei: Academically, we will continue to aim for excellent results and outcomes, while supporting all our students socially and pastorally. After the disruption of the last two years, we are hoping to return to normal school life as soon as possible. Administratively, we will continue to plan for COVID-19 cases possibly rising in the autumn term, but ultimately we will be hoping for things to return to normal.
Chronicle.lu: On the academic side, is the school adding any new subjects / options to the syllabus for students?
Dr Christian Barkei: We always review the subjects and choices available in the school. St George's offers a very wide variety of subjects to cater for all interests and abilities; we will keep the syllabus under review moving forward.
Chronicle.lu: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals and organisations became creative and innovative. Are there any such lessons from the past two years that the school has taken on board / implemented for the new school year even though restrictions have eased?
Dr Christian Barkei: We have taken on board and implemented several health measures as we feel they are useful in combating not just the spread of COVID-19 but also other illnesses. Some of these measures include having hand sanitisers placed around the school and encouraging staff and students to sanitise regularly. We also take the temperatures of all students and staff on entry using remote cameras. All of our classrooms and offices are well ventilated and are fitted with CO2 detectors. Additionally, we will continue the ongoing cleaning throughout the day of all common areas and deeper cleaning overnight. We also encourage students to use their own water bottles instead of single-use plastic bottles.
There has also been a lot of innovation during the pandemic and we now have many flexible options available. We may continue with online meetings and planning sessions and will consider remote parent-teacher meetings and remote conferences and workshops for staff professional development.
Chronicle.lu: Do you expect the new school year to allow more activities outside the school campus, e.g. class outings, school trips and sports games involving travel to other schools / venues?
Dr Christian Barkei: Yes. We are trying very hard to return to our pre-pandemic level of activity. Towards the end of the last school year, our students participated in school trips to New York, Barcelona and Paris, while we sent groups to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Borneo over the summer holidays.
Chronicle.lu: Is the school doing away with online meetings altogether now or are they still being retained for some purposes?
Dr Christian Barkei: We will keep online meetings as an option, especially for parents, staff and governors. We also have the option of hybrid meetings. We always prefer to meet face to face, but in some cases that's just not logistically possible. It is a very useful tool to have.
