The school provides quality bilingual education to children from a wide variety of backgrounds. English and German are our school’s official languages, but we do not stop at introducing our students just to German and Anglo-American values and traditions. As a truly international school and a cooperating member of UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network (ASP), it is our business to acquaint our students with as many different aspects of life on this planet as possible – and to enable them to make a positive difference wherever they go. Being named after Nelson Mandela, sub-Saharan Africa in general and South Africa in particular have a special place in our hearts, and we try and let that show where – and whenever we can – be it in our classrooms or beyond.

Students and Staff

Defining ourselves as a miniature United Nations is a common sense approach at a school whose students come from dozens of different countries. One classroom routinely combines students from countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the U.S. – to name but a few of the nationalities represented in our student body. The school’s teaching staff is just as diverse. Pedagogues from Australia, Canada, Egypt, England, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Scotland, Singapore and the U.S. teach at the school. Many of them also have a long personal history of expatriate work in other countries all across the globe. Those experiences enrich our teaching even further.

History

The Nelson Mandela School was founded in 2000 by the state government of Berlin and is a member of the European Council of International Schools. It is currently enrolling students from year 1 through year 13. At the end of year 10, Nelson Mandela students qualify for the various German lower secondary school-leaving certificates. Students attending our upper secondary section can either graduate with a bilingual German Abitur or the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB). As a government-funded school, we do not charge tuition fees. However, students selecting the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) are required to pay their examination costs, currently EUR 900. Additionally, there are mandatory costs for IB-specific books and equipment of around EUR 750.

 

Photos: Nina Schaper

School Handbook

What, where, who, how, when and why - get answers in our School Handbook.

Middle School (Years 7-10)

Here's some general information on the middle school years.

School program

The School Programme contains information on many aspects of school life.

 School Identity

 School Identity/Leitbild der Schule

School Inspection