Learning

Due to its limited size and individual student-focused approach, SKIS is uniquely positioned to offer a truly custom-tailored education option for each of our students, reflective of their aims, dreams, and aspirations.

We believe in a combination of academic quality, creative modes of learning, and multicultural curriculum, in a safe English speaking environment of a private European school. Mastering all the nuances of the literature language – English, German, or a mother tongue – is no easy feat, hence our commitment to a creative application of the concepts and vocabulary learned in class.

To facilitate the task we are carefully mixing the methods of assessment, both in the classroom, on co-curricular activities, and beyond. This means that not only do students spend carefully allocated class hours on covering various literature pieces and text types in detail and then test their knowledge against formal checks such as exams, essays, orals, etc, but they also revise the learned concepts and vocabulary through a creative format of plays and drama.

We adhere to the highest academic quality standards through the use of our own progress tracking system, regular reports to the parents, student leadership meetings, peer-to-peer cooperation, and homework supervision time.

From a young age, students MUST work on gaining knowledge, skills and abilities through challenging and consistent intellectual labor, vital and necessary for development of the brain, cognitive connections and neural networks.

SKIS students:

– write by hand so that the relevant hemisphere of the brain develops

– memorize axioms and formulas for logical thinking to emerge

– learn by heart poems, dates, and to definitions, enabling the transformation of short-term memory into long-term knowledge

– read classical literature and watch high-quality movies to nurture imaginative thinking, excellent vocabulary and educated speech

– practice conscious and prepared public speaking to gain oratory skills

– study, practice, and perceive classical art, music, and dance to encourage informed and consistent creativity

This is a learning journey which requires time, effort, and consistency. Waiting up can cost you your child.

Our students are taught to remain critical and ethical thinkers at the times of fake news, click thinking, and information overdose.

Due to the no-gadget policy, SKIS protects its students from the flows of information clogging their consciousness, forming click thinking, damaging cognitive processes and often irrevocably hindering abilities of memorisation and focus.

Due to a rich academic curriculum, SKIS provides them with access to quality scientific and scholarly information, teaches them how to use this information, to analyze it, and to extract answers to the questions posed.

Our students are well-read, principled, and intelligent. They speak up about what they know and know what they are talking about.

At SKIS, we strive to create a balance between intellectual activity and physical development, providing a range of sports clubs, outdoor venues and extracurricular athletic activities. In general, there is at least one hour of sports every day, various athletic sections, a pre-breakfast stretching routine as well as seasonal skiing trips to the nearby slope.

From October 2021 on, SKIS is an acting member of the Duke of Edinburgh framework, a UK-designed comprehensive system of extracurricular activities and sports, aimed at increasing students’ confidence, resilience, and team working skills.

Through a DofE programme young people have fun, make friends, build confidence, and adopt an ethical attitude to nature and environment around them.
Having a DofE award on their resume also provides students with an additional competitive advantage when applying to college.

Join Filip Damjanovic, PE teacher, as he walks you through our sports and recreation policies at SKIS.

Indeed, few things are more traditional to an Austrian winter than a good satisfying ski ride down the sparkling snowy hill. Our school is no exception, and our students are confident in the use of their skiing and snowboarding skills. ⁣⁣

How do we organize the skiing trips, in addition rather than at the expense of the study time?

First, we change the schedule to ensure that students manage to combine sports with studying, and that they go skiing at the most optimal and effective time. SKIS is all about the student-tailored approach, indeed. We also make sure to collect parents’ consent to skiing in advance as well as the information on students’ equipment and skills. Then we pack our equipment and drive to the closest slope to have our share of mountain sun, fresh air, and breathtaking Alpine views. ⁣⁣

Of course we have our nutritional mid-ski snacks prepared to fuel students’ energy, and our skiing instructors support the beginners and guide the advanced skiers. Aften skiing, we then usually have some hot chocolate and take many – maybe way too many – fun pictures. And get wide smiles, rosy cheeks, and a little bit of sunburn on our faces. It is really worth it though.⁣⁣

Daily life in the Schloss Krumbach International School is shaped by rules and practices that are developed in a student-led democratic process.

A wide range of elected offices, as well as student and staff committees, comprise the school’s student government. By taking part in the school’s Student Leadership, our students meet challenging opportunities that allow them to hone collaborative, communication, motivational, and decision-making skills that make for a good leader.

In addition, by sharing with students the responsibility for their community and daily decisions, we teach them how to treat each other with mutual respect, care, and support. These are the communication cornerstones that eventually will render them successful and proactive as adults, parents and professionals.

Student leadership in our school is a system of relations between students, through which they can help manage key aspects of the school life via democratic processes and independent decision making.

Students form a responsible social position, in particular:

– Sense of belonging. Students realize that they are part of a community which they can help and which helps them in return.

– Social interaction skills. Students learn to express their opinions in a reasoned manner, discuss pressing issues, listen to others, and find compromises.

– Productive teamwork both as a leader and as an implementer.

– Friendship based on achievement of public good. The need for friendship comes to the fore at this age. The student leadership system provides an opportunity to make friends on the basis of creation and productive work.

– Discovery of talents/Talentschmiede. In the student leadership system, students have an opportunity to show and develop their talents.

– Initiative. The student leadership system encourages responsible initiative, with a full support of the school administration.

– Respect for other people’s labor. Only those who work themselves can truly appreciate the labor of other people.

Acquisition of knowledge and skills, for a social position to emerge, comes from constant productive work – the activities aimed at creating something truly useful for the community and others.

At Schloss Krumbach International School, we believe a student’s school years should be a time when they identify passions that can lead to a future profession. The school’s teachers and staff are there to help students find their professional calling.

After graduating from Schloss Krumbach, students may apply to universities around the world. The school has a team of university counselors to help students navigate the university application process.

What does SKIS Career Counseling Service include:

Assisting in choosing between IBDP and A-Levels as well as formulating the strategic subject choice in Pre-Diploma Grade 10; narrowing down the university application choices based on every student’s academic strengths and extracurricular opportunities; holding regular personalized CV and Personal Statement writing workshops, supporting the student in communication with the universities, coordinating provision of timely references and transcripts to the student by academic staff.

Making sure our students make it to the university of their dreams is one of our key priorities as a school, and the Career Counseling Service is always available to provide guidance and support.

Responsibility, Discipline, Knowledge

Democracy, Leadership and Service

Embracing Diversity, Intercultural Tolerance, and Respect

Environmentalism and Sustainability

Inquiry, Innovation and Learning

Adventure, Experiential and Service Learning

Leadership and Communication

Social Responsibility and Proactive Mindset