Deutsche Schule Melbourne (DSM) is planning to introduce a secondary school program by offering Year 7 in 2026. We encourage interested families to submit a written Expression of Interest to our Admissions Manager Stefanie Dietrich.
The DSM Secondary School program refines students’ language skills to native speaker level, by immersing them in bilingual and bicurricular learning that leaves them equally comfortable communicating in either German or English. By diving deeply into conceptual thinking, problem solving and current affairs in both languages, children develop the competencies they need to flourish in a complex world.
We aim to prepare our students for their future as global citizens. Through continued in-depth exposure to two languages and cultural contexts, we enable our students to critically reflect on their own culture as well as develop a strong understanding of the cultures of others. By offering a strong educational foundation, we aim to enable our students to smoothly transition into further education in Australia, Germany or internationally.
Students who join from another Primary School to commence Secondary School at DSM should ideally have prior knowledge of the German language. However, special consideration will be given to academically gifted children in exceptional circumstances who had no exposure to the German language via our Late-Entry Accelerated Pathway. Please discuss options with our Admissions Manager Stefanie Dietrich.
In our Secondary School program, 50% of lessons are taught in German and 50% in English.
In Years 7 and 8, students naturally expand their focus from family and community interests to the wider world. We believe that DSM’s bilingual and bicurricular setting is the perfect place to nurture this stage of development.
As with our primary school program, the DSM secondary program will meet the requirements of both the Victorian Curriculum and the German Curriculum. The German curriculum fosters a culture of discussing, debating and forming opinions. The Victorian curriculum regards subjects from an interdisciplinary perspective, allowing students to see how skills and knowledge can be transferred between subject areas.
Experienced specialist teachers from Germany and Australia will join DSM to bring this academic style to life in Melbourne.
This well-rounded academic program will also prepare our students for a wide range of tertiary pathways, both locally and internationally.
English and German literacy will continue to be at the heart of our curriculum, alongside Mathematics. Together, these three disciplines unlock understanding of all other areas.
We have a strong focus on teaching our students Science and Humanities. These fields are broken down into distinct discipline, such as History, Geography, Civics, Biology, Physics and Chemistry.
Physical Education, Music and The Arts also remain crucial parts of our teaching program.
Our pedagogy focuses on students developing deep learning and problem-solving strategies, rather than rote learning.
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