On Friday 23 September, St George’s International School in Luxembourg-Hamm welcomed over 240 guests into its new Auditorium to celebrate the inauguration of the new Zinnen building.
Proceedings commenced with a performance from the Philharmonie’s talented ‘Henri Pensis Quartet’; whose beautiful string repertoire emphasised the excellently balanced acoustics of the Auditorium.
Dr Barkei, the Principal introduced the ceremony and spoke of how St George’s is a testament to the generous and consistent support the school has received from the City of Luxembourg and the Luxembourgish Government. "Tonight marks a true milestone in how far we have come… we have grown, moved and developed. What has not changed is the ethos of the school". Dr Barkei completed his speech with "A St George’s student is given the opportunity to develop into an individual with intellect, compassion, drive and determination. The world is our home and it is up to us to shape our destiny. I look forward to that journey with you this year with anticipation and enthusiasm."
St George’s was very privileged to have the Luxembourgish Mayor, Mme Lydie Polfer, and Luxembourg's Minister for National Education, Claude Meisch, to formally open the new Zinnen building by doing the honours of cutting the red ribbon.
Special guests also included the patron of the school and British Ambassador, John Marshall, and Peadar Carpenter, the Irish Ambassador to Luxembourg.
Mme Lydie Polfer spoke of how St George’s has students of 52 different nationalities and how the school represents the development of Luxembourg City over the past 25 years. Minister Claude Miesch congratulated the school and spoke of how the ministry of Education and the City of Luxembourg were very happy to support St George’s to help enhance education within Luxembourg.
St George’s Primary Choir put smiles on everyone’s faces as they sang ‘Schéin Dech Ze Gesinn’, the upbeat ‘Iko Iko’ song and ‘I Am The Earth’. Secondary’s Year 12 students captivated the audience with their professional duologue from ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ by the famous playwright, Oscar Wilde. Secondary students closed the ceremony with ‘Etude No.4’ by J.B Cramer on the Marimba and a beautifully played piano piece, ‘September in the rain’ by Harry Warren.
After the ceremony guests enjoyed a champagne reception with canapés outside on the newly landscaped grounds; guests were also given the opportunity to have a tour of the new building.
The Zinnen building, named in honour of the Luxembourgish composer Jean Antoine Zinnen, opened its doors to students on their first day back on the 5th September this academic year. The Zinnen building has 5 floors in total and forms a new centrepiece of the school, situated between the Primary and Secondary buildings. Events like these gives St George’s the opportunity to showcase the school in a positive light and invite special guests and friends to share and appreciate all the school’s achievements over the past quarter of a century.
Over the past 25 years St George’s has gone from 12 students on the top floor of a small rented school building, to approximately 750 students representing over 52 countries in purpose-built accommodation in Hamm. This rich diversity provides a unique and exciting learning environment for every child. To prepare our students to be outstanding 21st century global citizens, St George’s nurtures strong values in their students, based on mutual understanding and respect.
