About Nelson Mandela School
Nelson Mandela School Berlin 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 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 Mr. 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 wherever and whenever we can – be it in our classrooms or beyond.
How would you rate Nelson Mandela School?
Relocating to Berlin?
Let us help you with our network of 500+ accredited international moving specialists.
Find Out More >Curriculum
German, IB
Primary Language
English
Ages
6 to 18
Max Class Size
Unknown
Featured schools in the area
BBIS is a dynamic school that caters for all students in a highly personalised manner.
Create Your Shortlist
You can easily add Nelson Mandela School to your shortlist.
Just click the heart and any time you like, visit My Shortlist via the button at the bottom of the screen
Your International School Advisor profile page could help increase your school's visibility and reputation.
More Info >29 Reviews of Nelson Mandela School
Average Ratings
Reviewer Nationalities
How would you rate Nelson Mandela School?
The school claims to be international but most students stay there the whole time. It’s not set up to support and accommodate kids moving from abroad. There are massive issues with hiring enough teachers, there are many cancelled classes due to teacher absences. Over all it’s a very disorganised and unsupportive school.
Reviews from Google
Recent reviews posted on Google.
 | Rating: |
Emily Smith, a week ago
We have been very happy at NMS with two kids starting in 2010. The community is strong, the international perspective of kids and families in refreshing, and the education is mostly on target. It is not as "highly mobile" as advertised but we see this as an advantage. Families are committed to Berlin and friendship flourish. As a public school, there are not as many resources as private schools, but it also means the economic backgrounds of families is diverse. Most kids are fluent in German AND English at home, many bringing a third language into the mix. Kids are more than just tolerant of differences, they seem to celebrate it when new kids enter the school who might come from unique backgrounds. I feel like my kids are challenged, without being anxious about learning. In 9th and 10th grade, they are still curious and active learners in almost all of their classes. Kids care about grades, but not so much that they lose sleep over it. The main drawback would be at times the administration and scheduling can be unorganized. On the optimistic side, kids learn to respond to a little chaos and be flexible. Lastly, we chose NMS so we would not have to change schools later on and face the lottery/crapshoot of applying to schools again after 6th grade. Knowing that our kids would be at NMS until high school graduation (they can choose from IB or Abitur) was a big selling point as we found navigating the German system as foreigners a challenge.
| Rating: |
Ralph Size, 10 months ago
We moved to Berlin from Asia some time ago and our son was admitted to NMS - we were in for a terrible and surreal experience. This school fails on so many levels, where to start..? - Above all, this is NOT an international school, so if you are an expat moving to Berlin stay clear. On paper, the school caters to "highly mobile" families but in reality, none of the kids in our class had ever lived abroad. It seems to be enough that one parent is non-German, but come on, 30% of Berlin's population is foreign, so that's the wrong criterion! As a result, parents at the school are not open-minded and there is no sense of community as you would normally find in expat circles. - Some people have commented on the school being racist. I guess that is partly true but it's not the kind of racism you would expect - what we experienced was a form of reverse racism. The school has a strange fixation on Africa. The curriculum and the school calendar are all about Africa - other parts of the world are ignored, and people seem to hold reservations againts the US and Asia in particular. As a result, children with at least one African parent are treated better than kids with parents from other parts of the world. As our child grew up in Asia, we wanted to make sure that he will be at an international school where his Asian background is cherished and appreciated. At NMS, the opposite happened. No one ever talked about Asia, Asian traditions or history, it was all about Africa and North Africa (Maghreb), so our son felt marginalized and unappreciated. - Academic standards are lower than average, so you will have a hard time changing schools once your kid is older. Several of our friends from school failed to secure a spot for their kids at other schools because they were too far behind academically. - As many have pointed out, the administration is a mess, teachers are not motivated, staff are calling in sick frequently. - Sex education in first grade: Our child was taught all about sexual intercourse, how it works, the technicalities of it. I kid you not, in first grade, at the age of seven! What is wrong with you people? - Safety concerns: As pointed out by others, accidents happen frequently at this school due to a lack of monitoring, sloppy staff and a chaotic administration.
| Rating: |
Alperen ergur, 9 months ago
I learned this place is self-contradictory: schools' target is highly mobile international families, BUT the school only admits students whose mother tongue is German or English.
