1st International School in Luxor - visit report

I made a pleasant visit to Luxor’s 1st international school last week. Their name is International German School Luxor; they are now independent . They started the year with 21 students which was a fantastic start and they have a big mixture of nationalities German/Egyptian, British/Egyptian, Egyptian, Italian/Indian. There are 10 kindergarten children and 11 primary (this is much more than other German schools - in Cairo started 8 students 12 years ago).





I am sure the support from Dr Samir Farag whose children go to the Cairo school is no little help. Science, Art and English are taught in English by a Montessori trained American teacher. They are taught history, religion and civics by an Egyptian Muslim who speaks English and German and although Muslim, has studied Christianity.

The atmosphere of the school is bright and welcoming with many examples of the children’s work around.


There was a cute family tree with pictures of the pupils and the leaves representing all the members of their family and hanging from the ceiling were the planets of the solar system.


There was some quality support equipment in all three languages.



I was given little demonstrations in the English and Arabic classes and thought that after only 4 weeks the standard was really high. The children seemed very happy, interested and relaxed. The little ones were listening to a story and one of primary classes was working on the solar system and the other on Arabic.

They are located in a huge villa which they have called Villa Shems (Sunshine House) on the banks of the Nile which even has a small swimming pool which they are making full use of.


They do nature walks in the local area, which is rural and has both agricultural and livestock. The ground floor is for the kindergarten and has a quiet area for naps, facilities for those little accidents that happen at that age. Healthy meals are provided and smelt delicious.

The school year takes account of both local and foreign holidays, I saw Halloween pumpkins, talk of St Martin’s, a German festival and the school had just been closed for 6th October.


I was very impressed to be honest and I think if you have the money it is a great place to send your child.

PS Apologies for the quality of the pictures, I haven’t got a decent camera at the moment and I deliberately didn’t take photos of the kids themselves, these days it is best not to but they were really happy and engaged.

Contact details Klaus Wehmeyer info@ids-luxor.com