Listening to the Berlin-based author Christian Duda is simply great fun. His real name is Christian Achmed Gad Elkarim. He is German but of Austrian and Egyptian origin. The title of latest book, "Nothing at all" already characterises the not always unambiguous sense of identity of the 11-year-old boy Magdi, the main character of the book who is of German and Arab descent. The book was awarded several times immediately after publication. Among other things, it was put on the longlist "The most beautiful German books 2017" of the Foundation Book Art and on the recommendation list "White Ravens 2017" of the International Youth Book Library Castle Blutenburg.

With his keen instinct for children's inner worlds, he hits the nerve of the 8 to 11-year-olds thoughts and feelings. Not every author manages to get his young audience to focus on listening in in one and a half hours, but Christian Duda made them laugh out loud every two minutes. The laughter of the children was a clear proof that they understood and related very well to the recounted stories, making it obvious how much the children enjoyed listening to Magdi's "life in two worlds" documented in his personal diary and written in the style of police reports.

The scene in the shop, for instance, where the adults do not believe Magdi to be capable of completing higher education and how he has to fight for himself and his siblings to change that perception. They all will go to high school for sure. Their ambitious parents, especially their very strict father, play a major part in achieving this goal. In this book, Christian Duda recounts some of his own childhood experiences in the 70s.

We would like to thank Katrin Rüger from the Buchpalast, who has brought the author from Berlin to Munich and provided several primary schools a wonderful public reading pleasure. He visited the ESM Primary School on the 20th February 2018.

Colourful costumes, lively music and an entertaining programme; The "fifth season", to which the carnival period is referred to, was celebrated on the 9th February 2018 at the ESM in a superb style. For a short time, the assembly hall and the sports' hall were transformed into a carnival stronghold.

In the Primary School not only classical carnival costumes prevailed - clown, princess, pirate, witch, Native Indian, Pippi Longstocking and fireman, but also many superhero disguises could be spotted. Carnival offers children an ideal opportunity to slip in the roles of heroes, saviours, or other inspiring examples.

The little carnival fools were able to let off steam in the Primary School assembly hall, where everyone was invited to dance in the "disco". A Secondary School teacher, disguised as a clown, amazed the children and made them laugh out loud with his witty humour and funny magical tricks. Thereafter, a group of Secondary School students captivated the audience with a show of acrobatics, aerial acrobatics, music, and rhythmic gymnastics.

The shows and discos were held five times, enabling the little carnival fools to celebrate together with their classmates from other sections.

With so much hustle, bustle, fun and good spirits, the children are in the right mood to start their holidays!