End of school year in Berlin.

[admylin]

Thank goodness, today we broke up in Berlin for the school holidays and only 2 days to go till we are back in England for 4 glorious weeks of civilization.
I got a list handed from both ds and dd's teachers with all the books we have to buy for the new term, 85 Euro for ds and 80 Euro for dd - then all note books, pens, even drawing paper. Most kids brought a bunch of flowers for the teacher, the school was filled with flowers on all the window sills. Can't wait to get out of here! MN has really helped keep me going when I felt homesick for England .

Admylin I got an email back. Lovely response actually. I have 3 contact names, mail addresses and telephone numbers for cubs, scouts and guides but they're private individuals so I don't want to post them up. I remember how your mail address begins so I'll forward you the mail. Is it dot de at the end?

Thanks SSSandy, I think my email account has changed so here is the right one [email protected] thanks again.

We have another parent-teacher evening tonight, Admylin, so I expect we get the book list today. You know, I love our school. Things are going really well and dd bounces off there so happily every morning. It's a weight off my mind.

The teacher is lovely too. I called her about something dd had told me (dh : you're not calling her on a Sunday, are you?!). Well, I did and she was fantastic. Sorted it out straight away and then called me last night to talk to me about it again. I really like her whole approach to the class and how she explained her aims for the group and how they should interact with each other. She's really special. Lovely woman.

Really think if you might be here another year, a change of school could make all the difference to ds, you know?

You are really lucky with your dd's teacher. We have been lucky with dd too, she has got a new, young man teacher, very motivated and obviously trying to intergrate our class with the portugese class which is good because the europa classes get all the good activities offered.
Ds is very bored at school - he is just waiting to have science, geography and history but they only get that in year 5 here.
I am just not brave enough to take them to another school because it is so hard to get tell if it will really be better just from one visit. How many schools did you visit? I also don't fancy having to trail them over half of Berlin to get to school at a ridiculous time! Anyway, hope the elternabend is OK and your dd keeps on enjoying school as much, it is a weight of your mind when you know your kids are happpy!

When I was pregnant, I knew that I would try to get dd into this school if we were still here 6 years later. I knew that it was a very family-like, nurturing kind of place which is what I want from a primary school really. I knew people who'd been to that school and you can really see they got educated in an academic sense and in the fuller sense as decent people (can't really express what I mean there!) and I like the church and the Franciscan monks who are attached to it. Very laid back and child friendly. I knew it was a good, safe, community type of place with a good academic reputation, no violence or anything like that.

I only looked at other schools in case I didn't get a place and really only the bilingual options but I didn't like what I saw TBH. JFK is too American for me, Charles Dickens I didn't like the feel of and what puts me off the SIS is that it is a Gesamtschule and (fairly or not) they have a bad reputation here.

A friend of mine travels from Neuköln to Wilmersdorf every morning so her dd can attend our school. They come from Grunewald, Zehlendorf, Hohenschönhausen, Tempelhof in dd's class.

Part of my thinking too is that if we're here for secondary school, I would like dd to leave after 4th form and the school I have in mind is very competitive (humanistic gymnasium). It's Catholic too and people apply from all over Berlin and even Brandenburg. You see, if she didn't get a place there (where I used to teach), I honestly wouldn't know which secondary school to apply to and attending this primary school will also help later with the gymnasium application.

If dd is happy and ds isn't. That's difficult, isn't it? Are you applying for ds to attend a gymnasium starting next year? Don't forget they have aptitude tests etc so you need to apply in time. Last year I was told several held the tests on the same day, so you couldn't apply to more than one! If you miss the deadlines, you can't apply, they're all so over-subscribed.

wow, you are so much more organised than me! I didn't even know you could changetogymnasium till after the 6th grade! How did you find all that out? I know there is 5th and 6th grade in our school so which gynasiums take 4th graders? Now I really hope I get away from here in a year, I just feel so stupid not knowing everything, I think I could manage better if I understood the system!
Yesterday we got a letter from dd's new teacher asking if we wanted to send our class with him on a 3 day trip to FEZ (somewhere in Berlin), now I know even kindergardens do these overnight things, even go away for a week but I don't like the idea at all. 2 adults with 24 kids between 6 and 8 years old ?? He is a nice teacher but he wants to go on this trip in November, I don't think I want to send her, she said she doesn't fancy it either. Now am I going to come across as the silly mum who won't let her child go? I already told him that in theUK teachers can't even go on half day trips with so many children alone.

I'm an old windbag and gossip, in case you hadn't noticed! That's my secret - plus I google a lot.

Yes, you have to try and get a gymnasium which takes them after grade 4 otherwise you're competing with everyone else in Berlin for the grade 6 ones. The humanistic (Latin/Greek ones start at Grade 5, as do the specialist ones like music based, art based etc. There is ONE English-German one located somewhere near me I think but I can't remember what it is. I'll let you know. You need to contact them in Spring and find out when they have assessment tests and you need to PREPARE for the tests.

FEZ has a fantastic programme. We never get to go there because it is just too far away. I'd definitely send dd, she'll love it. Dd had overnight stays in kindergarten. They knit so well at these type of things. Have a look at their site:

FEZ

Yes I've seen theFEZ website , it seems as though it has a lot to offer. It's just the number of small kids going away for 3 days with 1 teacher and probably one mother to help. I can't go because of ds, how many kindergarden kids went when your dd went away? It makes m ecringe to think of it, I'm a wimp I know I admit it!

If we didn't worry about our children when they're so small, we'd be strange mothers. Dd only slept over in the kindergarten. They made a day trip somewhere (15 kids and 2 adults), came back, ate and slept there and we picked the dc up after breakfast around 10 the next morning.

I agree that 2 adults to 24 dc isn't a good ratio. If they're travelling there by public transport too, I'd like 2 more parents to accompany them. Would you consider calling the Elternvertreter and asking them to bring up that safety issue? After just reading about that poor girl who was kidnapped on the way to school and held hostage for 5 weeks by an old creep who worked through a list of sexual fantasies on her... Shudder. Honestly you can't be too careful, can you?

Thing is you don't want dd to be left out. When it comes closer to the trip and they're all discussing it in class, she probably WILL want to go. Could ds stay with a friend that weekend so you could go along?

Never been to FEZ but dh took dd once. He says FEZ is a huge place. Since the kids don't wear uniform, it'll be easy to lose sight of some of them when they go wandering off in different directions. Think I'd really bring up the security issue. Surely other mums feel the same, it won't just be you.

Sorry about the failed link!

Hi! You are making me so nostalgic - I lived in Berlin on and off in the 80s and then for 2 years in 91/92 - used to work in Laura Ashley when it was in KaDeWe! But I lived in a big squat/commune in what had just been the east, right after the wall came down - grungy but very exciting. In fact I understand that the scummy 'bar' we started (Tacheles) is now quite a hip place to go! Wierd. As I said before, I guess I wouldn't recognize much of the city now, although the posh bits, around Theodor-Heuss Platz where we lived in the 80s is perhaps the same. Are you all married to german guys?

CanisiusKolleg

Last day for written applications (no particular form just a letter saying you want to apply for a place for ds) is last school day before the Christmas holidays. They contact you with the dates for interview and assessment tests. Grade 5 (sexta) Latin and English, later French or Greek as well

GoetheGymnasium

Call mid December to arrange an interview date. Need mid-year report from 4th grade and the gymnasium recommendation from your current school. They don't do tests, go on the interview and report.

GraueKloster

Applications from January. Grade 5 Latin and English compulsory.

What seems confusing is that Grade 5 is called the Sexta (6th) but it is definitely Grade 5. They have 4 years of primary school before starting these gymnasia.

HändelGymnasium

This is a musikbetontes Gymnasium in Friedrichshain so you need a recommendation from your dc's music teacher/choir leader etc to have a hope here I think.

Those are the only ones I'm considering at the moment. The first is the one I really want but you do need to apply to more than one, competition is so fierce apparently. Bet it's a big shock after primary school but for sure ds wouldn't have time to get bored at any of those schools - it's the other extreme though really.

EuropaSchuleGymnasium

As far as I know, this is the ONLY English-German Europa school which is a gymnasium. Don't know anyone who has kids there but there are 5 Eng-Ger primary EuropaSchulen plus all the private ones. I imagine most English speaking families will apply here.

As far as I can see, it used to just be an ordinary Gymnasium with French and English, now it's an Europa school with 50 percent English native speakers and certain subjects taught in English through to the Abitur.

Wonder do they then sit these Abitur tests in English in those subjects? Surely they'd have vocab problems otherwise, trying to write an essay in German about a subject they were taught in English?

This school is from Grade 7, so you need to apply when ds is in Grade 6 of primary.

If you do want to apply to one of those schools, you really need to start preparing/tutoring ds a year ahead because that is what all the other parents are doing. Getting nervous just thinking about it!

From what I've gleaned, they practice dictation (big thing here), essay writing and maths since these are the things tested. You really need a good mid-year report this year (4th year) and the teacher needs to know you're aiming at moving to a gymnasium (you need that recommendation).

That's all I know really, dd is still so young that we have a lot of time but good to know, isn't it?

Thanks for all tehinfo SSandy, I thik I will have time to sort it out as ds is just starting with 3rd year, is that right, he will have to do all those tests if he moved around xmas of his 4th year? I wanted him to start latin but they don't offer it in this school , I might try it with a home study cd or books as he wants to learn it anyway.
This week I haveto buy a bike, I want a second hand one because it won't get used much and especially not in winter - I have been to a couple of places but they were either close ddown or only had rubbish that didn't look safe. In south germany you could get good second hand stuff like bikes at flohmarkt but I don't know where they are her do you by any chance?
@Satine, yes you would probably be lost if you visited Berlin now! Things are changing constantly, I even searched for a SBahn station the other day which had changed names since last time and I have only been here a month, it is now a mega-station with a new name! Tacheles is still going strong , I live 10 minutes walk from it!

Don't know of any school that offers Latin before Grade 5. Yeah that's right with the application deadlines/tests - Dec of year 4.

There's a big Flohmarkt held in Kreuzberg twice every year but I've never been. Offhand I don't know where/when it is. It's always advertised in Tip and Zitty under the "Kinder" sections (they're online).

Satine, I used to like wandering around there (Museumsinsel and Oranienburger Str) when I was pregnant but after having dd, I'm getting very lazy about travelling about, so hardly ever get over to East Berlin.

Think you should come back some time and have a look.

Did you make it to that JFK info thing last night SSSandy? Anything interesting?
I found a really good place for bikes at the Praktiker bauhaus, quite cheap (between 99. and 160 Euro) for a new city bike with shopping basket on the front. All the 2nd hand places I've seen have second hand rusty bikes for 100 or more so I wanted to buy a new one but they were in boxes and you had to take the box to a place down the street to assemble it so I could ride it home, I couldn't buy it as I don't have a car and I would never have manged to drag the massive box down the street! Typical, I bet the weather changes by the time I get a bike but I am dying to get out into the middle of tiergarten or any big park and have trees and green all around me!

oops I forgot all about it! Was out looking for decent sportshoes for dd for school - no luck. Found some nice addidas ones, reduced to 20 Euro, at Karstadt sport today and I'm hoping they'll fit. I HATE shopping, don't you? Though I DO like Karstadt Sport, one of the only shops I do like in fact.

I bought dd's bike at Plus supermarket, one of their special deals. (You can also order online you know and have things delivered, so dh can assemble them) It's a good bike, can't remember what I paid now but well below 100 Euros. It came in a box too but the only thing you had to do was adjust the handle bars. They were turned sideways so they'd fit in the box. I sort of half-dragged, half-carried it round the corner to our place. Can't stand things you have to assemble yourself.

I bought dd's scooter over Ebay from a nice Danish guy in Zehlendorf. You can search by region first and I did a search for "Berlin, Puky" and it came up. You might find a good bike that way. There are plenty advertised on there. You send the seller an email, they contact you so you can arrange to go and look at it before bidding.

It's my birthday in a few days so dh is buying me the bike at Praktiker and helping me to assemble it there, we'll go on Saturday when he has half a day off!
Yes I hate shopping especially for shoes and in Berlin because they never fit in th efirst shop we go to so we end up spending loads on public transport to go to all the different shopping areas every few days, it is all so spread out in Berlin and the kids always refuse to do more than one shopping area, so if we find nothing at Alexander Platz we have to go withot till the next day then we try Gesundbrunnnecenter etc etc. I didn't think it would be so hard to find things here, I mean if you go in the biggest Galeria Kaufhof in Germany and can't find what you want..!
I've decided to do alot of online catalogue shopping this winter, save time and in thelong run money too - 5 Euro delivery is cheaper than the return bus tickets for 3 us.

Haveto check Karstadt sport out , where is it exactly from the bahnhof zoo looking towards that destroyed church which direction?

Ooh a birthday girl! Well done roping dh into the bike assembling, he'll enjoy it. I'm nervous of riding a bike here, I have one but never use it in fact it has flat tyres now.

Dd's birthday is next Friday actually, so I should really be getting ORGANISED but I'm not :-(

Karstadt sport: come out of the station and if you were to walk straight up to Ku'damm (where C& A is on the corner), it would be on your right. Just 5 minutes walk from the train station.

Yahoo! (as dd would say), the shoes FIT and she LIKES them :-)

Thanks, will have a look around Karstadt Sport next time dc's feet grow! They both seem to have stopped at the moment thank goodness, the next growing stage will hopefully be well in winter when they need new stuff anyway!
Are you inviting a load of friend to dd's bday? My dd has her 7th at the beginning of October but she said she doesn't want a party she just wants us to go to the cinema or something as a family (phew)!

You are SO lucky that she doesn't want a party. I was hoping to get out of it this year. We're taking dd to a restaurant and then on to Aida at the Theater des Westerns next Saturday afternoon to celebrate. She said she wants her best friend to come to but he is a live wire and there is no way I am sitting through 2 hours in a theatre with that little boy! Just wouldn't work so now I think we will have to do something with children too otherwise she will be disappointed.

Wish I could get out of it though. Dh thinks she needs a little party with friends so I might have to do it on Sunday. Finding it difficult to know who to invite too since she's just started school and then of course - all the extra cleaning...

My dd would love to go to the theatre or to hear a classical concert or ballet but as I always have ds with me he would moan and it would be a waste of money! There is so much to chose from in Berlin aswell, that is one of the positive sides of living here!
Next thing I want to do is go to the police driving school thing I read about, you can take the kids with their bikes and there is like a mock street , roads and road signs etc and they practise good behaviour on the roads - it is also free I think.

It's a musical, Admylin, so not so highbrow as an opera. We took her to the 3 Muskatiere at the Theater des Westerns (we can walk there from home) and it was brilliant. Bet your ds would have loved that one by the way!

Heard about those Verkehrsschulen but never got round to it. I know one is in Neuköln somewhere but not very convenient for us. Let me know how you get on if you do go there.

I know the friedrichstadtpalast has show for children, dd went last year with school and she stil talks about it , loved it because the actors were kids. This year there is one but I don't think it is performing yet.