Help with school project in Germany

[finknottle]

Ds1's new secondary school has a project week in mid-Feb and I've volunteered to do something wrt English.

It's only 4 half-mornings, well, 3 really and then a presentation on the Open Day on the Sat.

Ds1 is so happy there and the teachers are v good. It's a small village school, quite new and while they've been renovating work-shops & labs etc, they've few resources for English.

As the children only really started learning English at the start of the school year they won't be up to much language-wise but need to be involved, i.e. we need to do something they can present.

I thought I'd do a British Isles display:

England
Wales
Scotland
Ireland

We can paint flags,
have posters/maps showing capitals etc
typical food, maybe write out short descriptions
sport (rugby, hurling, football, cricket)

So I need material. Have a couple of magazines I can cut a few pics out of.
Thought I'd contact the embassies in Berlin but the project starts on Feb 13th and don't have much time.

Help! Ideas, old mags you don't need - anything, please

and PHORMS sounds like that thing ds1 had with his willy when he was little - phimose or sommething

We may have choice (various crap options9 but we also have the Berliner Schnauze

You have got castles on the mountaintop and vineyards

I know what you mean bero, I think Phorms sounds daft. I mean can you imagine when you're applying to move your dc to a school in the UK. Previous school : Phorms

It's like some kind of a weird research institute- and maybe it is!

Don't finknottle it only adds to the problems the more choice you have. In Tuebingen we would have had 3 or 4 secondry level ones to look at and that would have made it so much easier, here in Berlin it's just too much you don't know where to start. I've spent days and days researching on the internet, driving past places checking out the transport connections - just nearly enrolled ds at a Gymnasium then changed my mind as it was SO far away in a completely other part of the city.

What on earth is a Berliner Schnauze - a dog?

Just come over here and find out finky . IF I were you I'd start investigating in the supermarket round the corner from my place

admylin - Y4 secondary school registration, you have my sympathy.
Last year drove me to gin.
Am already dreading this time next year

Finknottle - they do it by the calendar year in which you're 6, and if you're born before 31 March you can go in the previous year (I think that's right). ds1 is born in May so no chance. You're right about the Phorms/phimose it makes me think of spores as well, yummy...

Sandy - I'll have a look at CSA. I've also been looking into maybe moving him to that Be Smart Academy thing for the final year before school but getting to Mitte from hgere would be a pain - and there again the name is a huge turn-off - , but also serious, as it seems to me to reflect an ethos I'm not sure I want for dc.

Sandy - are you feeling OK?

Ooh do tell bero. What is Be Smart Academy? Never heard of it. Sounds like something I'd expect to find in Hong Kong maybe.

finknottle, I've decided to leave it. We have one positive thing in Berlin and that is you can stay at the primary school for 6 years - only very good pupils can go to Gymnasium when they have a certain notendurchschnitt which ds managed to get but I didn't think putting him in one of those schnellabi classes would be right for him or us.

It's a big (80 kids) bilingual kiga in the Torstr. Think their website is www.besmartacademy.de. They do quite project-based stuff in different groups revolving around literacy, science, movement etc. so an sich it sounds good.

I'ma verging on insanity

"Die sprichwörtliche ?Berliner Schnauze", die nämlich nicht nur von Berlinern, sondern ebenso von ?Auswärtigen", von ?Wessis" als ?berühmt, berüchtigt und gefürchtet" charakterisiert wird.
Berühmt, weil die Berliner Schnauze berüchtigt ist und dies wiederum, weil sie gefürchtet wird."

www.adrk-lg04.de/berlinisch.htm

berolina - can't believe you have the mental strength to even think about schooling when you have a baby

I have myself, dh, ds1 & ds2 on a 3-line whip about schools. Only positive comments as dd is already getting nervous.

It does sound good Bero, will be a pain getting there and back though, especially with a baby in tow. I think you have to really look at these places though, the websites always sound better than the reality, don't they?

I met a (German) mum whose dd was at Phorms for reception and year!. She was very happy with the school but in the end had to move her to Quentin Blake because with a second dc of school age, she could no longer pay the Phorms school fees.

Sandy that besmart place is run by that actress I was telling you about - her dc go to JFK (she was on TV the other night talking about it)
We go to Aikido round the corner from there!

That was supposed to be year 1

Primary till Y6 would be so much better

Did you see this about the Abitur?

That is exactly why I didn't want him in the schnellabi class -Überstürzt und schlecht vorbereitet -explains it all.

Actually Sandy has got me onto the idea of not even attempting the Abi and rather getting them into a school where they can do the international thing (can't remember the name ) but it sounds better for us.

well we are all so NOT surprised at the findings, right? I don't know they seem to have just made these decisions to change schooling rapidly so they can show something has been done on a political level because of all the criticism of schooling there has been lately. Surely though common sense dictates they first need to develop relevant courses/materials for a shorter Abitur programme and think about whether the dc really need to work through exactly the same amount of material etc etc. The teachers need to be supported and you do these things step by carefully thought out and prepared step.

Bero, I think the concept of the place is ok, the name sounds a bit misleading. I see they have or are going to set up an activity centre with workshops and camps - also for older dc but the links aren't functioning yet. Maybe your ds could try an activity there or a workshop first so you could get a feel for the place?

I'll definitely go and have a look at it Sandy. They have Führungen weekly, AFAIK. The name is a bit 'German attempt at cool English'-ish, actually - think you might be right. I'm quite glad it's not got exorbitant fees like that Mary Poppinz place.

Well let us know what you think of it if you do go. ALways good to find out what new things are popping up here and if they're any good.

wondering if thequietone has had her baby yet? She's gone all quiet on us again. Actually I think I preferred the name cheechymunchy, easier to type for some reason

Wondering too if Ernest is really on her way to Munich. We're becoming quite a crowd. Think we'll have to do a roll-call thread and pull those reticent forces wives out of the woodwork too. They're always hiding away in their own little niche.

Actually I was thinking we could have a thread like Little Italy - rather than having threads about different aspects of life here, many of which are great, but which always end up with us usual suspects banging on about the school system

Then we could have another Schools one where we could analyse in depth and have a collective wailing and gnashing of teeth Wouldn't be as off-putting to others.

?

Great idea, have you started it yet (little Germany) - need a good title though and then we would stop all this hijacking of various innocent threads asking for a German translation /shopping tip or recipe! We always end up scaring the OP's away never to return.