German Schools

[finknottle]

Get it off your chest

There are, as anywhere, good and bad aspects to the school system.

So if you want advice, help or an embittered rant - feel free.

On a postive note - anyone see the thread on Primary about security? I've just taken dd to kg and on the way back wanted to drop off a school library book ds2 has had since before Christmas and forgot again.
All I did is walk in, went to his classroom and left it on his PE kit so he'll see it at break.

No one worries unduly about security here. The caretaker has an office (all glass) outside the main building but he's rarely in it.

Is it only village schools? Looks so odd to me to have a school "locked down".

[laptopwieldingharpy]

Oh God zombie thread!

Definitely start a fresh one or post on the very active germanophile one.

Also try the expatica forums, very useful.

[reluctantmover]

Try starting your own thread, as I notices you're asking about Maastricht too. Mention where you live, how long you're living there, what languages you speak etc.

[coconutflapjack]

Hi there,

It's a long shot but does anyone know anything about St George's School Aachen? There is not much on the web and what there is is more centred on the Cologne site.

Many Thanks

[taipo]

Ok, I'll start off.

Dd now in 4. Klasse and under horrible pressure because of the Schulempfehlung half way through the year. Homework still a complete nightmare but gradually getting better.

Ds now in 1. Klasse which is fine so far but he is getting sick of all that colouring in

Did anyone see that TV report last night on schools and how much pressure children are under because of having to do the Abitur in 8 years instead of 9? There were kids on the programme saying how they thought about school every minute of the day, had hardly any free time and suffered headaches and stomach aches. It really made me wonder what it's all for. I mean what's the point of getting the abitur and going onto university if your health and sanity suffer as a result. Really made me wish dc could find their own way in life without having to go through the system as it is. Maybe not getting into the gymnasium would be a blessing in disguise.

[admylin]

Cringe, ds was half an hour late this morning - our first bad mark maybe. He had a saturday lesson for his music class just this once and I was sure I'd seen 9:30 to 11:30 on the note but it was 9:00 (when I looked later) - as we were on the way to school at 9:20 on the bikes his teacher called me on my mobile to ask why ds didn't turn up to school yet. That only happened because I'm still so exhausted I'm sure I just scanned the note and imagined I saw 9:30!

Sigh, when will we be back to normal after this move? I think the jetlag has lasted longer than usual too because of having to get straight to work after the flight with moving house. Anyway I slept for 2 hours this afternoon after lunch and it has done me good.
Dd needs some coloured plastic covers on her writing books but I have no idea where to get them in Hannover and didn't have the energy to drag myself into the town centre so she'll just have to wait 'til sometime next week.

[admylin]

Well my 2 are back at school so we can revive this thread after the holidays! Poor things they only got a short summer holiday because hanover has gone back earlier than they would have if they had stayed in Berlin.

Ds was Eingeshult in his Gymnasium this morning - it was done really nicely. We all met in the Aula and the 6th year music class played for us then the head spoke to us and then each class was called up to the stage and as they marched of to their class room they played a German song with some line like 'ernst deines Lebens' -the head also said you are all the pupils with 1's and 2's on your reports, but now you will have to get used to seeing 3's and worse sometimes and that's normal! Was abit negative I thought but otherwise everything seemed OK.

Dd started her new 4th class and she didn't come out crying or too sad so it can't have been too bad. She's abit quiet on me at the moment so not always sure what is going on in her head.

So has anyone else gone back yet?

[admylin]

If I don't manage to find a book I'll get myself loads of newspapers and Focus and Spiegel and get on peoples nerves folding my newspaper page by page so I can read it! I love newspapers anyway, and I can get the Speigel and Focus at the station the night before we leave!

[SSSandy2]

night flights can be overrated though. I know h came back from South Africa feeling like a wreck althogh it was a night flight because you can't usually get to sleep on those flights and you end up tired with muscle ache. If you fly by day, you'll have a normal night's sleep (hopefully) once you're there to recover.

I am ploughing through Leon Uris books at the moment. But they are too heavy to take on a flight. Hügendübel doesn't have many English books but they always somehow manage to stock soemthing I feel like reading.

[admylin]

Something like that yes and it's a day flight so not a sif we can try to sleep as the dc will be wide awake - they're hoping for a good movie on board.

[SSSandy2]

Think just be gladyou won't hve to hang about at the airport. Travelling can be so tiring anyway and it's what - a 10 hour flight from Holland to USA?

[admylin]

only read Harry Potter when I ran out of books and ds had them! He's on book 6 now so only the last one to go -he's seen the films and he keeps saying how much better the books are because the films have left loads out!

Must admit, I hope I get something else for the flight. Shame I won't get time to shop at the airport as we fly to Shipol airport from Berlin with just enough time to change planes.

[SSSandy2]

actually I've never got round to reading any Harry Potter books. Might be a nice one for the flight

[admylin]

Sigh, she's into the super natural so ghosts and witches and that sort of thing. Wondering when/if she'll grow out of it. Also loves books about the stone ages and the Romans how people used to live.

I need a book for my flight to the US so have to go looking on Monday otherwise it'll have to be Harry Potter as it's the only book I haven't packed! Hope I get soemthing good in Friedrichstrasse theer are plenty of books in Englsih (for a price, grrr) and I'm leaving plenty of space in my suitcase to buy books over in the US.

[SSSandy2]

what type of book was it that your dd foudn and enjoyed so much?

[SSSandy2]

They had it read to them at KG admylin and I didn't like it back then. I don't know what people see in it really. At the moment in German she is reading a lot of Thomas Brezina books, things like the Tiger Team mysteries. He has his own website and seems like a nice person, so far as you can judge by a website. She quite enjoys those and apart from that she reads a lot of non-fiction - samurai, ancient China, how the internet works etc.

Don't think she would be interested in reading SAMS at school at her age unless they have a creative approach to comprehension etc which I doubt. Maybe I'm wrong though, perhaps it appeals to dc more than I think it would.

[admylin]

Yes I love Amazon too! Went in alovely old second hand book shop with dd the other day and she saw a book she wanted so I bought it for her and she can't put it down, talk about havingto find the right book to get the intrest in reading going! Same happened with ds - he suddenly discovered what he enjoyed reading. He recently ha dto read Emil und die Detektive at school and he hated it, found it really boring (I enjoyed it!)

Have you got Das Sams? It should be on the list for year 3 - or it was at our school so that's what your dd might be reading (if in German school stil???)

[SSSandy2]

I think they are having trouble getting hold of one of the books. I want it so I will wait and I know it is very hard to get hold of because it is out of print. I ordered something else a few days later and got it within 2 days.

Quite like amazon. I spend a fair amount of time browsing on there.

[admylin]

I've always been lucky with Amazon, very quick but you can look on the mein konto tosee how far along they are with your order - what does it say there? Sometimes you can cancel on that section too.

Yes, I've found a book pool at the Gymnasium which is only 50Euro so have sent that off. Thank goodnes sbecause he'll have alot of expenses at first like for his first Klassenfahrt also in September and his music lessons where we rent the instruments 'til he decides what he likes and for the tuition which is extra.

[SSSandy2]

amazon gets quite expensive when you add the taxes to it, doesn't it? I am waiting for some books that were supposed to be deliverable in 1-2 weeks time and it is 6 weeks now and still no sign of them. Haven't been sent yet.

[SSSandy2]

maybe the gymnasium has a book fund scheme whereby you pay so much a year to re-use textbooks prviously bought and in the textbook pool. THey don't all need to be bought new every year, do they? I think a lot of schools do this so you just need to buy books they actually have to right in and the stationery - and that's usually expensive enough. I bought a maths book for last year and they only ever got up to page 8 in it and seem to have practically never used it at all. What was the point?

[admylin]

We've just got our order from Amazon for dd and ds's new school books - well just the ones they write in to go with the Fibel, the maths one and an atlas for ds and a few English exercise ones (the ones the German school use) - all came to 120 Euro so I was expecting a big box when the post man rang the door bell, I was really shocked when I saw how small it was and how thin alot of the books are. That's alot of money just for exercise books. Still have to buy paper and the note books too.

Ds's text books for Gymnasium add up to nearly 300 Euro, viel Spaß beim lernen!

[admylin]

Oh no, your poor dd. And I know the sort of teacher she has too, there are a few like that at our school. Thank goodness that's over - just keep telling her you'll try a different school and keep changing 'til she finds a teacher and class she likes. It won't harm her schooling as you help her anyway and we know what she has to do in maths and German so you can keep up with the work. It really depends on the teacher you get - not only the school. Why on earth do they need to write negative comments like that for 1st or 2nd year dc? My dd had one of those 'nasty' reports in the 1st year but the teacher was a dragon and we were over the moon when she announced she was leaving.

Last year nearly all of ds's class came out crying on report day, it was so sad. This year they have all done quite well - wonder why, must be because since January when the old teacher went off sick and they got decent teachers at last, they've enjoyed learning.

[taipo]

Your poor dd, SSSandy Her teacher sounds like a real dragon. Will she get a new one next year, that is if you send her back to that school? How is she this morning?

I can't remember about the reports here. I think they come in an envelope but not sealed so they all just open them anyway. Dd gets hers next week as we still have a week to go here. Glad yours were good, admylin.

I'm not against them learning Schreibschrift as such here, although I wish some teachers weren't so fussy about it. I think it actually helps those who find writing difficult because there is a proper system to follow. I used to get frustrated in the UK because the school couldn't make up it's mind about which system to use and as a result dd's writing was awful. It's still messy but at least it's legible now.

[SSSandy2]

See why I told you not to bother checking! Just count your lucky stars honestly when you feel homesick for Germany. Maybe if you came back for secondary it might be all quite different. Can't say not having experienced it.

Maybe in Ch they do cursive a bit like the French do which is different again to the German (obviously) and since they are big on dictations too, I could imagine they do have one binding style at the school and they all have to learn it and stick to it. Maybe in secondary you can develop a more individual approach. I don't think they will mind learning Schreibschrift really. It makes them feel quite grown up you know so I think they don't mind learning it but maybe aren't keen on being marked down for not getting it all exactly right all the time IYSWIM

[MmeLindt]

Sssandy,
God, I am so sorry for your poor DD. The teacher sounds horrible, how upsetting for the children.

The more I read on this thread, the more glad I am to be escaping the German school system. I wonder if the do the strange Schreibschrift in CH.

You know, when I first came to Germany and did my Ausbildung, I used to wonder at the other young Azubis who all had the same handwriting. It was so strange. Such a babyish schrift for young adults to use. It seems to become so ingrained that they take some time to shake it off.