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".

Thanks finknottle! They are hideous, aren't they? Ds wants a dino one which I could maybe just about live with. Will check about the side pockets being able to fit a drink. Dd doesn't have side pockets on hers and I've lost count of the times she's come home with soggy books.

Also...

you do need side pockets for a bottle, am now on washed-out small Schorle/Volvic/Aldi/whatever bottles which last about a week of rinsing out but at least you don't have to face the aluminium scum horror of the Sigg.
Don't get me started on Stifte.

good value

I do the washed out plastic bottles too as I'm fed up with forking out a small fortune on sigg bottles only for them to magically disappear after a couple weeks.

What's your beef with Stifte then? In this house the pencils disappear at a very alarming rate and dd is on to her 3rd roller pen.

price, yep.
stupid brands school insists on.
house full of pencils but Maeppchen always empty...

Ignore me, ds2 lost another 16 euro fountain pen today and I got the ca. 120 euro list of books and materials for dd for the 1st Yr and am grumpy! (Yr 4 and Yr 6 have yet to come)
The "liquid glue and stick glue" and 3 soft brush paintbrushes (sizes 3, 6, 12) and 3 flat-tipped brushes (sizes 2, 4, 6) is guaranteed to wind me up - they're 6 years old fgs! Why do they now need Wasserfuellbare Malstifte?

Oh yes, the paintbrushes and paints! I'm sure dd has done no painting whatsoever since she started Y3 so why we bothered, I don't know.

School doesn't, afaik, insist on any particular brands so in my blissful ignorance I buy job lots of pencils and felt tips from Aldi.

Thanks for the link. I have bought stuff from them before so I will check out the Ranzen.

yes you have to keep an eye on Schlecker, Plus, Aldi round this time, they have all the pencil/paint/crayons sets cheap.

I agree with fink re the Schulranzen. My dd couldn't open and close the Scout ones. I had her try a few times and so looked at other brands. We got one which came in a set with the Schulranzen, sportbag, filled pencilcase for less than the Scout Schulranzen alone but it still wasn't cheap. I'm quite happy with it, has served us well so far.

This kind of thing:
mcneil

I do the washed out plastic bottle thing too these days. Are you "allowed" fruit juice at school then? Ours are supposed to only take water.

Ours is an older one so not on that website but we got the Ergo-lite one (still heavy filled of course) with the different clasp - push through type not the round Scout style thing.

Finknottle, that's an expensive book list just for the Grundschule. I wonder what the Gymnasium list will be like for ds. Up to now it's been OK and never over 80Euro for everything.

Ds had teh Lego bionicle Ranzen, it was the lightest I could find. Only difference to the heavy ones was that he couldn't sit on it. Those box style ones with hard frames are far too heavy but they could all sit on them!

Hope to get ds in a good school in Hannover in September. They offer bilingual lessons in chemistry, physics, and a few other subjects and music lessons which only cost 35 Euro a month. He wants to start on saxophone!

Have you spoken to the school at all admylin? Would it be near the flat you liked? It sounds interesting. Those music lessons are cheap , I pay 20 Euros a lesson so 80 Euros a month for violin but it's convenient since the teacher comes to us and I can't really be bothered travelling about after school, have enough of a commute as it is. The music school is cheaper but you have to pay even if you cancel a lesson and you have to pay in the holidays too so I think it works out pretty much the same in the end. Sax is a nice instrument.

Yes, it's near the flat and meant to be one of the best Gymnasiums in Hannover. That's why we were searching for flats in that area. I just hope he gets in. I'll be off to Hannover on the train for Anmeldungtag anyway!

Dd has come out in her rash as she has just realised she will have to change schools. Ds is saying Hannover is not nice too. When I told them about the move I don't think they understood when it would be and now they are confused, ds even said today he wouldn't be here for his birthday (next week!) when I asked him if he wanted me to get some cakes for school - so he obviously hasn't understood that we're only moving in summer.

could you promise dd a pet (even just a mouse) - something to get excited about/look forward to having in Hannover? You could remind them that Hannover is not very far from BErlin and so you might well come back for a weekend now and again, catch up with friends - if that's honestly viable

ds didn't like it because you walked through the centre of town and saw flats but if you drove through the surrounding areas, I am sure they would like it. Might be a nice place for them both to do scouts/brownies

No I really think ds didn't like it because he'll have to face going to a new school but that would come wherever we are or if we stay in Berlin. We will be out side the centre too and near a lovely forest (Eilenriede) and loads of green and the flat is right next to one of those garden colony things and very quiet - I'm sure they'll find children to play with after school - it's a lot better than Berlin Mite. I hope they warm to the idea soon. I'm more worried about me being isolated, I'll really miss my friend from here as I'd found someone who I could talk about everything and she could to me. I got to know quite a few parents at school etc too. Thank goodness I'll have mumsnet at first!

Good idea about the pet, have to think which one would be pflegeleicht for me! We'll have 2 balconies in the new flat and it's hochparterre (thinking of rabbit here) and plenty of room - very big Kinderzimmer each too.

I think it's quite possible that if the Gymnasium has some languages taught in English, you would be quite an attractive new addition to the school, so dp might well want to get to know you, have ds mix with their dc IYSWIM

I think have a good think about some hobby/interest of yours which you are going to indulge in when you're there, so you have something going on which makes you happy and where you'll be meeting people other than just the school/mother scene

Yes I am going to try and go back to German lessons and try that Goethe exam the small one then the big one, kleine Sprachdiplom first - though from an online test I should manage it easily but I need to get my confidence back and my brain cells need awakening. Then I hope to start part time job hunting when the dc are settled. That woudl all have gone alot quicker if we had moved to UK but..make do with the situation now.

According to this (Brit Emb file on Hannover, not much you don't know, forces schools here will accept families who are not forces if they have places free. Didn't know that, wonder if it is relevant for any Mners, don't know where their schools are located.

Hi everyone -as far as i know they will, but they are expensive -afaik- and although they are good to a point there are a lot of kids moving so quite disruptive if you were there long-term.
My friend pays to send her child to an army pre-school and it costs around 350 euros a month for 3 hours a day. She says she could not afford it for school so I assume it is a lot more.
Of the top of my head, there are 3 senior schools-Gutersloh,Rheindahlen and Paderborn. Most garrisons have a primary school so Bielefeld, Herford, Gutersloh, Osnabruck, Munster, Rheindahlen, Hohne, Fallingbostal. (and i'm sure lots that i don't know!) -some of these are to close to I think.
Rather ironic that i choose to send mine to a German kindergarten! Incidentally he loves it, it is going really well and i could not be happier -touch wood!

That's good news trockodile. They do some nice things. St. Martins in November (?) is sweet, they go trekking round the streets with lanterns singing songs and then have a bonfire and eat goose shaped pastries. They also have Nikolaus on Dec 6th where they get sweeties in their boots and so on. How long will you be here for, do you know?

can I just ask everyone do you know what happens if I pull my dd out of school here (out of school totally I mean)? What happens next?

You see I had my talk with the head this morning who I do quite like but she is unbending and really I cannot see any option at the moment. She wants dd to continue at the school but in no way can she accommodate us and it puts me in an impossible situation which she sees but she says she can't in any way entgegenkommen. Not even for the last 6 or so weeks of the school year. I would have liked dd to complete the school year. The doctor has said she could give me a note to cover maybe two weeks or so but obviously she couldn't write dd off sick for 6. Do I now then have to take her out of Germany fairly fast or do I have a bit of time before they are likely to take any kind of official action?

Can you not buy some time, let d do as head wants, if she's ill/exhausted, get doc note to cover odd days off just to tide you over till end of term?

I've no idea what the authorities will do but would hazard a guess that it'd be better to not get them involved till you sort out what on earth you're going to do longterm.

Did the head say why the stupid afternoon thing is so essential when it isn't even Hausaufgaben or Arbeitsgemeinschaften - tis'nt is it?

Am upgrading stuff on my computer so am on laptop and no access to e-mail atm.

What about car/new flat ideas?

I see what you mean. I'd rather just be upfront about it, you know? Prefer to have clarity and the whole issue settled one way or another. Well, I could send her in for the odd day and be off the rest of the time as she needs it, try and get through it that way but it isn't going to make for a pleasant atmosphere, is it?

I did say that since we don't honestly have any realistic option for dd which she could cope with and which would be the type of school we could expect her to be happy at, we would move her overseas for year 3 so could we not just get through till the end of term and she was all, oh we wouldn't like to lose her (WTF?!) and she's a good pupil and fits in nicely etc etc. She was banging on about the Klassengemeinschaft and dd has to fit into the Klassengemeinschaft so they all have to be treated exactly the same. She admits that the class has no problem with dd havign a different arrangement and dd is not in any way an outsider or anything but that is the basis of her argument.

She says she personally didn't choose this system, it was imposed on her and she feels it is too much for a lot of the dc but she has to quasi enforce it. She's ok, as a person I do like her and see her point but it leaves me no option atm which is totally frustrating. I mean if she is leaving after these 6 weeks for good anyway, what is the point in all this NOW?!

It's two hours a day extra free play

What crap. Class has no problem with it but it's "irregular" so it must be changed. Ordnung muss sein- infuriating bloody argument.
You mean your d is leaving in 6 wks, is that settled?

Any chance you could just give these last 6 weeks a go and hope d is stronger/fitter next year?

Not meaning at all to belittle your probs, but is it possible that your d picks up on your frustration at the whole thing, the travel, her tiredness etc.? Our boys come home shattered every day pretty much. S1 has school 7.40 - 4pm which knocks him out some days. Others he's fine after a rest and goes out to friend/sport.

S2 has only the usual 8- 1pm and is home at 1.30 but is wiped out by it, more than s1 tbh. Knowing it's not only a "long" morning but the fact that he hates it, hates the homework, tests etc. I'm v aware that I can be sympathetic, reassuring/consoling but if I start slating the system it makes s2 10 times worse. I have to go for the breezy "Come on, lunch is ready, you'll feel better when you've eaten and had a break" tack.