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".

es war nicht alles schlecht

I once worked with a German and he used to say things like Arbeit macht frei - I was shocked as that was what the nazis wrote over the gate of one of their camps for jews.

always thought that was a really nasty sarcastic touch wasn't it putting that over the gate? Mind you considering what other things went on, suppose pales in comparison.

I think a lot of Germans are so uncomfortable with the nazi period and what we foreigners think of it/them because of it that they sometimes say things like that to test your reaction, IYKWIM.

Despite all the coverage I'm told it gets at school, they are still somehow often surprisingly ignorant. I worked in this research insitute with a guy (phD, not thick) who said that concentration camps wouldn't have been all that bad in reality(!) and that people would have fallen in love there for instance and had normal relationships and so on (eh? How?).

They don't seem to cover it in that much in school - we seemed to study the 2 world wars for terms on end for O'Level history.

My friend here is east German and ahe often says thing were better and easier back then and alot less hassle. Heard the same from a few other east Germans in south Germany - they all said it was so easy, after school you were told where you would either study/work/ausbildung, everyone was sent somewhere so there were very few left out with nothing. Nowadays it's practically the whole Hauptschule system dc that are left hanging with no real prospects of any decent job.

well maybe it was easier admylin but the clothes.... OMG the clothes

Sewing machines SSandy, they all had sewing machines! It's true as well, there's an older mum in her early 50's at school and she's always on about how they were so erfinderisch and they didn't need all the fancy stuff that's around now a days!

well being less flippant for a moment, I do think if you did not fall foul of the system, it was probably for most people a kinder world and depressed places like Mecklenburg-Vorpommern etc seem to have benefitted not at all from reunification

That's exactly what my east german friend says. They all lived quite happily.

Wonder how they deal with East Germany in history these days without offending families from that background

Admylin when do they start covering the Nazis/Holocaust? Has ds done that yet?

I can't remember exactly but a friend wh o works in a south German school was telling me about it from the school history books she had seen. They all need re written as they want to bring it in more (nazi, war etc) but ds hasn't done it yet. He only got a slight explanation about the wall when they did Berlin in Sachkunde but i'd say a dc in a west German primary say in Frankfurt, wouldn't even do that much. Dd knows about east/west because one of the Erzieherinin had talked about it.

oh ok so they don't do all that before secondary school. That's all I wanted to know really. I was a bit worried they would get into too much detail too early but apparently not.

I wanted to ask your advice, veteran German school fighters.

DH was offered a new job today, he starts his new job in Geneva on 1st October.

DD should start school this year on the 12th August; She is angemeldet for our local school.

I would like her to go straight into the new school in Geneva and hope to move before the new term starts on 25th August.

Do you know if they will make her go to school here for the 2 weeks? It seems cruel to make her go through the whole thing twice. Especially as she is not going to be so happy and confident going to a French speaking school when she does not speak the language.

Any experience how I can avoid this, short of doing a bunk to Scotland with her

Hi KS, did you finish that bottle of prosecco last night?

I think it's possible, probably easier than in the UK actually because the starting age here is more flexible. I know the people who lived in our house before us kept their 6 year old at KG for nearly a whole extra year because they were moving to Greece. I know someone else who also kept their dd back a year because they were moving (within Germany). It seems quite normal I think so I would speak to the school to see how you go about it.

Phew, KS you will be busy getting ready to move. That is short notice for you.

When we moved to Berlin dd was due to be eingeschult in south Germany and just 2 weeks before we moved. I still went ahead with it and I have to say, the first 2 weeks of primary school are probably the nicest weeks of the whole time! They get a great celebration with Schultute and all the family turns up on the first day and alot of dc go out for a meal to celebrate becoming a school child. Then the first couple of weeks is getting to know time, alot of nice simple things like colouring in numbers, first few letters etc, play time and the teacher should take time to get know each new child. I think if your dd has friends who will be starting at the same time then it might be a nice memory for her, we left after dd's first 2 weeks and the teacher gave her a little book and a card which she still keeps in her special drawer - I guess it depends on how much time you will be able to spare just before you move.

Congratulations for Geneva, you got the best deal as I would find Munich really hard going, and if h had been offered a job in Munich I would have gone back to the UK and he could have visited us for long weekends! I'm going to Hannover because I think it might be a nice place for the dc to spend the next few years atleast!

Admylin
I am worried that DD would compare the 2 schools if she starts here beforehand. And the Swiss school is bound to be seen as the worst school as she will not speak the language or have any friends there.

I never thought about the age thing, she should be ok because she has not started yet. Thanks, that puts my mind at rest.

Ooh lucky you KS AVOIDING the whole school thing here. Just breathe a DEEP sigh of relief and believe me . I wouldn't send her to school here for the beginning of term either frankly since you'll then be moving outside the system anyway. It made sense for admylin's dd because she was staying within the German school system.

I would speak to the head of the school she is angemeldet at and explain you are moving to Geneva so it would disrupt her too much and since she has to move into a French language school she will be doing intensive private French tutoring instead as preparation. I mean if you are foreign and moving away anyway and they have an official Abmeldung, the school won't be bothered. Could you not just arrange for her to stay on at kg till you leave. They do have this system , don't they, whereby your dc can be eingeschult a year later?

The school starting age used to be 7 anyway didn't it, till quite recently? A dc needed to have already turned 7 by the summer preceding so I should think it would be no problem postponing her school start.

KS I saw on your other thread that your dd cried when you told her about the moving. It's an awful feeling isn't it. Is she alright about it now? You could maybe ask her what she wants to do and then speak to the head of the German school so that she could maybe attend 'just for fun' with her best friends but you wouldn't get all the books and stuff not that they really start on the books the first couple of weeks, or as SSSandy says ask if she can go in to Kindergarten if she still has younger friends there.

Have you started plannig an Abschiedfest? I gave Ernest plenty of advice about that sort of thing before she moved but now don't have the energy to plan and put one on for my dc. Time just seems to be running away from me at the moment. H said last night, oh look only 20 odd days and we fly to Texas, I nearly fainted - I have to start packing for a Klassenfahrt, a Texas holiday and my complete household has to be packed too for the move, deep breaths, stay calm...there are 24 hours in day...sigh.

Could you just have some of their best friends round for lunch/cake on the last day of term admylin? Think our school closes at 10.45.

Admylin
She is ok at the moment. She cried again last night when DH was putting her to bed. It really breaks my heart.

We are trying to focus on the good things, picnics on the beach, skiing and sledging in winter but it is difficult for her to see that far ahead. And at the moment she is just thinking of losing her friends.

I really do not want her to go to school here, if she does then she has a direct comparison when she stars in Geneva. Obviously Geneva would come out bad in a comparison as she speaks the language and has her friends here.

I will speak to the Schulamt next week and see what they say. I tried to reach the headteacher this week but they were already on holiday.

Admylin
She is ok at the moment. She cried again last night when DH was putting her to bed. It really breaks my heart.

We are trying to focus on the good things, picnics on the beach, skiing and sledging in winter but it is difficult for her to see that far ahead. And at the moment she is just thinking of losing her friends.

I really do not want her to go to school here, if she does then she has a direct comparison when she stars in Geneva. Obviously Geneva would come out bad in a comparison as she speaks the language and has her friends here.

I will speak to the Schulamt next week and see what they say. I tried to reach the headteacher this week but they were already on holiday.

Oops, what happened there?

Admylin
I would like to have a party but it will depend on when we are leaving. We are in Scotland till 30th July and I really would like to be in CH before 25th August for the school start. We have told the relocation agency that and so we hope that they can arrange it.

Ooh I'm very of the relocation agency, your dh is in a nice company not like our rotten penny counting medical research institute!

I've asked ds about a leaving party and he's not fussed, dd is best friends with 2 girls at school so I will ask if she wants to invite them round and that'll be all. We go to Texas in July and come back around the 14th of August and the move is planned for 18th so I have to pack now - or in the first week of school holidays at the latest. School starts on the 25th so we'll have a week to practise the school run and buy mobiles for both dc as I won't be able to pick both up as the schools are not right next to each other! Will have to be brave and let them go alone, that's OK in Germany though - I hope they'll have dc to walk with eventually. Saw a shocking documentry on German TV the other night about the school system and Gymnasium - only dc with a mum at home to sit and do the homework and practise vocab, pay for Nachhilfe had a chance at getting through the system and they had so much homework and learning for tests that they had to work at the weekends too. I'm wondering about ds and how he will cope with the extra work and sort of scrapped my idea of going back to study and work part time straight away after the move. Dd is going to need plenty of help too as she'll only just make the grade for Gymnasium that way.

If you don't want to send your dd to school here I wouldn't even ask - I'd TELL them your moving (put a note through the door of the school and they'll get it when they open up before term starts!) and will be in Scotland and then only back in Germany to move your stuff so you want to deregister her.

OK, on Wednesday I agreed to accompany the class of 15 pupils ( very small class of 4th year dc) on the sports day which took place at the Jahn something or other Stadion in Prenzlauerberg. we took the M10 tram, the whole school went along and our class had 2 Erzieher as well as me so quite nice I thought. The first shocking thing was when the tram arrived we all got off at the back door and 2 other classes got off at the front. A young man suddenly passed me a sports bag out of the back door 'Excuse me one of the children left their bag' I thanked him and passed it forward to the Erzieherin who shouted at the front group to ask who it belonged to. At that moment the child (a 2nd year ) got back on at the front as he realised his bag was still on the tram. The doors closed, and he was gone the tram drove off. The Erzieher at the front just watched as it drove away and then carried on over the road to the Stadion. I still don't know if or how the child got back to his class they were all calm and couldn't care less. That's just what happened on the way, the behaviour of Ds's class is another story...

OMG a year 2 dc was left alone on the tram! I'm imagining that was my dd right now , so did they wait for that dc to get off at the next stop and walk back or what?

OMG OMG OMG They are mad doing these class trips on public transport with so few adults to keep an eye on things. Things I've seen travelling through town too. Once a kg group got out of the UBahn leaving a dc behind. Hadn't even noticed. I shouted to the Erzieher and passed the dc quickly out to them before the door closed. When would they have noticed I wonder. My guess is the little girl was about 3!

Friend of mine was telling me how her ds' class had been to the Zoo and one of the dc got hurt on the head (if I understood the story correctly by an animal). The dc had concussion and so what did the Erzieher/teachers do? Just guess.

Yup, they LEFT the dc there and went back to school. When they got back to school, secretary called the parent to go to the zoo and pick up their dc there.