Neue Stifte, neues Maeppchen: new German school thread

[finknottle]

Am starting in positive manner as we're 7 weeks into the new school year and all 3 of mine are settled and happy.
Well, d won't be if she does have head lice and has to stay off because she loves school so much.
S1 is in the second year of secondary & still thriving. Is class prefect for the first time which was a great ego boost.
S2 is in Y4 & has been doing better in class but his test results are still lousy (unfortunate choice of phrase if we are lice-ridden) and his teacher is convinced it's the language issue. He's trying harder which is a good sign. He lost the prefect election by 1 vote to his best friend and was chuffed to bits to be his "deputy" and that so many voted for him.

Had forgotten how wonderful the "erste Klasse" is.

OK then throw the PROBLEM at him. Dd needs to improve in German and maths in a very short space of time. We need a different approach/method or it isn't going to happen. What should we do?

If you can run a couple of options past him he needs to chew over and decide between (ie pay for) that might do the trick.

Good luck

What a nightmare admylin. I´d definitely try to speak to the teacher and try to find out exactly what they are expecting from dd in order to get a gymnasium Emfehlung. If it´s really just the maths that´s causing the problem you´ve got a few months to tackle it. I know you´ve been doing lots of work with dd yourself, but do you think she might benefit from Nachhilfe from someone who knows the whole German system a bit better.

I´m dreading dd starting school this year, so try to avoid this thread as much as possible.

Oh, I've just seen this admylin. I feel so angry for your dd, I really do. And angry with the whole system that does this to children at the age of 10.

Also cross that her teachers didn't seem to take in to consideration her performance at her old school or think that the move might have unsettled her and therefore made her marks worse than equally bright pupils who've been in the same school all the way through.

How binding is this empfehlung? From what you've said before it may not be the final word and I think up there in NS you have more freedom to send dd to school of your choice.

Would you consider getting her to repeat the year, either in her current school or a different one? She's a year younger than most of her classmates, isn't she? So that way she'd have a chance to catch up.

Or you do everything you can to move away from Germany as soon as you can. I know you're very close to it and maybe this could be the final push you need.

Still seething on your behalf.

I know it isn't what you want admylin ideally, but maybe taipo's suggestion that dd could repeat the year is a good way to go. She has not been with her classmates that long that she will find it difficult not to move up with them and it would give her time to work through maths again.

I agree with hupa too. The help you have been giving her is somehow not sufficient for her to meet their testing standards so you really must try employing someone else to tutor her in maths

sorry badly phrased. I didn't mean your tutoring was inadequate but you perhaps are not training her in a way that will get her through the tests

I don't think repeating the year is ideal and could throw up a whole new set of problems. But if your dd didn't object in principle it might work.

ZZZen, in reply to your question about the handwriting, dd has all but forgotten the cursive style she learnt in the UK. Her handwriting is terrible and could be to do with having learnt two different systems but I think it's more down to her. She's just not bothered about making her work look nice and having her teacher write things like 'ordentlicher schreiben!' on practically every test has no effect on her either.

Thanks to everyone, I was so shocked this afternoon and then to top it all I told the neighbour about it and she was just as shocked as she has got to know dd and she just can not understand it. She will go with me to any teacher meetings in future. She even admitted to me she is so glad not to be a school child anymore, glad her childhood is over and glad her own children are out ofthe school system. I said no wonder the Germans don't have many dc as they don't seem to have great childhood memories especially of school. School days should be the best years, I know mine were. She agreed.

I'd thought about dd doing year 4 again but don't think they will allow it. Could ask of course. That would be an option.

ZZZen - what you said about how I've been teaching dd - I think I must be doing something wrong. Sometimes both my dc don't listen to what I'm saying as if they think it has to be the exact same method that the school uses otherwise they block it out. I have to try and teach in German or they get confused especially in maths. When I told them I would be trying to get a German student in they shouted not to, so I said then you have to trust me when I'm explaining something. What else should I do?

They are only small admylin, they cannot see the fuller picture and they don't really understand yet as you do how school maths is going to influence the rest of their education and therefore lives.

I think you have to make the decision about a tutor for them and not tryto talk them round to it. No one in their right mind (IMO) would want to do extra maths of any description!

I don't think you have been doing it wrong but you have invested a lot of time and energy in it yet not achieved the results needsd, that's why I think you need to change track and get someone else to do it. YOu can always sit there and listen in and try to understand how they are teaching what they are teaching and it need not be a long term thing.

How was your dh about the Zeugnis?

He forgot it was report day ZZZen so we just didn't tell him! He'll click on Monday when they don't have to go to school and they can show him but he'll have to leave for work so he can't nag too much.

How was ds' report admylin? You never said. I suppose cf. to the worry about dd it will not seem so important but I just wondered if everything was ok there or if he was having problems with his maths?

You know what I've been thinking admylin? If dd has struggled to get to terms with the system this year, gymnasium next year would be more ofthe same and yet worse (more demanding) so if you were to go ahead and move her to gymnasium type school next year regardless of the recommendation, it might really be from the frying pan into the fire. The more I think about it, the more I think you should try to get her to repeat the year.#

Do you think she would be accepting of that? I just would not send her to Hauptschule frankly. You've seen how NN is having problems getting her dd back out despite improved grades and everything. And the only other option is the one Gesamtschule, is that right?

Problem is all the Realschulkandidaten will be trying to get into the Gesamtschule presumably so they can still have a go at Abitur I should think. Is that right? Or do they all prefer to go to Realschule?

Is there any option in Hannover to get OUT of the German school system? I looked at the Int School and I don't think you can afford it. Is there anything else there? I saw a mention of Phorms Hannover but can't get to the website.

I would if I could take her out of that school immediately and move her to phorms into year 3 so she does the rest of year 3 there and repeats year 4 next year with the same class. Is it viable?

Well, dd and I quite like the look of the Gesamtschule near us - it sounds good and they definately do not ignore problems like bad spelling, matsh problems etc instead they offer small groups with extra tuition. TRouble is - what if she didn't get a place? I have to give 3 alternatives when I register her. I don't want to send her to HAiptschule to be honest but it would leave it abit late to go back to UK if I wait for the confirmation of a place.

Phorms is just round the corner from us but again h won't want to pay even if they let her stay down a year.

dh is a waste of space, I'm sorry to speak so rudely but I think so I'm afraid. You will have to be proactive here. This school you have is no good for dd.

Phorms is means-tested so how much would you have to pay? Have a look at the fees calculator on their site. I would go and see them and discuss what you want to do. Can dd go for a trial day or so, how old are the kids in year 3. What do they think about getting the maths on track.

THen I would look hard and seriously at getting a part-time job to pay those fees myself.

The other thing you could do (admittedly I wouldn't much like to do it either) is go and see the head of the Gesamtschule and find out how realistic a chance you have of dd getting a place.

Then you need to chew it over. If she does not get a place at the Gesamtschule, what are you going to do? How can they in the UK just not give a dc a school place? Your dc would have to have a place at a local school. Am I not right? How they just say, "sorry all places are filled, so your dc will just have to hang about the streets all day, good-bye and have a nice life"?! I don't see it.

Actually dd would be in her age group if she stayed back a year as I put her in school early. From what I've heard though, they don't let you decide to re-do a year. They would probably say if she had all 5's and 6's she could have to stay down.

By the way ds got mostly 3's and worst of all he got 4 in maths and 4 in German but they have told us that those are the normal grades for Gymnasium in year 5. Not many 2's and no 1's as far as we know. 4 means ausreichend and they don't seem to think it's a tradgedy at all

I think they would probably let your dd repeat the year admylin, if you point out the age thing and the stress she's been through because of the move. As ZZZen says Gymnasium or GS would be even more stress for her.

I would definitely not send her to a Hauptschule. Even with a Realschule I would have to be convinced it was a good one with dc have a realistic chance of doing Abitur later if they chose to do so. Actually I think Realschule and then Abi is probably a lot less stressful than 8 years at Gymnasium.

What is Phorms?

I don't think it is easy to get a place at a desired school in the UK. When we were in London there were reports every year of parents not getting a place for their dc at any of their chosen schools. They then had to decide either to wait and hope that a place came up at the last minute or send their dc to one of the many sink schools which were never full.

I'll definately ask about her redoing year 4 then. It can't hurt to ask. Don't really want her to stay at that school another year though, not after they've failed her in a way this year and another move, then another at the end of year 4, boy have I messed up eh, poor kids.

A friend of ours had 2 boys who got Gymnasiumempfehlung but he sent them to Realschule because he said they would learn alot more about practical sid eof life aswell as doing teh Mittlerereife and then later Abi.

Phorms is a private bilingual school which has dependencies in various German towns, including Hannover. Admylin told me about it when she was considering it as an option for her ds in Berlin but she never seemed entirely convinced about it.

I am not so sure about her being in her age group admylin. You see, when dd started school 2006 a year after your dd, she was 5 going on 6, most dc were 6. So last year in year 2, she was 6 at the beginning, 7 at the end of the school year. There were quite a few 6 year olds but most were 7 going on 8. This year then in year 3, the kids she started with and had in her classes are for the most part 8 going on 9; dd 7 going on 8; some are 6 turning 7. No one would be 8 going on 9 which I think your dd is IYSWIM.

Don't think I made that clear. I think it was the system change that year that did it. That's why I would ask the head how old the year 3's are. You may well find that they are not your dd's age but a year younger.

I meant no one would be 9 going on 10

sorry

Don't beat yourself up over this, admylin. There is only so much you can do and you did your best. Really you did.

Here in BW it is possible to repeat a year. We did it with dd when we moved and she had to start at a new school again. She'd done the second half of 2. Klasse at the first school and we said she should go into the 2. Klasse again at the new school. We had to sign something to say it was a 'freiwillige Wiederholung'.

I've heard of people sending their dc to a Realschule despite getting the Empfehlung for Gymnasium.

maybe you could ask the teacher you preferred (not the maths one the other one) about the possibility of doing a "frewillige Wiederholung" admylin.

I'm just thinking your dd's birhtday is around the same time of year as mine. So she is exactly a year older and a lot of dd's class were about 6 months younger than her. Probably wouldn't matter to much at this age, althoguh she might find the boys a right pain. I have to say the 2000 born dc I know are a lot louder more lively than the peaceful 1999's I've met.

I should add that it didn't work out for us. After a month of being in the new 2. Klasse her teacher said she wasn't settling and as she was clearly bright maybe she should go up to 3. Klasse. It's what we ended up doing and although I was tearing my hair out at the time it has worked out and she's made a couple of very good friends in the new class.

Dd is now in 4. Klasse and is one of the youngest in the class. She was born Nov 1999 and most children of that age are in 3. Klasse. There is one girl in dd's class who is younger than she is but everyone else is older.

Maybe it varies from state to state. There was no one born 1999 in dd's class. Most were 2000, about a third 2001. She would be year 3 this year.

have to go. Good luck with it admylin. Hope something postiive turns up and gives you a way forward.

Yes Taipo, dd is October '99 and when it was time to decide about school she was a Kannkind not a musskind so she could have stayed down a year and the next September she would have been a musskind. That was in BW too.

She'd be one of the older in the group if she was in year 3 now. I'll ask the nicer of the 2 teachers about freiwillige Wiederholung. The whole time she has hated being one of the youngest in her year. I remember back to when we were at school and it was always an important thing, who was the oldest etc!

I think it can be quite a disadvantage to be the youngest in a class. Dd and her friend are the smallest in the class (although if they were in y3 they'd be about average height) and sometimes get picked on by the older and bigger boys. I think she's able to deal with it pretty well usually but I think she'd have it easier if she were one of the oldest.

It's the reason I'm so against moving ds up a year. He would be a lot younger as his birthday is in June.

If your dd is allowed to repeat the year I wonder whether it would be better for her to go straight into 3. Klasse now or complete the end of the year?

yes that's a point taipo. Just occured to me that about this time last year, a boy was moved down from year 3 into dd's year 2 class. So in theory it must be possible.