Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

Neue Stifte, neues Maeppchen: new German school thread

749 replies

finknottle · 18/09/2008 11:47

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.

OP posts:
taipo · 06/02/2009 11:12

Maybe if you have a fantastic aptitude to understand physics it takes up the space normally reserved by the brain for social skills

I've always thought it would be quite cool for my dc to study science as I was not that way inclined at all. Maybe not though....

ZZZen · 06/02/2009 11:13

not if you have to tutor them through it taipo

Nighbynight · 06/02/2009 11:19

hey, Angela Merkel is lovely!
wish she would wear more exciting clothes though, cant stand all those mens suits.

admylin · 06/02/2009 11:20

I need one of those suits for the next parents meeting I think!

ZZZen · 06/02/2009 11:22

is it fancy dress then admylin?

ZZZen · 06/02/2009 11:22

go in woad ready for war

I think her suits are very unflattering on her. THey don't seem to fit

taipo · 06/02/2009 11:24

I wonder what sort of clothes she could wear though and still be taken seriously. It's not easy for a woman in that position I think.

admylin · 06/02/2009 11:27

I don't know but just look at any of the French women in politics - they always look seriously dressed but feminine at the same time.

Angela has several hairdressers too - you can tell, some days her hair is OK and other days you can tell oh the regular hairdresser must have his/her day off and has sent in the assistant.

taipo · 06/02/2009 11:39

She does have ongoing hair issues, doesn't she? Still, most of the time I like her hair and it's a vast improvement on when it looked like this!

ZZZen · 06/02/2009 12:50

Honestly that haircut. It looks like a little girl's haircut, doesn't it? Would look nice on a 3 year old but not for a grown woman. The short bob and the too-short fringe. I mean maybe if you are very petite with fine features and an eternally youthful appearance but it looked very odd on her.

I suppose she just never was the feminine type and I don't think she is the type of woman who ever spends much time worrying about how she looks. In a way, it makes her quite sympathisch. I don't know who advises her though. I think they have her wrong.

She looked quite nice at Bayreuth I thought in a low cut evening dress. I think she'd do well in floaty cut dresses in block colours with a tailored top to them

taipo · 08/02/2009 11:47

Lol at us discussing Merkel's dress and hair style on this thread. Well, if we can't put the school system to rights we might as well have a go at sorting out the country's leader

It's report day for us tomorrow. This week we will also get the Empfehlung for the weiterführende Schule. Meeting with the teacher on Thursday.

admylin · 08/02/2009 18:43

I also have my meeting on Tuesday Taipo. I have to plan what I want to say and what I want to know. Do you think it'll look alright if I take a note book with my questions planned out?

Do you both go to this meeting or do you do it alone? I will have to go alone, h wouldn't be much help as he speaks really bad German anyway.

taipo · 08/02/2009 19:30

I can't imagine that taking a note book with you would be a problem. Have you planned what you want to say? Is your neighbour still planning to go with you?

We are both going to the meeting. I am hoping that it will be a formality - unless I've miscalculated badly I think dd's average score for German and Maths (none of the other subjects count) since the beginning of the 4. Klasse is higher than the 2.5 she needs for Gymnasialempfelhlung. I wonder whether it will be that straightforward though.

admylin · 09/02/2009 08:17

I don't know about where you are taipo but in Berlin they took German, maths and Sachkunde grades and added them up , divided by 3 and that was the endnote.

Not sure about taking the neighbour now, she's getting abit overpowering but I did ask her so how do I get out of taking her now.

Well, really I want to ask (at my meeting) how they find the results of a dc who came to their school with 1's and 2's and now has 3's and 4's, and if they find that normal or is there a problem somewhere. Not sure if that's going to go down well but I hav eto say it. I also want to know why dd wasn't invited to join the Förderunterricht for maths. LAst meeting the teacher said dd had to ask if she felt she needed help in maths and she could go to the Förder class but dd had no problems with maths at home, she could do all the excersises that we practised and her only fault was that she failed in her exams. Any anyway, since when do 9 year olds decide that they need Förder? I have to get that sorted out. Then I have to talk about Hauptschule, no way is dd a Hauptschulkind. I have asked her old teacher in Berlin to write me a report on dd's progress and abilities throughout the Grundschule there and I will be giving that in as soon as I get it. Not sure what else I'm going to say but that's what I feel I need to tell them.

taipo · 09/02/2009 09:32

We're in BW and officially only German and maths count towards the average. But if you are borderline they do then take other subjects - French, music, HUS or MENUK (or whatever it's called) - into account.

I think I'd be wary about taking the neighbour tbh. From what you've said about her I think there's a danger that she would take over and undermine your position as dd's parent iyswim. It's not as if you really need her there for the language. You've coped very well up till now so it might look a bit strange if you suddenly take someone with you.

I suppose you'll just have to tell her straight that you've reconsidered and that you'd really rather go to the meeting alone. Be firm!

I think you need to come across very calm and collected (businesslike perhaps?) in the meeting. Try to flatter them perhaps by asking what they their advice would be to help dd achieve her potential as you really don't think she would thrive in a HS. Good idea to get report from teacher in Berlin but try not to use it to accuse or blame them in any way or they'll just go on the defensive. It's utterly rediculous for her teacher to say dd should have volunteered to go to Förderunterricht but I think you'll just have to let that one go.

admylin · 09/02/2009 09:34

[[http://www.nibis.de/~mk-datei/sich-mit-eltern-beraten.pdf OMG] I have just been reading this document which is some sort of guideline for teachers mostly on how to get through teh Beratungsgespräch.

If you have time to read through it, see what you think but it makes me think I might as well just go in and smile, nod, laugh and accept all they say.

admylin · 09/02/2009 09:35

oops sorry

taipo · 09/02/2009 10:04

God, that does make depressing reading, doesn't it? Haven't read it in detail but right from the start it seems to set out quite clearly that the teacher is always right and the parent can't possibly be able to judge their dc's abilities correctly.

I don't envy the teachers having to make these decisions but why don't more people question whether it is really acceptable to categorize children so early or even at all.

The whole tone of that document is one of 'them and us' which I think permeates the whole system.

admylin · 09/02/2009 10:26

Exactly taipo, now I'm even more worried about tomorrow. I will have to be really careful what I say.

taipo · 09/02/2009 11:01

I'm struggling here to think of ways around this. It does seem pretty likely that the teacher will have made up her mind and will not budge - god forbid that a parent who has known their dc for 9 years might have a better idea of their abilities than a teacher who has known them for 6 months. Which teacher are you seeing though - the nice one or the nasty one?

I hate the way the system here makes me so antagonistic towards teachers. I always used to have a lot of respect and admiration for the teaching profession.....

taipo · 09/02/2009 17:18

Well, some good news here. Dd got her report and got a 1- for German and a 2+ for maths so we're really proud of her for doing so well. Only 'bad' mark was a 3/4 for Schrift und Gestaltung which came as no surprise. So unless the teacher says she can't go to Gymnasium because her handwriting is so bad I think we can assume she will get the Empfehlung on Thursday. It comes as quite a relief after some very rocky patches.

I think I can now sit back and relax for the rest of the 4. Klasse and will not start thinking about the stress that is to yet to come when she has to get to Abitur in 8 years

Nighbynight · 09/02/2009 18:42

congratulations to your dd, taipo!

taipo · 10/02/2009 08:09

Thanks NbN.

Good luck for your meeting today, admylin.

admylin · 10/02/2009 08:17

Quick , someone what should I say to my neighbour? I bet she'll ring the bell anytime now. I'd asked her to maybe come with us to this meeting but on secoond thoughts I and dd would rather just go alone, and I'm stupid to think I won't understand everything (must get my confidence built up) - how would you politely say we don't want you to come anymore? She's so pushy and won't easily take it.

taipo · 10/02/2009 08:21

I think you'll just have to be firm but polite. Say you really appreciate her offer but the two of you would really prefer to go alone. Doesn't sound like she'll be fobbed off easily though.