Neue Stifte, neues Maeppchen: new German school thread

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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.

Hi Westvan, hope you're feeling better soon.

I guess you're right, I've still got a little bit of fight left in me but infact we can't change the system so why bother! My h doesn't bother much with anything school related but if I do tell him something he gets in a well lets storm in there and sort it mood as if I should be defending ds when the Englsih teacher wants him to only say at the cinema we see a film and not watch a film! I've learned my lesson on that one though, if any slips come to be signed, I just sign them now and never question anything!

It'S open day at ds's Gymnasium this afternoon for the prospective next 5. Klasse. Dd and I will be going , ds is playing with his Bläserklasse. I wonder if I dare ask - if the chance arises - how they plan to motivate the new pupils. No I probably won't but I'll bet they paint a rosier picture than reality. Poor ds, he has class until 3pm again today, I'll pick him up then he has to be back at his school after 4:30pm to play to us and then home and homework. He has to write his own Märchen, something he finds quite difficult a she hasn't had much practice.

Wonder what I can get quick and easy for their meal, Abendbrot maybe although they have cold food at lunch time and I think I should give them something hot - but I suppose once in a while it'll be OK. Tempted to get them a Tiefkühlpizza on the way home to be honest.

How did the open day go, admylin? We're going to one tomorrow and then another one the following week. Dd has pretty much decided where she wants to go though - the same school as her friends, so I hope that's the school we like too!

The open day was OK, I knew the place anyway as ds goes there but dd enjoyed running around with her 2 friends. I was talking to one of the mums for the first time and she wasn't very impressed with the Gymnasium system. She said it's too exhausting and their childhood is almost over when they join. The other mother who was there thinks it's a great school and definately wants to send her dd there. They all want to go to the same school of course.

The first mum said her dd had looked at 2 other schools and was very upset at having to decide, she wants to go to one quite far away but she also wants to stay with her friends and she has asked her mum to decide for her because it's too much for her. The school we wanted to visit tomorrow has very good and very bad reviews. In the past there was alot of violence and trouble but the new headmaster is supposed to have cleared it all up - how do I know that after just 1 visit though? Very hard to decide.

BY the way dd got a 4 again in the maths test but so did the rest of the class, mostly 4's and some 5's and 5 dc got 6's. To me that says that the teacher either made the test too hard or didn't teach the subject sufficiently.

That doesn't sound right that there were so many 6's. Dd got a 3 in her maths test this week but it doesn't matter now she's got the Empfehlung so I'm very chilled about it. She has been separated from her friend again though as they really distract each other when they sit together.

Our first open day was OK although dd was only really interested in seeing the sports hall and the chemistry lab. I thought it seemed a pretty good school and dd seemed to like it too but it's not the one where her friends are going. The open day for that one is next week.

I think i'll ask a couple of mums what they think about the bad grades in the maths test. Seemed to me it was too hard and the dc hadn't been prepared for it.

Taipo, your dd can relax and enjoy the last half year now as she has her Gymnasiumempfehlung. When is the Anmeldung? We get our last report with final Empfehlung sometime in May so not so long to go really. Next week dd goes to a Waldschule project, they go every morning by tram and spend all day in the forest and return at 4pm. She'll be exhausted but will do them all good to be in fresh air all day.

Waldschule project sounds good. Dd loves doing stuff like that but they haven't done anything very exciting this year. Maybe they will now the Empfehlung is out of the way but I get the impression her teacher is not all that keen on taking them out of the classroom.

The Anmeldung is in 2 weeks so we haven't got long to sort things out. You can only apply to one school as well so not sure what then happens if you don't get in.

Taipo, here you register at one school but you have to put 2 or 3 alternatives so if you don't get a place, they send all your Anmeldung documents to the first school you put as an alternative and they get in touch with you. It's awful waiting to get the letter which takes up to 10 days here.

Good news for once, dd has had 4 1's in the last week. She even managed a 1 in German twice.

Ds on the other hand is going down hill fast with most things, very depressing for him and he's lost all his confidence. HAd a short test yesterday and he said he did it right then crossed it out because he wasn't sure then did it wrong which he realised too late as time was up.

I'm so pleased for your dd, admylin. That's great news!

Not so good for your ds though. I get quite angry thinking about the amount of pressure they're under at such a young age.

Dd had a meltdown over her maths hw yesterday. She could do it (division) but convinced herself she couldn't and ended up screaming and shouting, which was sort of therapeutic I think as you could almost see the pent up anger being released as she went into meltdown mode.

Ds has just sat for ages doing this sum, with my unterstutzung and he said he had it in class bit hardly anyone managed it (like 1 or 2 had managed a or b)

A garden path measures 8,40m by 1,60m. It will covered with tiles which are square, measuring 40cm by 40cm. There wil also be a border all the way round of stones which measure 0,50m in length.
a) How many tiles do you need?
b) How many edge stones do you need?

How come they give this sort of thing but no one seems to have a clue how to solve it? Grrr - deep breaths, only 8 days to go...

Hi everyone, been away.

seems therefore bit greedy, but you're a good bunch, so hope you don't mind.

As most of you know, 2 ds in IS. Considering now staying in Germany, so boys would have to move to German system. (ages 9 & 8). I have read so much über negative stuff on here, it's really my biggest negative in ? over whether or not to stay.

Could you give me a brief run down of system ( they get marks right - 1 to 6? 1 is bad or good?) Do they all go to school at same fixed time, ie 8 till 12 or is it all over the place? How does the system run, how much homework to expect? What's good about it? What do I need to know? Can I visit the school in adance? Is there in the Gemeinde or something an education officer or some such to help & guide me? Is there any special set up or provision for foreign kids? Is it all doom and gloom?

Thanks for anyone taking the time to help out

Omg, ernest, don't do it. I've just decided to take my 2 out and return to UK and you can not imagine how much better I feel now that I know I have saved them from it all.

To top it all you are in Bavaria and your dc will have to be gifted and talented naturals to get anywhere in their system. You will eventually have 4 lots of homework to sit over and my ds was doing homework every night for 2 hours minimum and that includes weekends. Dc don't have much of a life if they manage to get into grammar school and when they do and they try really hard only to be given a 4 or a 3 (a D or C grade) you can imagine how the wish to learn slowly gets demotivated away.

Anyway, if you have 1 or more slightly sensetive dc, don't even think about it.

Hmm, see this is what puts me off. But is it really really so bad? Is it 2 hours a day when finishing at noon or at 4? Mine don't get in from school till 5 pm then have to do homework on top of that. as it is they have no life.

Looking at UK option - dh would be looking at a good hour's commute each way, so dss would rarely see their dad, and the 11+ hysteria - kids swotting for 11+ exam from age of 6! And then they might not get into grammar school, the UK system also seems crap. What is the german system so crap, and if it really is, how do I convince dh, as he refuses to believe it can be that bad. The IS isn't great - lovely school, but not challenging enough for esp ds2 - he's doing easier stuff now than he was doing last year in CH, though I've repeatedly asked for him to be given more challenging work. He gets an english & maths sheet (4 sides of A4) a week for homework which he can complete in 10 minutes if there isn't colouring in. (this is grade 2) ds3 in grade 3 gets a lot more, even after having been in school 9 - 4 every day..

So tell me about your move, or is that the other thread? What school will your dc go to in uk? when do you go?

i'm only new to this german system but we're in bayern too so i hoped i might be a tiny bit of help!
i have nothing but good things to say at the mo about dd's school - they were so helpful to us when we enrolled her there and sat her beside the other kids who live in our village. her german speaking wasnt amazing when she started but the teacher is taking the time to help her with what she needs to do. i might change my mind as the kids get older but she loves school at the mo - somthing she never said in the UK!

FIL says most schools in bayern only send the kids to school in the morn - dd goes from 8 till 12.15 most days (some days she's finished at 11.15 and 1 day a fortnight she finishes at 1 as she has sport that day!)

she's in the 2nd class and prob has about 30 mins homework per day - she's also got handwriting homework to do - they seem obsessed with her doing joined up writing which she didnt do in the UK. she's quite happy to go up to her room to do this - she says its a fair trade off for coming home at lunchtime! its made our quality of life so much better though i imagine it'd be a nightmare if i tried to get a job in the future - no idea what would happen to them in the afternoon!

hope my little bit of experience helps - i know i cant really comment too much since we've only been here a couple of months but so far so good!

thanks canella, good to hear something positive- where are you? glad your dd happy, is she 8?

ernest - she's nearly 8 - birthday not till july! we're in unterfranken - not far from muennerstadt - thats where she goes to school. she loves the independence of it all - she gets the school bus to and from the village and only goes in the morn!! but like i said she might change her tune in years to come but she's a bright little thing so hope she copes ok!

It's usually OK up to year 3 or 4 at the latest. Then things syart to get serious and year 4 in most parts of Germany means test after test to try and get the best possible Empfehlung for secondary school. Ds managed to get Gymnasium Empfehlung but then the hard German starts so if you stay you need to be studying German now or be prepared to get a German tutor to check homework.

Last term we had about 3 homeworks where I needed to get help to make sure he'd done it correctly.

admylin

ernest, you have to consider if you want your children in the gymnasium at all? It is very stressful, and they can get to university from the RS. Or via private school just for the sixth form. I have even considered boarding school in the uk to do A levels!

why so stressful? More than say a grammar in UK would be? Trying to understand why it's considered so bad nd stressful? Is it continuous testing & threats?

What class would my ds be in (aug 99 and jan '01)? Would they be selected now? I guess yes, we would want them to go to gymnasium, they are both bright and def not getting challenged enough at IS.

SOmeone told me that they would be too old to join german system now; someone else told me if they moved into german system "they would at least survive it, but not without great psychological damage!" Obviously this is of some concern to me (understatement) and coupled with the v. negative press on this thread, I am really concerned about moving them to German school, but we plain can't afford to pay for IS; it doesn't work for us as a family anyway, nor meet their needs, and we're feeling less sure about decision to return to UK. The only way we can stay is if they go to german school. so is it really that bad, and why???

how old are your dc again nighbynight?

Ernest, the whole system is hard going on teh dc and the parents and one thing that bothered me most is not understanding everything. I would go to parents meetings and only 'get' two thirds of what went on and as I said before you will have to pay for German teachers for 4 dc in the end.

There must be decent places around London, maybe you just had bad luck when you went. I know I'm a fine one to talk with no problems like that and landing up in the Lake District with a top school on my doorstep - it's like being in paradise but please, for your own sanity, reconsider.

I think aug 99 would be on the cusp between 3rd and 4th classes, so you could choose for him to join this year's 3rd class. This would put him into the 4th class next year. amd he'd need average 2,33 (I think) for gymnasium.
Actually, that might be a bad choice, because the 4th class is so hellish.
Another option would be to put him into next year's 5th class.
You could try to get him directly into the gymnasium, phone them now because the transfer day is soon, and see what they say. They might accept him on the probezeit for next years 5th class.
Or you could try the RS 5th class, and he could move up. HS 5th class is laid back, but I think they lose a year if they want to move up to the gymnasium, even if they get straight 1s all year...you'd have to check with your gymnasium.

Its the continuous testing and threats, by the way. Also, they need to be very motivated to do homework, not to forget any book etc.

Your jan 01 ds would be in the current 2nd class I think. He shouldnt have too many problems in the 3rd class if he's reading fluently, knows the tables and has good, reasonably quick joined up writing. Advantage is that he'd have the 3rd class to get adjusted to the system before hitting the 4th class.

Thanks guys. It's a tough decision.

I don't think I'd want to put ds 1 up a class, the youngest class he is in the better, tho 4th sounds possibly difficult.

The thing about going to London, we could move to right by a grammar, then between now & then, ds would have to swot & cram & be under pressure for 11+ tests, just as it sounds like he will be in German system. Or we could not bother with grammar (even though they're def bright enough). But then so many comps are dodgy, it's such a lottery also in UK, see countless mn threads on the topic.

My plan is to put dc in german school for the next year (sep 2009). If it goes well, and we decide to stay then good, if it's terrible and they don't do well in school, we still have the UK option. It doesn't make sense to me to keep them in IS for the next year, decide then to stay, then move them into german system, and only then find it doesn't work.

Depressed to read so much bad stuff about it though. It is a concern.

Don't people say similar now about england system though? That too much pressure, constant testing, sats etc etc? is england system really so much better & why?

I think the english system is better because it doesnt matter if you fail every single test up to your A levels! You just carry on.
I certainly wouldnt get wound up about SATs. Even if your child fails the 11+, they can still sit A levels from the comp.

Putting a child into the 4th class in bayern is a bit of a nightmare though. Would he be going into the secondary section of the IS anyway, or does he have anther year in the primary?
Anther option would be to do the probezeit for the Realschule 5th class, and try to move up into the Gym later.

the two systems are very very different in what they consider the role of the teacher to be and how the varying abilities of individual pupils are addressed within an age group - and in a lot of other ways too.

Maybe you could have a word with Taipo when she is back on. Her dd was at school in London before they moved to Germany and has now been in the German system for 1 or 2 years. She might be able to make helpful comparisons for you on the basis of her recent experience, she also teaches in a German school so she has an insider's view if you like. I remember her writing that one of the reasons they decided to move to Germany was concern over the educational choices available to them where they were living in London.