Yesterday was surprisingly exhausting. We all found the experience totally draining but positive and extremely interesting.
We had appointments to visit two schools with a view to Rhiannon join one of them; School A and School B.
Both had their own 'pros' and 'cons' for us, but to go into them too deeply will expose more information than I’m comfortable with.
I will just detail School A in this post, with another entry for School B tomorrow.
School A is closest to home and situated in a fairly quiet, mostly residential area. The large building - or set of buildings - is strangely unimposing. Rhiannon liked the look of the school from the outside because it “looked like a proper school”. This wouldn’t necessarily be a ‘pro’ from me though.
The warm, funny and friendly Admissions Officer met us for a long, informative chat. We had more questions here than at School B because the curriculum is very different from the one we’re familiar with. Lessons seem to be research and project based, and student led, which I think will suit Rhiannon’s style of working. Lots of talk about public speaking and PowerPoint presentations, both of which are no problem at all for Rhiannon.
Then we were shown around. The set-up was impressive and vibrant. There was a huge library, several properly set-up science labs (Rhiannon’s face lit up like a beacon at this!) and a sunny canteen. School dinners are provided and included in the fees. To our surprise we discovered that two of the standard PE lessons are Judo and dance. What a novel idea. And another massive ‘pro’ for our list.
Like all German schools, there is no school uniform. For some time now, this has puzzled me but it was cleared up today: historically, uniform on German school-children has negative connotations... the Hitler Youth. Now that makes perfect sense.
And other aspects seem lax compared to what we're used to. For example, nail varnish can be worn as long as it's not chipped and untidy.
We were introduced to the teachers, all of whom were lively and welcoming. The music teacher instantly offered Rhiannon a place in the school choir and the woman would be Rhiannon’s teacher was very excited at the prospect of having a native English speaking girl join her class.
Initially we were under the impression that Rhiannon would skip a year in this system, going into a grade above, but it’s not that straightforward. We – using the English system – are used to year groups going by the child’s age on 31st August (before the school year starts). So Rhiannon, who was ten in October last year, is one of the eldest children in her current Year 5. In School A the age groups go through a calendar year so she would be one of the youngest in her new year.
In September this year, she will move to secondary education, which will be a year sooner that she would in the English curriculum. This is good. I think…
Rhiannon was immediately offered a place at this over-subscribed school, with open arms and much enthusiasm - a native-English girl seemed much in demand.
It was arranged that she will do a couple of days trial next week so she can be evaluated for her skills and so on. And they've even said she can start straight away after that if we want.
We will think on this.
Then it was time to leave for lunch before heading to the next school, keeping an open mind as it's good to have a Plan B.