A typical English grammar lesson in a German school

In a typical English grammar lesson in Germany first we discuss the grammar rules, before the students practise the new forms. The focus is always on acquiring and increasing communication skills in the foreign language.

Here is a short video explaining the most important facts about the English future tenses:

Links to school websites

http://www.dr-walter-bruch-schule.de/

http://www.durrowns.com/

More photos

In the following pictures you can see our graduation ceremony. 

This year 58 students passed their final state exams and are now proud be nursery-school-teachers :-)

Extra Curricular Activities

In our school, children take part in various activities and competitions both during school hours, at lunchtime or after school. We have a boy’s Gaelic football team, a girl’s Gaelic football team and a boy’s hurling team. These children take part in matches against other schools in our local area. They train after school every week.

We also have a girls and boys soccer team which take part in the official FAI competition. The children attend various indoor and outdoor athletics events throughout the year also.

We are very lucky to have a traditional Irish music group in our school also. They play a variety of instruments including:

• ·        Accordion
• ·        Fiddle
• ·        Flute
• ·        Concertina
• ·        Guitar
• ·        Banjo
• ·        Harp
• ·        Tin Whistle
• ·        Keyboard
• ·        Violin

This group performs every year in Fleadh Ceol na hEireann. They also perform at various school and community events.

Committees

Green Schools

We have various committees in our school. The two main groups are The Green Schools Committee which leads our initiative to become a more environmental friendly school and community. We have achieved flags in both litter and waste and energy. We will start work on our 3^rd application in September for water conservation.

Health Promoting 

We also have a health committee. They are currently striving to achieve out health and fitness flag. They promote healthy eating and exercise.

Dr.-Walter-Bruch-Schule in Sankt Wendel, Germany

Here are some pictures of my school!

First you can see some pictures of students who are training to become nursery-school teachers. They are in their second year of vocational training right now.

Subjects

We study lots of different subjects in our school such as:

• ·        English
• ·        Gaeilge
• ·        Maths
• ·        History
•     ICT
• ·        Geography
• ·        Science
• ·        S.P.H.E (Social, Personal & Health Education)
• ·        Art
• ·        Music
• ·        Drama
• ·        P.E. (Physical Education)
• 
  

We are very lucky to have various coaches attend our school throughout the year. They teach the children activities including tag rugby, Gaelic football & hurling, gymnastics and dance. We also have swimming lessons in the local pool for 6 weeks.

A Typical School Day

All classes begin at 9.20 a.m. every morning. In our school, children work until 10.50 a.m. on various subjects. At 10.50 a.m., they will stop work and eat a snack in their classroom. At 11.00 a.m., the school bell will ring and if the weather allows, all children will go outside to play for 10 minutes until 11.10 a.m. We are very lucky to have an astro turf area where children can play soccer matches at their breaks.

When the bell rings, all children line up and return to their classroom. Again, they will work on various subjects until 12.50 p.m. At this time, they will have lunch and then go outside to play at 1.00 p.m. for 30 minutes

When the children return to class at 1.30 p.m., this is where the day will differ for younger and older children. Both Junior and Senior Infants finish their day at 2.00 p.m. while 1^st – 6^th class continue to work until 3.00 p.m. when their day finishes. 

A Typical Day in a German Vocational School

In Germany there is a so-called dual education system, which combines apprenticeships in a company with vocational education at a vocational school in one course. Thus, German students can learn jobs that require formal training such as nursery-school-teacher, hairdresser or retailer.

At my vocational school, which is called Dr.-Walter-Bruch-Schule, I mainly teach students who want to become nursery-school-teachers. There I teach English and educational science.

A typical day in my vocational school starts 7:45 a.m. One lesson is usually 45 min. After two lessons there is a 15 min break. So the first break is at 9:15 a.m. The third lesson starts at 9:30 a.m. and there is another break at 11 a.m. after the fourth lesson. We normally have six lessons on a typical school day, which means that after the sixth lesson, at 12:45, the school day is over. Sometimes there are also afternoon lessons. Especially for older students the school day then ends at 13:40 or 14:25.

A Typical Day in an Irish Primary School

Introduction

There are 8 classes in primary school in Ireland. Children begin school at the age of 4 or 5 after 1 - 2 years in preschool. The classes they progress through are:

• Junior Infants
• Senior Infants
• 1^st Class
• 2^nd Class
• 3^rd class
• 4^th Class
• 5^th Class
• 6^th Class