School-Entry Phase

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the elementary school time starts with a school-entry phase. This means that children have one, two, or three years to pass through grades 1 and 2. In this way, the different grades of development of the children at school enrolment are considered.

Inter-Year Learning

At our school, the school-entry phase is designed as an inter-year phase. Students in their first, second and third year of school visit the same class together. The children who are starting school are assigned to a group of children who already know the school well. In this way the younger children can learn from the older ones.

If needed, children can stay in the school-entry phase for three years, without having to repeat a grade or changing their learn group. All of the children work with individual day or week plans.

At our school we educate a total of 5 inter-year classes with 23 children each. The class teacher of each class and the employees of the all-day program are responsible for the classes. Additionally, our social education staff is there to support the children of the entry classes with individual or small group support.

After the school-entry phase, the children move into grade 3. Then the teaching in separate classes starts. In third and fourth grade, the children are accompanied by a different class teacher together with an employee from the all-day offer.