General facts about our school
Good morning and welcome to our presentation. First of all we want to tell you some general information about our school. Our school is called BAfEP which is a short term for “Educational Institution for Elementary Pedagogics”. After attending our school for five years we finish with the A-levels and can start to work at a nursery school as a kindergarten teacher. Ten times per year we have to pay 160€ because it’s a private school.
To be allowed to attend our school you have to pass an entrance test. This test is divided into four parts: sport, communication, music and art. Because it’s the only BAfEP in Vorarlberg there are many applicants that’s why this process is needed to find the most suitable students. This leads to very long ways to school for some of us. A few people from our class need up to two hours to get to school. After these two hours they have to walk up 264 stairs to our classroom.
An average school day lasts until four or five pm but very often we have one to three hours of freetime additionally to our lunch time. The reason why we have lots of freetime during the school day is that the classes are separated into several small groups for some subjects like guitar or recorder lessons. It’s important that we can play those instruments because we need them in kindergarten.
There are a few subjects in which we are separated into two groups for example in our creative subjects. It’s typical of our school that being creative is essential. One of our creative subjects is called “Rhythmical Education” where we learn to express ourselves by making music, singing and dancing.
An example for a school subject in which our whole class is together is Religious Education. It’s an important subject at our school because we are a private catholic school. Regardless of one’s denomination, everyone has to attend two lessons of Religious Education per week. There are five church services per year which are prepared by different classes. The first church service of the year is organized by the teachers.
Another special subject we want to talk about is Didactics. In these lessons we discuss different important topics about nursery school and we also have to write one test per semester. You can see that it’s a fundamental school subject because we have to attend Didactic lessons through all the five years. The last subject we would like to present you is Pedagogics. During these lessons our teacher informs us about different learning methods, various stages of development and some psychological topics.
Amsterdam
Hello everybody. We would like to tell you about our cultural week we had this year.
At our school, every class goes on a city trip in their fourth year. This year we went to Amsterdam and our parallel class went to Berlin. Our adventurous week started with an exhausting 10-hour journey. Since our school doesn’t want to pollute the environment any further by traveling by plane, we traveled by train.
As we arrived late in the evening, we were very tired. On the first evening, there was nothing to do except for eating and sleeping. The youth hostel was like a hotel and the food was also really good, except for the fried onions in yogurt which two girls tried out, but didn’t like. The first thing we did on day two was a boat trip through the canals, where we found out a lot about the history of Amsterdam.
In the following days, we visited many museums like the Anne Frank Hus, the Rijks museum and the Van Gogh museum. Some museums were really interesting, but not all of us enjoyed them. For example, some students tried to adjust figures and pictures in the museums. However, we also had a lot of free time where we explored the city on our own, went shopping and took a lot of photos.
One of our highlights was when we went to the sea north of Amsterdam. Most of us went for a swim, even if the water was really cold, and others enjoyed a walk on the beach. Mr. Dönz, our German teacher, went with us and also allowed us to try and order a beer, though that didn’t work because most of us were still under eighteen.
On our journey home, it took us a lot longer and cost us more nerves. Instead of 11 hours of traveling as planned, the journey took us 14 hours and we also had to catch 11 different trains. We also had a 2-hour stopover in Cologne because we missed a train. While there, some of us went up the Cologne Dom to pass the time and enjoy the view.
Celebrations
“Einstandsfest”
Every year the second grade has to welcome the new classes. This happens through a ritual called “Einstandsfest” where the unsuspectable first class students get kidded. For example, they have to make a dance choreography to win a journey to Munich. Of course, everything is a big joke. There is a big buffet for the first class students afterwards where they get to know each other.
Halbzeitfest
Usually there is a party after the half of our education. The students have to organize the party by themselves and celebrate that they only have 2,5 of 5 years left. Teachers are not allowed to take part. After a long oozy night the students go to school immediately. Traditionally every class makes t-shirts with a funny quote on it. Now we want to show you a few pictures of our half-time-party.
Käpplefest
In the last year of school everybody gets a small cap for the matura. In this year of graduation (the fifth year) there is a party to inaugurate the caps. At this party the teachers fill the caps with champagne and the students have to drink it.
Maturaball
Also in the year of graduation the prom takes place. All the family members are invited to this celebration and the students make a show. Every prom has its own topic and everybody who wants to come has to buy a ticket.
