Through the crisis with flying colours

The primary school Stetten a.k.M. draws a positive balance for the school year 19/20 despite Corona

Anne Ziegler/Franziska Ritter

It is undisputed among educational researchers that the key to a successful life begins with substantial groundwork on education and learning behaviour in primary school. The ability to read meaningfully, to express oneself in writing and to perform everyday arithmetic operations are elementary prerequisites for enabling people to participate and lead to social integration. It's a bit like a house: only if the foundation is secure and reliable will it support the whole house. If there are gaps or cracks, there is a great danger that the house will shake and collapse at the slightest vibration.

In order to give our primary school pupils this sustainable foundation, we at the Stetten a.k.M. School Centre have done our best even in the time of crisis. We are pleased that all primary school pupils achieved their performance target in the school year 19/20 despite Corona! For this we would like to thank the pupils especially, but above all you, dear parents, because without your support this would certainly not have been possible!

During the pandemic period, the children worked on a total of 7 weekly homeschooling plans very conscientiously and with great motivation. Homeschooling had been a lot of fun for them in the beginning, even though after a while learning alone without their classmates was not so nice anymore.

Therefore, everyone was happy when the school reopened and they slowly found their way back into the school routine, albeit under completely different conditions than before. The fourth graders made the start and were divided into three groups of 11 children. The lessons for them consisted of a mix of about two-thirds attendance time and one-third homeschooling, in order to achieve a deepening effect of the lesson contents. Work was still done according to a weekly schedule so that any absences, such as technical problems or sick leave, could be compensated for. In the 5th hour, there was an exciting daily movement and sports time with sports teacher Julio Becerra, which the children enjoyed very much. But there were also new rules to follow: the mask still had to be worn in the corridors and there were fixed places to stand during breaks. The primary school children's initial uncertainty soon subsided and gave way to eagerness to adhere to all the rules in a disciplined manner.

Since the end of June, the new school routine has almost become routine. Since then, the primary school pupils have been back in their classes. There is a full timetable, additional support lessons for individual learning support are possible. A first positive balance is emerging: the primary school pupils of the Stetten a.k.M. school centre have mastered their learning performance thanks to the excellent support of teachers and parents and, in contrast to the pupils of some other locations, have not fallen behind despite school absences!

A great advantage of the school location is the close integration of primary school and secondary school: the teachers of both teams work hand in hand, discuss individual solutions for their pupils and link the curricula between grade 4 and learning level 5. Discussions are already taking place which address this year's special situation of the fourth graders and facilitate their transition into learning level 5 at the GMS. Topics that need to be dealt with in greater depth are integrated into the learning plans for grade 5 by the teachers of the next school year; individual focal points of individual pupils are incorporated into the learning times and support concepts. In this way, the pupils in Stetten can go into the summer holidays with peace of mind, knowing that they will receive the best possible support in the next school year.

Everyone hopes that they will be able to return to normal school life after the summer holidays. But even if not: the challenges during the maternity leave have shown that the primary school and its little ABC pupils are well equipped to get through a crisis and successfully manage change. We are particularly proud of this in Stetten!