Comments on: Not so sunny outlook for Germany’s school switchers

By: - Pavel | Russia - Educationblog - DW.DE

- Pavel | Russia - Educationblog - DW.DE — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:33:03 +0000

[…] recent entry mentioned Simon, whose worries as a pupil made me think about something relating to education […]

By: Kathrin

Kathrin — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Hi María,
Thank you for your comment. One thing at the beginning: Simon isn’t 10 years old but 14 years old which is a very difficult age even without having to change schools.
It’s interesting to hear that you’ve changed schools several times. And I think you’re right. That it’s also a lot about having the feeling not to fulfill expectations. Not only the kids feel that stigma – unfortunately, the parents also ask themselves whether they’ve supported their kids enough – and sometimes they feel unsure about what they should answer people in their families that expect all family members to succeed at school.

By: María

María — Wed, 30 May 2012 00:11:56 +0000

Hi Kathrin,
the way I see it, it’s not that bad either that he repeats one year or that he changes school. He is only ten! By this I mean the following. I changed schools four times from the ages of 5 to 13. This means I went to five different schools. The first time, ok, no big deal it was only kindergarten. The second time, I was 8 years old, finished 2nd grade in a private school and started 3rd grade in a public school (me and the family moved to the outskirts). The third time, I was 11, from public school to (very) religious private school. The fourth time, I was 13, changing to another (more free style) religious private school (though not so expensive as the previous one). I did feel like changing schools was different as I grew older, it was harder to get into the group. But I managed. It’s all about the support u have at home, I think, and the friends u could make. I still see my friends from the first school I went to when I was 5.
I also know what repeating level means. I had a classmate in secondary school who was a year older. I believe it is more abt the social stigma of not fulfilling what you were supposed to. Truth is, some kids find it harder to keep up for a number of very good reasons, and if he is part of a nice group of classmates (the teacher could give a hand in this), he will find comfort in a short time.