About our school
Our school is open to students of all denominations and religious beliefs. But the Christian conception of man is the basis of our educational aims:
Consideration, fairness and respect for people who look different, think different or act in a different way.
Moulding and maintaining our school as a place where we live and learn together keeping in mind our responsibility for each other and God’s creation.
Giving everybody the chance to develop to the best of their interests and abilities by recognizing and respecting the individual capacities and needs of our students.
I. The history of our school
The Evangelische Gymnasium, or evau for short, has existed in its present form since 1964. The name of the school reveals something about its origin and special character.
Founded and supported by the Parish of Siegen, our school is not a typical German Grammar school. As the school is partly run by the Protestant Church, it is a private school; all its school-leaving certificates, however, are fully recognized by the state. Generally speaking, we are allowed more freedom to make regulations fit the individual case than ordinary state-run schools.
In contrast to British independent schools, the Evangelische Gymnasium is not a boarding school and is attended by pupils from all social classes because there are no tuition fees. Like everywhere else in Germany, there are no school uniforms either. It goes without saying that although this is a church-run school it is open to children of all denominations.
There are about 50 full-time members of staff and 15 part-time members. The headmistress of the school is Mrs Beate Brinkmann.
II. Our pupils
Due to the fact that the EV is the only private grammar school in Siegen and thus apart from the Rudolf Steiner Schule the only alternative to the state schools in our region, our catchment area is quite large. We receive pupils from all Primary Schools in and around Siegen, including rural districts. For the Gymnasiale Oberstufe – the equivalent of the British 6th form – our Feeder Schools include all the Secondary Schools of the district as well.
There are about 750 pupils at our school. Of these roughly 50 % are girls.
III. Organization of classes
There are three classes in each grade. For convenience, we call each class by a letter: a, b and c. When pupils first arrive in school, they go into one of the three fifth forms. Usually, children from the same primary schools and the same neighbourhoods attend the same class. Unlike some of the comprehensives, we do not consider the pupils‘ academic abilities for this decision. The pupils stay in these groups till the ninth grade – the earliest date at which they can leave school with a proper school-leaving certificate (comparable to the O-level or GCSE). But the majority of our pupils prefer staying on at school for another three years and take the Abitur (equivalent to the A-Levels or GCE) – the final exam, which, if passed successfully, entitles them to study at a university. They are joined by a fourth group of pupils coming from the Haupt- and Realschule.
The average number of pupils in each form is 28 to 30. But for the final three-year course there are no classes as such – these pupils meet in subject groups of their own choice which are smaller.
IV. School buildings and facilities
At the centre of the school complex you will find the biggest building housing the staff rooms and the administrative office, the classrooms, a special set of teaching rooms for the Oberstufe as e.g. science laboratories, a computer room, art rooms, a first aid room and a room for our school council and for non-local pupils . The building separates our two school yards for the lower and upper level. Then there is a gym and a sports field and another building in front of the main entrance, the so-called Arche, which houses a music room and an assembly hall. A new building containing a students‘ library and a canteen where the students have lunch opened in 2011.
V. School day
The pupils have four lessons (60 minutes each) in the morning and two lessons on one to four days a week in the afternoon, depending on year level. On long days there is a lunch break of 50 minutes. Schools starts at 7.45 and ends either at 12.20 or 15.15. Lots of after school activities are offered (see list below).
VI. Subjects
The following subjects are taught in our school:
German, English, French, Latin, Greek
Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science
History, Geography, Politics, Social Sciences
Religious Education, Philosophy
Art, Music, Physical Education
VII. Option scheme
All our pupils study English as their first foreign language (starting in grade 5). The 6th graders can choose between French or Latin as their second language. No matter what they decide, they stay in their classes and only separate for these language lessons.
They can also choose if they want to learn an instrument, sing in a choir or have traditional music lessons in class 5. They must stick to their chosen programme for two years.
In the 8th and 9th grade we operate an option scheme, called Differenzierungsstufe. The timetable in these years is composed of two elements: a common core of subjects which are compulsory plus one class chosen from among a number of options. The choices that are available vary slightly from year to year but there is always the opportunity to choose a third language – either French or Latin – for two years.
The idea of the option scheme is to allow pupils to choose subjects that hold a special interest for them and for which they have a particular ability and thus get used to the option scheme which is considered the prominent character of the Oberstufe. The pupils of the upper level have a minimum of nine subjects every year, two of these are subjects they specialize in. They take four subjects in which they have to pass written and / or oral examinations for the Abitur. These four subjects must be chosen from groups 1, 2 and 3. There are special regulations for Religious Education and Physical Education. They have to choose at least one subject from each group.
Group 1
German, Foreign Languages, Art, Music
Literature (= Creative Writing, Drama,Video, Exhibitions etc.)
Group 2
History, Geography, Politics, Social Studies, Philosophy
Group 3
Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science
Every student at our school has to do Religious Education until the Abitur. Within the qualifying phase (QI/QII) everyone has to do a project class, where teachers for Religious Education and another subject (Sports, History, Philosophy, Arts, Biology develop a special curriculum which prepares the students for a two-week-internship in social projects.
VIII. School-leaving certificates and examinations
Pupils can leave school with proper certificates at the end of the 10th, 12th and 13th grade. Special examinations are only taken for the Abitur.
IX. Extra-curricular activities
As a rule we organize the following extra-curricular activities:
Support Programme for pupils with problems in certain subjects.
Especially trained senior students teach younger students either individually
or in small groups
Senior and Junior School Choirs, Orchestra, Big Band, Brass Band
Drama Society – the ‚theaterkiste‘ has won national and international prizes
in recent years, Theatre
Science for explorers
Training classes in English and Mathematics
Juggling, Photography, Computer Science, Law
Driving Instructions for Motor-Assisted Bicycles
School Magazine
Volleyball, Apparatus Gymnastics, Gymnastics, Golf, Baseball, Dancing
Various Project Works
X. Religious offers
Early morning prayer every Friday
Services for all students at the beginning of the school year and the calendar
year
Special services for the different classes and years during the school year
XI. School trips
All 7th graders take part in a ten-day stay in a school hostel on Wangerooge, a beautiful island in the North Sea. This trip is very much appreciated, by both pupils and teachers. Longer trips, apart from day-excursions, take place in the 12th grade.
XII. School Exchanges
For many years we have got an exchange with a school in Lille, France for our 9th graders.
At senior level we offer the following exchange programmes:
‚Lyceum‘ in Oliva-Gdansk, Poland
‘Pardes Hanna Secondary School‘ in Pardes Hanna, Israel
‘Ramoth Hefer‘ in Emek Hefer, Israel
‘St. Croix Lutheran High School‘, ‘Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School‘, beide in Minnesota, USA