Due to its website, it’s a ‘British run Bed & Breakfast. Unique in Germany! World-Famous’ in Dortmund.‘ Its only a few kilometers away from Dortmund Airport and the owners offer a shuttle service “for guest arriving”.
I had a look at the pictures on the website. It looks very typical for ‘bed & breakfast’. Even if I live, I might consider it when I’ll have to take an early flight out from Dortmund.
There is some confusion to the translation of ‘Kindergarten’ into English language. The English use the term ‘Kindergarten’ for the one year before elementary school. This kind of Kindergarten is limited to this last year. The semantics of German ‘Kindergarten’ doesn’t seem to know these limitation. It doesn’t easily allow a different form of nursery school, toddler groups and pre-school offers. Anyway, all terms refer to a pre-school offer.
However, in my opinion there are such offers in Ruhr. Some language schools set up schools for children, and there are toddler groups and Kindgarten with a profile that includes introduction into English language. On the internet I also find classifieds looking for nurses that speak German and English. Some school projects offer or plan to offer an English language nursery. Further (private) offers are an English language toddler group in Dortmund (Krabbelgruppe Dortmund) and an additional offer for pre-school children in Essen by Dreistein. The last one I found via a newspaper article in the NRZ which also mentions prices.
In Dortmund exists a comprehensive school that offers a bilingual branch for interested pupils which is called ‘Big English’. These pupils at the Heinrich Böll-Gesamtschule get additionally two more English lessons in 5th and 6th grade. From 7th grade on they get subjects like geography, biology and history taught in English language. The aim ist to develop the special vocabulary needed for these subjects.
I just heard of another bilingual ‘Gymnasium’ in Dortmund besides the Leibniz-Gymnasium: the Heisenberg-Gymnasium. The Heisenberg-Gymnasium doesn’t offer an optional International Baccalaureate like the other one. An article about this offer is available here in this blog: “International Baccalaureate (IB) at German bilingual public schools“.
The Heisenberg-Gymnasium offers a bilingual class since the academic year 2002/03. The 5th and 6th grade get two additional English lessons per week. Fort the 5th grade this means 7 English lessons and for the 6th grade 6 lessons. Beginning with the 7th grade upto two subjects are taught in English and German language: Two of 3 lessons per week are in English, one is in German. While preparing the German baccalaureate (Abitur) In 11th and 12th grade, there is an offer of English as an advanced course (Leistungskurs) and an basic course of one subject taught in English language. Pupils achieving the German baccalaureate will get an additional certificate from the school telling about the bilingual education done.
My wife and I heard about it form another American women in Bochum: There is a mobile market (a lorry) that comes to Bochum frequently which offers food and some other stuff from the USA and the UK. Talking about it again, I was told about an website of that guy. It’s www.foodfromhome.de.
I had a short look at the page and here is my summarize: You can get all the stuff via mail order or from the mobile store which travels through North Rhine-Westphalia and parts of Holland (the Netherlands). The website contains a list with place where the mobile store with about 250 different items (out of more thatn 1,500 available) stops.
In Ruhr there are stops in Bochum (2nd Saturday in month, 13.15 – 13.45h at Starlight Express), Bottrop (2nd Saturday in month, 17.00 – 17.30h at carpark Osterfelder Straße/Hans-Böckler-Straße), Dortmund (2nd Saturday in month Rheinische Straße / Langestraße, 14.20 – 14.40h) and Duisburg (International School St. Georges School), 2nd Tuesday, 1st and 3rd Friday in month, 15.00 – 16.00, Birkenstraße 15, Tuesday at Kranichstraße 21), Essen (2nd Tuesday, 18.00 – 18.30h, ica halle Am Westbahnhof and 2nd Saturday in month, carpark at Barbarossa Platz), Gelsenkirchen (2nd Saturday, 12.30 – 12.50h, Ringstraße 75-80), Hamm (3rd (!) Saturday, 17.00 – 17.20h, Carl-Goerdeler-Straße 3) and Recklinghausen (2nd Saturday, 15.20 – 15.40h, carpark at Kemnastraße / Hertenerstraße).
You can get English magazines there, too. I’ll hopefull try it in May.
At the moment, I see some activities in Ruhr about new schools. The hype is around the the Term “International School”. There seems to be some demand for a bigger variety of schools in the Ruhr area for quite a while. The hype started with Dr. Jürgen Großmann, CEO of RWE, offering money for founding a private International School. The intentions seems to be to get a school with the elements: English language, German as second language taught as a subject, Cambridge Curriculum, Internationale Baccalaureate (Germans call it ‘Internationales Abitur’). It shall be an offer for academic staff or managers who speak English. An international class that moves around the world with their children. In my opinion, this project is more part of regional business development. Ruhr as an international metropolis will need an International School like this. The next one is situated in Düsseldorf.
“International School” is also used for other school, partly with similar concepts. The International School in Velbert-Heiligenhaus is going to open a branch in Bochum. As far as I unterstood the concept is different from International Schools like the one in Düsseldorf – the one mentioned above. It seems to focus on an international clientele and a German as well. Different form this concept is the one of a private bilingual school, the Carolinen-Schule in Bochum. This school is going to use the curriculum of the state of Northrhine-Westfalia. This is the officual one used by public school. Lessons shall be offered in German and English via two teachers at the same time. Following the public curriculum the school will get public sponsoring by the state and the (German) pupils will be garanteed to fulfill compulsory schooling here.
There a plans to add preschools/Kindergarten and grades 5th to 12th.
“International School” can also refer to schools that offer an International Baccalaureate without being a private school, an International School like mentioned above or beeing connected with an elementary school. Currently, there are secondary public schools in Germany that offer bilingual education. Some of these offer the option of an International Baccalaureate
I knew about a school in Bochum, Hildegardisschule, with offers bilingual education in French and the additional Baccalaureate. About bilingual public Schools offering the IB, I just read about at ruhrbarone.de
Looking at the websites mentioned by ruhrbarone.de there is the Leibniz-Gymnasium in Dortmund since 2007 and the soon will be the Goetheschule in Essen. Due to its website the IB will be offered at Leibniz Gymnasium form 2009/10. Both schools offer bilingual German-English education and optionally the IB. Due to the website of the Leibniz-Gymnasium there are 40 schools like this in Northrhine-Westfalia. At both schools some lessons will be offered German, some will be offered in English. Different concepts work with two teachers and lessons are bilingual. Further “International Schools” offere lessons only in English and German taught as second language.
There is a demand for a broader offer of schools in Ruhr. It’s developing. The diffences mentioned here, are not the only ones. E.g., private schools often offer smaller classes.
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