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School authorities | History | Team & faculty | Forms | Our curriculum | WILUK | Gallery | Full-time | Formal | Enrolment |
School authorities |
History |
Team & faculty |
Forms |
Our curriculum |
WILUK |
Gallery |
Full-time |
Formal |
Enrolment |
School authorities
Sternenschule Duisburg is a state-recognized private school. This means that our school is operated conform to the educational guidelines and curricula of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and that our teaching staff meets a certain standard. Therefore, parents and students can always relocate to another German town within or outside of North Rhine-Westphalia, even if there are only public schools available, be it primary or secondary schools.
Sternenschule Duisburg has no obligation towards any political, religious or specific educational school of thought.
History
What prompts people to initiate a project such as Sternenschule? The original idea for our school arose from our ‘Zaubersterne’ kindergardens. When the first of those nurseries had been established in Duisburg, the question arose quickly: what would happen with the children afterwards? And, equally important, what about the pedagogical principles and values?
We imagined a place where learning and living would go hand in hand, where individuality and interests provide a high educational standard, instead of standardized systems that measure our children. To us, an international orientation, small study groups, state-of-the-art equipment and guaranteed lessons are a necessity.
But first and foremost, there was our strong wish for a consistent concept that would accompany our children from kindergarden age to graduation, based on equally high educational standards. By founding Sternenschule Duisburg, we have done a huge step towards that ultimate goal. The next step that has us reaching for the stars yet again is the foundation of a secondary school to complete our concept.
Team and faculty
Motivation is contagious! Our teaching staff is composed of enthusiastic educators who know exactly where the focus at Sternenschule Duisburg lies – on the children.
Our teachers see themselves as companions to the children in their educational process. They live and learn in a pleasant atmosphere of empathy and communication. Their passion is the key for the children to actually enjoy going to school. Our teachers and educational professionals are carefully selected and offer a high grade of educational competence and qualification. But it is just as important to us that their personality fits in with the rest of the team. Our educators are well versed with modern teaching methods and arrange their lessons due to German and international educational standards.
Our team
Management | Michaela Merfeld-Hilgers, Holger Sikorski |
Headmistress | Anja Johannknecht |
Head of organisation | Petra Ray |
Staff
Surname | Name |
Arenz | Kristina |
Bachor | Melanie |
Batey | Martin |
Baumgarten | Gerd |
Bransch | Simon |
Breuer | Marie |
Budde | Michael |
Bui | My-Nhung |
Clausing | Martina |
Cohrs | Gudrun |
Cortell | Jordi Chaqués |
Forisek | Tim |
Giesen | Martina |
Guillén Garcia | Marcos |
Hempel | Lena |
Heidenreich | Lea Sophie |
Honnen | Severin |
Janke | Kathrin |
Jansen | Birthe |
Keil | Leon |
Kopetz | Viktoria |
Lange | Laura |
Masseling | Marisa |
Poley | Uwe |
Reimann | Bernd |
Schlangen | Nicole |
Schmidt | Anika |
Scholten | Ole |
Thümmler | Jennifer |
Torres | Jenika |
Tsiasiotis | Saffron |
Völker | Andrea |
Volk | Julia |
Yalcin | Madina |
Forms
Our forms in the school year of 2024/25:
School year | Class |
1st form, 1a | Wolves |
1st form, 1b | Dragons |
2nd form, 2a | Foxes |
2nd form, 2b | Lions |
3rd form, 3a | Lynxes |
3th form, 3b | Eagles |
4th form, 4a | Lizards |
4th form, 4b | Chameleons |
Our curriculum
The curricula of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia are mandatory for every school. But at the same time, we try to think outside the box and include internationally acclaimed curricular into our own. We teach our students to understand local connections, so that they will feel at home in our globalized world without forgetting about their roots. The bilingual lessons we offer in some subjects are a specific feature in our timetable.
The following subjects are taught in German only at Sternenschule Duisburg:
- German
- Mathematics (1st and 2nd form)
- Religious education
- Special tuition
The following subjects are taught bilingually in German and English:
- General studies
- Mathematics (from 3rd form onward)
- Arts
- Music
- Sports (including swimming)
English language lessons are offered as a separate subject 2 hours a week as of 1st form (as of 3rd form 3 hours weekly) as an additional subject.
Getting to know each other - Programme supporting the transition from kindergarden to primary school
“Children experience demanding changes during the transition from early childhood programs to primary school […], research shows that children’s initial academic and social success at school can affect their long-term adjustment, achievement, and success.“
Lee S, Goh G: Early Childhood Research & Practice, 2012
As cited above, the transition from kindergarden to primary school is an important step for every child. Kindergarden and school are equally responsible for securing a continuous process of development and education for the children. By collaborating in every step of the way, all involved parties accept and cater to this responsibility. The collective educational task at hand is to perceive the children in their different stages of development, to support them wherever possible and to ensure that the transition from one stage to the next is formed into a bridge instead of a breach. To meet this challenge, Sternenschule Duisburg, in collaboration with the Zaubersterne kindergardens has developed the WILUK project, to provide a smooth access for all participants.
The following programme, which has already been realised successfully in the past two years, will be implemented again in the following year:
- A day of trial lessons at Sternenschule Duisburg (usually beginning directly after the Easter holiday).
The newly enrolled students are broken up into 2 or 3 groups (6 to 8 children maximum per group) and participate in the normal lessons along with the 1st form students.- 8.30h, 1st period: school game (only the new students), to compile a profile of their abilities with regard to our school
- 9:15h: 2nd period: shared mathematics lesson / topic: Adventures in Numberland
- 10:00h: Breakfast, outdoors break on the schoolyard with rally around the school grounds
- 10:45h: 3rd period: joint bilingual general studies / topic: Research and experimenting, afterwards: shared lunch
- End of the trial lessons: 12:30h
- Trial afternoons at Sternenschule Duisburg (usually in June). On 4 weekdays in different weeks, the children have the opportunity of participating in the school’s afternoon programme along with the 1st form students (multiple students on the same day are permitted!). The afternoon programme usually takes place between 14:00h and 15.20h. Some examples from last year:
- Monday: early childhood musical education
- Wednesday: Arts/colour workshop
- Thursday: English indoor activities
- Friday: Sports adventures
- Family adventure day (near the end of the school year) at Sternenschule Duisburg.
The children have the chance to participate in the adventure and experimental educational offers, while the parents can reflect on the WILUK-days in a relaxed atmosphere. Cold drinks and a tasty BBQ are a great foundation for a functioning school community. - Mentoring 1st form students will become mentors to the new students from the first trial days up to the first half year of their education at Sternenschule Duisburg.
Gallery
Full-Time
Trust us; school community is brought to life within our full-time school concept. From morning to afternoon, your child is in good hands the whole school day long.
Daily routine
Our daily school routine is rhythmitised, meaning that the children’s needs are catered to by alternating quiet studying, artistic and exercise activities and focused practise. Sternenschule Duisburg is open every day from 7:30h-16.50h (Fridays until 15:20h). Lessons are held from 8:30h-15:20h, on Friday from 8:30h-14:35h. Additional offers of our full-time programme are available before, after and in-between lessons.
Shared lunchtime
Shared lunch in our children’s restaurant is a well-liked part of the school day. A meal shared with friends within the community is great fun and an important socializing factor. It is important to us that the offered meals are healthy as well as tasty. The students are given the opportunity to have a say in future menus by evaluating their daily meals.
Supervised time for homework
Homework enables our students to once again delve into the subject matter of the day and to recall the newly learned methods and content. However, in our opinion homework is not something that necessarily has to be done at home. During the school day, our students are granted sufficient time to do their homework right here at school, while our teachers and educators are available to help and answer questions.
Supervised special tuition
“Supporting and challenging” is the motto our teachers are true to when supervising the special tuition time, which is a fixed part of the students’ timetable. That time is designed to cater to the needs and prowess of each individual child and the lesson content is adjusted accordingly. Some children may need additional time to grasp a given topic, or maybe a different angle of explanation or alternative teaching materials. Other children may feel the need for an additional challenge, to dive deeper into a subject they are passionate about and to work on thought-provoking puzzles.
Open offers and project groups
Leisure-time is not just free time at Sternenschule Duisburg. Open offers and project groups provide further value to the interval time between lessons. Including all forms, our offers are highly diverse so that every student will find suitable activities for their leisure-time spent with us, and free time becomes quality time in a heartbeat.
Playtime
Children need breaks during their school day, and they need time to play. Throughout every school day, we provide our students with plenty of both, at different times and varying lengths.
Formal
At a glance
Enrolment at Sternenschule Duisburg is generally possible when there are vacancies, even when the current school year has already begun. We process enrolments from the enrolment list up to October for the current school year. Families are invited by us to spend an enrolment day at our school, which includes talks with the parents and the child respectively as well as an entrance test to be undertaken by the children.
On principle, all children can be enrolled for our bilingual entry level. Prior knowledge of the English language is not a requirement.
We believe in a learning environment with an international focus. We speak both in the German and Englisch language and we practise an open feedback culture. We offer a full day concept with supervised special tuition. Music and creativity as well as sports and activities shapes our day.
Enrolment
Enrolment
Enrolment at Sternenschule Duisburg is generally possible when there are vacancies, even when the current school year has already begun. We process enrolments from the enrolment list up to October for the current school year. Families are invited by us to spend an enrolment day at our school, which includes talks with the parents and the child respectively as well as an entrance test to be undertaken by the children.
On principle, all children can be enrolled for our bilingual entry level. Prior knowledge of the English language is not a requirement. The number of vacancies at Sternenschule Duisburg is limited as every form has a maximum of 20 students. The final decision on each application is taken by the school. The entrance test as well as the assessment of the child’s kindergarden are both taken into account. The following criteria are of particular interest to us:
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Please use our application form.
Secretary
Phone: +49 203 7388300, Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.