Which primary school for my child?

Beautiful old building, committed teachers, many festivals and other offers. Well organized and with a very good reputation. That sounds like the right elementary school for my child! At least that’s what I thought. Ultimately, however, things turned out very differently, because not only do the wishes of the child play a role in the choice, other factors such as the pedagogical concept are also important. And a good portion of gut feeling.

As always with children, time flies far too quickly. It has barely outgrown the nappies and entered the day care center when the last year of kindergarten begins and it is time to decide on a primary school. To be honest, I hadn’t given too much thought to the school registration beforehand . Everything would work out. We have two elementary schools in the immediate vicinity, one of which I found really good. From afar everything was clear.

Which makes choosing an elementary school difficult

Up close, however, less so. Of course, we were familiar with criteria such as proximity to home, which school the child’s friends choose, the pedagogical concept and the childcare times – but in our case they simply could not be reconciled: the child would like to go to the  Montessori school  in the neighboring district, to visit their friends. Absolutely! I need an elementary school nearby. Absolutely! The pedagogical concept and the care times are important to the father.

In addition, we live in a big city, where it always feels like there are too few classes for too many children. So it is not that easy to actually get a place in the facility of your choice. Daycare place search reloaded. In view of this, it is all the more important to make a careful choice of primary school. Information provided by schools is best suited for this. These range from websites and brochures to information evenings and an open day. My advice: Take advantage of the offers, because they can significantly influence your decision.

Before school registration: information evenings and open days

Ultimately, the local proximity and the pedagogical concept won, because a Montessori school doesn’t suit us. Two schools remained, a Catholic elementary school and a municipal elementary school. Two information evenings and two open days later, the decision was made – against the original first choice, the Catholic elementary school. And what was the deciding factor? Mostly gut feeling. We just felt at home in the municipal elementary school. The teachers were warm, the atmosphere relaxed and the children open and nice and cheeky and curious, just like children are. My child was asked to play along and I noticed: she had already arrived at “her” elementary school.

Of course, the general conditions are also right: the care times are right, as are the offers and focal points. So it will be a different primary school than expected – and that’s a good thing! Because often it is the short-term decisions and the gut feeling that nudge you in the right direction.

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