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Status: 23.09.2020 2:46 pm – NDR 1 Lower Saxony
Winner of the German School Prize: At the Otfried Preußler School in Hannover, there was great joy on Wednesday.
The Otfried Preußler primary school in Hannover has won this year’s German school award. This is reported by NDR 1 Lower Saxony. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) announced the winner in the morning via an online video link. With its innovative school community, the Otfried Preußler School is a role model for others, Merkel said. The award is endowed with 100,000 euros. In addition to the elementary school in the state capital, Einbeck vocational schools were also nominated. They won a second prize for their practice-oriented teaching concept. There are 25,000 euros for it. A total of 15 schools were in the final round. According to the organizers, 81 schools participated in the contest.
The school impresses with its concept of inclusion
The jury was particularly impressed by the way the primary school in the Hannover district of Südstadt addresses the issue of inclusion. Many classes at school are inclusive, so disabled and non-disabled children learn together. Each child is picked up where they are, they said. Furthermore, the school building is designed to be barrier free. Many students learn sign language naturally. Funding offers for individual students are made in parallel to the lesson and not separately before or after. All of this convinced the jury.
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Will the kitchen come true with prize money?
“For us, inclusion is not an asset to normal school society. We see that each student has something special. And everyone should get what they need,” explained Principal Alexandra Vanin. With the prize money, a long-awaited kitchen for the school could perhaps become a reality “in which children can prove for themselves that Brussels sprouts taste good,” said the director. And in which students with a focus on intellectual development obtain a basis for learning as a kitchen helper ”.
75 percent of students use all-day deals
Most of the families whose children attend the Otfried Preußler School are financially well off and have educational backgrounds. About ten percent receive transfer payments, about a quarter have a migration history. Since both parents are employed in nearly 90 percent of families, three-quarters of children take advantage of the full-day part-school program.
At Einbeck you could be happy with the second prize. The jury emphasized that there is a competition compass at Einbeck in which students rate themselves. Additionally, students with disabilities are integrated and provided inclusive educational opportunities.
Six characteristics are considered
The jury evaluated a total of six areas called quality: performance, treatment of diversity, quality of teaching, responsibility, “school climate, school life and extracurricular partners” and “the school as an institution of learning”. These characteristics are now generally recognized as a sign of good school quality. The Robert Bosch Foundation and the Heidehof Foundation award the German School Award for outstanding performance in these areas.
In 2021, the focus will be on learning under corona conditions.
Next year, the focus as part of the German School Award will inform in particular about school concepts and ideas under the conditions of the corona pandemic. Chancellor Merkel said that many schools in Germany have made a virtue of necessity and made sure that learning at home works. However, the federal government wants to do everything it can to prevent school closings across the country in the future: “Children and youth must not become losers in the pandemic.”
More information about the price of the school is available in the Awards ceremony website.
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