Pestalozzi - Gymnasium Herne
Grammar school for boys und girls
with German-English bilingual section

Harpener Weg 6 , D - 44629 Herne (Germany)
Phone ++49 (0) 2323 / 16-2213 , FAX ++49 (0) 2323 / 16-2359

Eine deutsche Version unserer Homepage finden Sie hier .

Vous trouvez la version française ici .

THE SCHOOL

The Pestalozzi-Gymnasium is one of three local grammar schools in Herne , and, like the majority of German grammar schools, it provides secondary education for boys and girls from the age of 10 or 11 to 18 or 19. Presently there are about 800 pupils who attend our school. Even though the Pestalozzi-Gymnasium was founded at the turn of the century it is quite a modern school housed in a fairly new three-storied building.

ITS PROFILE

The Pestalozzi-Gymnasium is one out of only five grammar schools in the district and one of about 50 in Northrhine-Westfalia that offer bilingual education, which means that, after receiving intensified language training in the first two years, pupils will study geography, history and social sciences in the foreign language as well. This highly innovative approach to broaden language skills was introduced in 1990 when the first beginners classes started their work in the German-English Bilingual Section of our school. Presently, our most advanced bilingual classes are in their seventh year (lower sixth form) and are doing social sciences in English (apart from EFL). To some extent, bilingual teaching follows concepts developed in immersion programmes in Canada and the US, as it is based on the assumption that extended exposure to foreign language communication and teaching materials will result in greater linguistic competence.

Although we do not deny that starting a career in the bilingual section is a highly demanding undertaking, this concept has been accepted surprisingly well and, at present, about 20 percent of our pupils are enrolled in bilingual classes. Since teaching non-language subjects in the foreign language has been recommended by the Council of Europe and, accordingly, has been encouraged by ministerial decree and promoted by the educational authorities at state and district level, this concept, has progressed far beyond the experimental stage.

ITS ENVIRONMENT

Herne and the area around it may not be considered to belong to the scenic places Germany as a whole abounds with. In fact, this medium-sized town of about 180,000 inhabitants is situated in the heart of Germany's largest industrial zone along the river Ruhr. But once people come to see it they may find that it is not such a bad place to work and live in since the people here, though they may lack that easy going trait of character that is generally ascribed to southern sections of our population, are known for their sincerity and honest hospitality.

Herne borders on the town of Bochum which boasts one of the largest universities in the country and one of the leading theatres. With the new underground system it will take 10 minutes to get straight into Bochum. From there one will be able to go to another Ruhr-metropolis and commercial centre, Essen. Düsseldorf which is not only Northrhine-Westfalia's capital but also a centre of fashion is but half an hour away. It is an hour's train journey to Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia's largest city, with its famous cathedral and a huge number of important museums and art galleries (and its famous carnival in February !).

( Dr. Helmut Schütz )

Last update November 12, 1997, 04:09 pm © Detlef Szebrowski