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Bucher Porträts
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elementary school Am Sandhaus
A special profile with three columns
„Our school has a special profile with three columns“, says the head teacher Wolfgang Herrmann. „The first column: Since 1996 we have been a sport-oriented elementary school.
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This means that in each class at each stage there is increased sport training. During the school entry phase the pupils receive one hour more sport training a week. Then, from class three onwards, there is a further two hours more in the afternoon, so that the pupils have a total of six hours sport training per week.“
The second column of the school’s profile is additional work on the computer. „We have a very well equipped computer room with 30 work stations“, says Herrmann. „That allows us to offer the pupils concentrated computer training several times a month.“
After the current renovation is completed, in the main school building at Wiltbergstraße 34-36, there should be a computer in each classroom in addition to the computer room. All the computers will then be linked to one another. The aim is to integrate computers even more into the teaching.
 School wood developed
The third column of the school profile is teaching about Nature. So, the classes hear a lot about how to avoid generating rubbish and separating waste – and both these activities are practised on a daily basis. In addition, the school has its own garden at its site on Wiltbergstraße.
„Three years ago, with support from the Buch regional management and the foresters’ lodge, we began to plant a school wood in the Buch forest“, says Wolfgang Herrmann. The pupils took over 1300 young trees from a mixed forest area near the wood school. Under the direction of staff in the foresters’ lodge, these seedlings were then planted in part of the former sewage farm that covered three hectares.
Since this first planting, the whole school takes part twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, in a project day in the school wood. On these days checks are carried out to see if all the saplings have grown, and in some places whether some of the saplings have grown after being planted the previous autumn. Between the project days, the staff in charge of the wood look after things. Each class has chosen two pupils for this task. They tell the school, for example, when it is too dry in summer. Then the young saplings are watered with the help of the Buch volunteer fire-brigade.
School numbers increase
Such projects, like the school wood, create a feeling of unity that is important for the 20 teachers and the school head, Wolfgang Herrmann. The Am Sandhaus school is the only elementary school in Buch. „In the 1990s, we still had three elementary schools in Buch“, says Herrmann. „But because of a fall in the number of pupils the schools were amalgamated.“
Since then the number of elementary school pupils in Buch has risen again and, in the past two years alone, there has been an increase of 40 pupils. In grades 1 to 5 there are now three classes in each and in the 6th grade there are two classes.
So that in future the pupils can learn under even better conditions, the main school building at Wiltbergstraße 34-36 is currently being renovated. One and a half years ago the refuge was turned into renovated space. Two years ago the school yard was renovated using EU funds and converted to a sport and play area.
In the school building itself new developments have been carried out involving a redistribution of space for the school entry phase. In addition, the stipulated second emergency exit has been constructed. Finally, the electrical and heating equipment has all been renewed and the classes have been renovated.
At the start of the next school year 2008/09, the school should be able to move back in. However, according to the latest information the building work will not be finished until around 2009 because the Pankow regional office was not able to obtain sufficient funds.
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At this site you will find portraits of Buch's citizens and institutions that we think you will be interested in. New ones will be dispalyed each month.
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