Vogelsberschule Schotten, shortly VBS Schotten, is a comprehensive school (Kooperative Gesamtschule). Our streams are the mixed ability classes (class 5, 6 and7), grammar school (8 year curriculum), secondary modern school and Hauptschule. We have 10 classes in grammar school, 9 classes in secondary modern school, 2 groups in mixed ability classes, 4 hauptschul-classes. In Hauptschule there are students who are academically slow learners, so we combine their learning with work-experience; we also have lots of students with immigration background. As a secondary school VBS Schotten offers many opportunities to prepare the children for future jobs. At the moment these are only available for the students of the Haupt- and grammar- school stream but not for the secondary modern school. The existing possibilities are the following: The persons taking part in the project are already involved in measures belonging to our topic. They have a lot of experiences and necessary assumptions. The school also offers a girls- and boys-day: on this special day, girls have the possibility to try a male profession and vice versa. Class 8 starts with a choice of profession passports. Our students visit BZL Lauterbach as well, which is a centre for different job opportunities.
There they can try several workshops for example, geriatric care, digital media design and metalworking. In class 9 the students start immediately a three-week placement on their choice.
Especially in the Hauptschule a praxis day is obligatory. The students have to spend one day per week in a business. This day enables the students to connect school and work life, it is the link between school and entrepreneurship. The subject “work studies” teaches a job application trainee.
Class 9 finishes with a profession fair in Alsfeld. German Hauptschule ends with class 9, for class 10 of Realschule a training fair is foreseen. Our students of the grammar-school stream often don’t have an idea which job to do in the future, because they have no possibilities to do some placements or similar activities to be prepared by special school offers. Students of the gymnasium have different needs. Some of them plan to study and some of them still have no idea what to do after school.