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Classes

Small learning groups

Our Approach


We offer small classes and a friendly, respectful atmosphere in which students can be supported individually and in which they can learn free of fear and anxiety. We encourage our students to expand their learning and combine it with new findings.

We give them too the confidence to perform well so that at the end of their time at school we want them to leave as resilient young people, ready to take on new challenges.

Learning Methodology


From Year 5, the students should have acquired study skills in addition to subject-specific knowledge which will help them become competent learners across all subjects.

Delivering presentations plays an important role in this, since apart from learning to speak confidently in front of a group, preparing the content ensures a deeper understanding of the topic. We of course use digital tools to assist the students and from Year 7 they also have the use of tablets to enhance their learning.

Foreign Languages


Learning foreign languages is a key function of a secondary school like Marienau. In addition to English from Year 5, the students study a second foreign language from Year 6 and can choose between French, Spanish or Latin. Students who have been studying Latin or French up to this point can, from Year 11, take Spanish as a third language or as an alternative second language.

Students can test their English ability by joining us on our Year 9 trip to the USA and our NAU Project in Year 11 also offers the chance to go abroad to improve a foreign language.

Chess


Since 2018 chess has been part of our timetable for Years 5 and 6. It started off as a seminar subject but convinced us that it had a permanent place in our classes. Evidence shows that there is a connection between learning chess and improvement in concentration, intelligence, motivation and inter-personal skills.

School Psychologist Markus Panning acquired the patent for school chess and takes the chess classes. If you would like to learn more, please check out the film from the German School Chess Foundation.

Marienau students learn together in small groups. Our average class size is 16 students.

The school community includes boarding pupils and day pupils and since the official school day runs from 8.00 till 1.00, day pupils are then allowed to go home but they can also choose to stay longer. For example, if they wish they can stay for lunch, supervised study time or for the many clubs and societies which we offer.

The highest qualification students can achieve at Marienau is the Abitur (or High School Certificate). This is a qualification subject to rules set by the regional government in Niedersachsen. From the start of the school year 2020/2021, Abitur studies once again start in Year 11 and take three years.

The School Day


An overview of school periods, meal times and a timetable for the boarding school

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If the question is digital or analogue, then the answer is both!

Marienau School uses modern and age appropriate methods to help your children learn in a methodical and responsible way and to apply their newly acquired knowledge appropriately.

We’ve been using the online platform itslearning since 2017/2018. Students learn early on how to work with digitally set tasks and understand itslearning to be a complement to classroom learning. Another advantage of itslearning is that it enables the continuation of lessons when classroom teaching has to be replaced by home schooling. Every subject therefore has a digital twin which helps learning to take place at any time and over small or long distances.

From Year 7, tablets are a mandatory part of students’ equipment. We use them in class and help our students familiarise themselves with the use of modern, age appropriate digital tools in the everyday life of the school. Our classrooms are equipped with traditional blackboards as well as projectors and Apple TV sets so that teaching can be varied. In the middle school we also offer a chance to obtain the ECDL Certificate, a European-wide IT qualification.

Through the use of projectors and Apple TV sets, content can be shared and used for collaboration. The new classrooms work according to the 360° principle i.e. the room can be used in all directions as the traditional blackboard is opposite to the larger projection surface at the other end of the room.

Our Approach To Online Learning


In the current situation, e.g. if no classes at school are possible, then we have a mandatory policy for teaching online. But also during classes in the classroom we make use of digital advises such as the iPad.

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Digital Portfolio


This is how a digital portfolio can look. We used the Book Creator app to create a thematic collection about the Battle of Tetoburg Forest.

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Enrichment Classes

It’s really important to us at Marienau School that all students are encouraged and challenged beyond normal class time. Our aim is that we recognise strengths and weaknesses as early as possible. Then through differentiated learning in class and extra-curricular activities, we build on strengths and support and strengthen any weaknesses.

Competitions can bring out the best in us. Comparing your own performance to that of others, especially outside the class and even school, gives us additional motivation. The various types of competition we offer such as in Geography and go4goal in English all provide an opportunity to prove oneself.

In Years 5-11, extra classes in all core subjects are available while students in the Upper School have the opportunity to participate in extra classes in Maths, English and German/Learning Methodology. As a complement to normal classes, students can deepen their understanding of subject content and also close gaps in knowledge which can come about, for instance, through a change of school.

Enrichment Classes –

Upper School

Upper School Image 1 Upper School - Encouraging Performance, Preparing for Life

Profiles


Starting in the upper school means choosing a profile i.e. a set of related school subjects, such as, at Marienau, languages, sciences, social sciences or arts. These form the core of the Abitur which all students will study towards. Other subjects are automatically added to this profile to complete one’s list of subjects.

The seminar trip in Year 12 deepens the students’ understanding of their profile subjects and leads to a written paper following the completion of their seminar research project.

In the week before the October half-term holiday in Year 13 students undertake preparation for their Abitur.

Curriculum


Students at Marienau School take the Abitur as set by the regional government of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), which meets University entrance requirements and those of employers. As a result, the curriculum we follow in the Upper School as well as the other subjects which students can take following their choice of a profile, is also set by the regional government. Please note that Marienau School also offers Physical Education as an option for a fifth examination subject at Abitur.

Examinations in all subjects are also set centrally by the Lower Saxony government. From the school year 2020/2021 we return to offering a three year Abitur course, with Year 11 regarded as the foundation year with all work in Years 12 and 13 counting towards the students’ final mark.

Choosing your subject Online


Choosing your subjects for Abitur is never easy so we are now offering an online assistant to help our students. Choosing one’s interests online will produce a possible profile and then by playing around with different subject combinations, different outcomes are produced which can then form the basis of a personal conversation with Dr Hinrichs, the Head of Upper School, who can help answer all your questions about the Abitur and the course leading up to it.

Online Tool