Vogelsang High School

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Vogelsang High School
Building Vogelsang High School Solingen 02.jpg
type of school high school
School number 165360
founding 1972
place Solingen
country North Rhine-Westphalia
Country Germany
Coordinates 51 ° 11 '12 "  N , 7 ° 3' 45"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 11 '12 "  N , 7 ° 3' 45"  E
carrier City of Solingen
student around 800 (as of 2018)
Teachers around 65 (as of 2018)
management Andrea slotted spoon
Website www.gymnasium-vogelsang.de

The Vogelsang grammar school is a municipal grammar school in Solingen . It was founded in 1972, making it the youngest of the four Solingen high schools . The school has three to four classes in secondary level I and is attended by around 800 students.

history

In 1969 the City Council of Solingen decided to build a fifth grammar school (at the time) and to build a new school building that would be completed by 1976. For the 1970/71 school year, two preliminary classes were set up at the Schwertstrasse grammar school , which were housed in a branch in the building of the former Weeg secondary school. At the beginning of the 1972/73 school year, the newly founded school began operations with six classes in grades 5–7, 170 students and 16 teachers. Until the completion of the new building, it was housed in the so-called "Red Donkey", a former elementary school building in the Wald district that was erected in 1877 and is striking due to its striking red brick walls . Its ten classrooms were soon no longer sufficient, so that makeshift pavilions were built and built in the schoolyard eventually even classes had to be outsourced to neighboring schools.

In contrast to the already existing high schools in Solingen, the school was run co-educational from the start . It grew very quickly in the following years and reached the highest number of students to date with 1122 students in 1980. With its young teaching staff, the Vogelsang grammar school consciously saw itself as a modern, open and progressive school, which occasionally led to conflicts. The progressive German book “Drucksachen”, introduced in 1974, had to be abolished again after violent disputes in the local press and political bodies. The high school students also demonstrated their rebellious spirit more than once, for example in 1989 when a group of students in a night-and-fog action in front of the school created a two-meter-high metal sculpture " Don Quixote fights against files" whose gradually decaying remains have long been a symbol of the school. In 2011 the now scrap-ripe sculpture was replaced by a new Don Quixote.

The construction of the new school center, which was built in an easily accessible location between the districts of Wald and Gräfrath on the corridor of the Eigener Feld near the Botanical Garden , did not go smoothly either, as the city of Solingen, contrary to the tender, did not accept the construction contract for the 1st The winner of the architecture competition was awarded to the 2nd prize winner, the Düsseldorf architect Olaf Jacobsen. The foundation stone for the largest school building in Solingen's history and ultimately also the most expensive school building with construction costs of DM 40 million  was laid in 1977. The Vogelsang school center was originally intended to include a secondary school and a secondary school in addition to the grammar school . Due to the rapidly increasing number of pupils, the planning was changed during the construction, so that in 1979 only the Vogelsang secondary school and the Vogelsang grammar school moved into the new building, which despite its 80,000 m² was barely sufficient for the 1900 pupils of both schools. In the same year the first high school graduates were released.

In the debates about the establishment of comprehensive schools in Solingen, the Vogelsang school center was repeatedly discussed as a location for a comprehensive school. In 1981 and 1985 such plans were successfully repulsed, not least by the energetic resistance of parents, students and teachers. In 1986 the Montessori branch started its work. In 1989 the five-fold sports hall of the school center burned down completely as a result of a short circuit; the damage was more than 7 million DM. By 1992 the hall was rebuilt according to the old plans.

In the years 1996–2000, Vogelsang grammar school was the only grammar school in North Rhine-Westphalia to take part in a model project by the state government to promote the conscious use of energy. A permanent result of this project are the photovoltaic systems mounted on the roof . In connection with this, a much-noticed showcase project emerged, which was supposed to bring the problems of the Third World and the benefits of renewable energies closer to the students through practical action : Since 1999, groups of students have organized sponsorship for solar systems as part of the IUTU project, which they then use themselves Third World countries mounted: 2000, 2001 and 2003 in villages in Brazil and 2007 on an orphanage in Chennai (India). In 2004, the IUTU project was the national winner in the “Youth with Infinite Energy” competition organized by the Federal Environment Ministry .

In the 2009/10 school year, the Vogelsang grammar school began as the first and so far only Solingen grammar school with the transition to full-time operation , which was completed in 2013. In connection with this, the duration of the teaching units was extended from 45 minutes to 67 minutes from the 2010/11 school year in order to enable more concentrated work.

Also as the first and so far only Solingen grammar school, the school set up an inclusive learning group at the beginning of the 2013/14 school year .

Since the second half of 2015/16, pupils who came to Solingen in the course of the refugee movements have been accepted as "lateral entrants" and supported to such an extent that they can move on to regular educational programs.

In February 2019 it became known that the poor overall condition of the school building required extensive renovation or a new building. On March 6, 2019, the city of Solingen announced that a completely new building would be built next to the previous one from 2022 to 2027 and that the old Vogelsang school center would then be demolished.

principal

Period principal Important events
1972-1989 Dieter Starke Foundation, move into the school center, establishment of the Montessori branch
1989-2000 Reinhard Schnieber Fire in the sports hall, introduction of the subject practical philosophy, energy project
2000-2013 Klaus Bailly Introduction of the full day, construction of the cafeteria, the care building and the climbing wall
2013-2019 Stephan Mertens Inclusion classes, international class, inclination courses in 8 and 9, profile courses from class 5
since 2019 Andrea slotted spoon

Pedagogical profile

The Vogelsang grammar school is the only grammar school in Solingen to offer several weekly hours of free work according to Maria Montessori in secondary level I , originally in grades 5–7 in the form of its own Montessori classes , since the transition to the full day in grades 5–6 as an integral part of the educational concept for all pupil. In addition to the school library, a continuously open self-study center with daily learning advice from teachers and mandatory project phases (e.g. newspaper in the school, energy project) in middle school classes serve to promote individual support and initiate independent learning.

Due to the close proximity to the secondary school, attention was paid to the permeability between the school types from the start. Traditionally, the Vogelsang grammar school accepts a large number of secondary school graduates in the upper level; In addition, from 2014 there will be a cooperation with the newly established Solingen secondary school . In the upper level, the Gymnasium cooperates with the Humboldt Gymnasium to expand the range of courses .

Another educational focus is the musical and artistic area. Since moving into the school center, whose pedagogical center has extensive stage technology, theater work has played a major role; In addition to the literature courses for the upper level, there are regular performances by the Musical AG. In the field of visual arts , there are also various working groups, and the subject of art is the differentiation area of the intermediate and the advanced courses offered in the sixth form. Music is performed in the lower school choir and in practical instrumental courses in the upper school; it is also possible, as part of a string class in music lessons from grades 5 and 6, a string instrument to learn.

In the linguistic area, Spanish is offered as a new third foreign language, both from grade 8 and from the beginning of the upper level. In the natural sciences, in addition to biology , chemistry is also offered as an advanced course in the upper school level, in the social sciences , alongside history and social sciences , education is also offered . All students who do not take part in religious education have classes in practical philosophy from grade 5 onwards.

Among the sports groups, in addition to various ball sports, a circus and acrobatics group that has existed since 1999 and is run by students is worth mentioning. In cooperation with Solingen sports clubs, since 2012 the focus on handball and volleyball has been expanded.

Great importance is attached to a friendly school atmosphere and the promotion of social skills through personality strengthening (adventure days and trips, Lions' Quest program), dispute settlement, tutor teams, school medical services and homework support at primary schools. Since its inception, the school has carried out exchange programs with schools in various European countries, Turkey and Israel.

Alumni Association

The Freundeskreis des Gymnasium Vogelsang eV is a non-profit association that has set itself the task of maintaining contact between former students, active and former teachers and people who are particularly connected to the school. The association and its members support the school both personally and financially. The career information events and project weeks are regularly supported by members of the association, and purchases or excursions that go beyond the usual school requirements are financed.

Another goal of the association is to support particularly outstanding students and graduates through sponsorships and scholarships.

Known students

literature

  • 25 years of Vogelsang High School in Solingen 1972–1997. Solingen 1997. Revised new edition 2020 as digitized version on the website of the Freundeskreis des Gymnasium Vogelsang e. V. (PDF, 21.5 MB)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ City of Solingen wants to put 125 million in schools on rp-online, accessed on March 6, 2019
  2. ^ Ulrich Hadding Research Prize 2018