Before School Care

For some children the day begins at 7.00am when their parents bring them to Before School Care, where they have breakfast and play. As the Before School Care is only 500m from the Deutsche Schule Melbourne (DSM), they are picked up by a teacher at 8.30am and walk to the school with the teacher. Children who do not go to Before School Care are brought to the DSM between 8.45am and 9.00am. Once there, the children put their lunchboxes and beverages into the fridge and play or talk with friends. There’s always a lot of friendly chatter and activity at the entrance while parents, siblings, teachers and pupils exchange information.

Lessons start 

By 9.00am all pupils have arrived and lessons start with a mandala circle and a welcome song: a ritual that brings the children together and signifies the start of the school day. Then the lessons begin. Subjects are not the same every day, lessons are not necessarily restricted to exactly 45 minutes and bells are unknown to the children. Duration of classes and breaks are vary according to pedagogical decisions, that take the individual needs of each pupil into account. This helps the teachers to create intensive and effective units of study and improves the childrens’ ability to learn.

Languages

English and German are taught for two hours daily and Maths for one hour a day. Twice a week the class is split into groups according to ability. A project-based approach is applied for Science, Culture and Integrated Studies and these subjects help create a golden thread throughout the school day. Art, including Music and Drama, is on the class schedule two days per week. Physical education is held three times per week for half an hour. It is felt that this promotes a healthy lifestyle and assists learning.

Breaks 

During the morning there is a snack break and some time to play outside. Lunch break starts around 12.30pm. Depending on the children’s ability to concentrate and learn, the time and duration of these breaks can vary slightly. Children have to bring their lunch, and any other food, from home. No meals are prepared at school, however it is possible to warm up food. Children bring in their own drink bottles which they can fill up at the school. Teachers, parents and pupils at DSM are all aware of the importance of healthy food for healthy learning.

After lunch, children get another chance to play and lessons continue for another two hours. At 3.30pm the children are either picked up by their parents or brought to After School Care.