There is a plan B for elementary school students from Wertingen, Gottmannshofen and Binswangen if the seven-day incidence is significantly higher after the holidays. Unconventional solutions are also being considered
Elli Höchstätter
These days, given the rising seven-day incidence, it’s good to have a Plan B in your pocket. Christiane Grandé and her team thought so too. Grandé is the head of the primary school Wertingen with branch offices in Gottmannshofen and Binswangen.
Since the seven-day incidence currently only knows one trend – and that is upwards – the headmistress thought about what the lessons could look like after the holidays with incidence values between 50 and 100. Grandé looked for suitable rooms so that the 374 girls and boys at the primary school can still receive full schooling. The aim was for the students to be able to keep a distance of at least 1.50 meters from one another.
“In Wertingen the parish hall would be added, the foyer of the town hall and large rooms of the elementary school such as the gym or the music room,” says Grandé. In Binswangen the children are to be divided into several classrooms and in Gottmannshofen they are also to be taught in the ballroom of the Stark inn. “For example, the room already has a projector, which is practical,” explains the headmistress. Sometimes classes would also be split between two classrooms. This is possible because some rooms are connected to one another with an escape door.
But from an incidence of 100, planning no longer helps. “Then we would have to go back to distance teaching according to the current guidelines,” says Grandé. Only the fourth classes are exempt from this rule. According to the current requirements of the Bavarian Ministry of Culture, from April 12, only those fourth graders who have taken a self-test with a negative result at school under supervision or who have a current, negative Covid-19 test are allowed to attend classroom lessons. However, a self-test carried out at home is not enough.
After many conversations with the teachers, Grandé has the overall impression that the learning content has reached the children. However, a joint processing and deepening of this content could not take place. Some girls and boys showed deficits after the distance lesson. That is why the school also wants to try to teach the children on site in the school for as long as possible. In the past few weeks it has become clear that the students can catch up quickly. It should also not be forgotten that teachers are very important for elementary school children. The girls and boys would need a direct relationship and instant feedback. “They’re not that independent yet,” says Grandé.
“We’ll start after the Easter break,” says Grandé, referring to the self-tests for schoolchildren. A large number of declarations of consent have already been received from the parents. The plans are currently in such a way that tests will probably take place on Mondays in the classroom.
The Wertingen School Association (elementary school), as the material cost manager, is making great strides in advancing the IT infrastructure in elementary schools. Around 88,000 euros have already flowed into the implementation of the project. The school’s own media concept formed the basis. After this, all state funding programs could be checked and used. The basic requirement for fast internet is that the school buildings are equipped with the appropriate cables. The branch in Gottmannshofen has had a fast internet connection since last year. A fiber optic cable was laid in Binswangen this school year and the planning and implementation for the Wertingen headquarters is in progress. Equipping the computer room with 14 student PCs and upgrading the classrooms with digital media such as iPads, AppleTV and large-screen monitors were further building blocks on the way to the digital future. The purchase and installation of the new media cost around 55,000 euros and was supported by the Free State of Bavaria’s “Digital Budget – Digital Classroom” funding program with around 37,000 euros. Due to the current corona crisis, iPads for classroom teaching and distance learning worth around 33,000 euros were purchased to equip the students. These can be borrowed. This was made possible by a funding program. There was a grant of around 32,000 euros. The teachers can also look forward to it. The acquisition of high-quality service equipment is being planned, which will also be financially supported by the Free State. To support the administration, installation and maintenance of the many new devices, the IT team of the Wertingen administration community as well as the system administrators at the schools received reinforcements. An additional full-time employee was hired. To date, a total investment of around 88,000 euros has been made for the digitization of the Wertingen elementary school, which was funded with around 69,000 euros, which corresponds to around 78 percent, says Headmistress Grandé happily. (with pm)
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