Primary School (Grades 1-4)
German is the medium of instruction in the primary school. The new primary school learners are entirely integrated when they start primary school.
This intensive kindergarten and pre-school preparation is needed to make sure that the children can follow mother-tongue lessons in the primary school. Therefore, no late starters can be admitted.
As part of the primary school support program for NPS children from grades 1 to 3, separate, compulsory support lessons are given to NPS children after their normal lessons to afford them extra-curricular opportunities to practise their German. Here they can practise and hone their language skills. Games, songs and small book projects serve to strengthen and consolidate their communicative skills.
Besides drawing more learners to the School, this project also has a positive overall effect on language tuition in the primary and pre-school. Among others, the support programme was revised and adjusted to the children's requirements. With the NPS project the system of kindergarten and pre-school assistants was started. It affords the school's matriculants the opportunity to gain practical experience while studying a course in education with the end in mind of working for the DSJ as trained teachers.
This project also extends language training to afford more learners the opportunity of studying Abitur (second mother tongue) or DSD II. While in the primary school, the NPS children are taught in an integrated way as the school carefully observes and analyses their language development. The future may perhaps show that the subject German should be taught in varied forms (DaM = German as mother tongue, DaZ = German as second language, DaF = German as foreign language).