Draft minutes of the Educational Council of the Secondary School on 16. May 2013
Present:
Periklis Pialoglou (PP) Jens Kullik (JK)
Concetta Pelella (CP) Joshua Bayless (JB)
Debjani Basu (DB)
Pierre Brun (PB)
Michel Messmer (MM)
Minutes: Louise Wähling (LW)
Linda Coomber (LC)
Jean-Marie Devineau(JD)
Jacqueline Ribeiro (JR)
Thorsten Reineke (TR)
Point 1: Mr Pialoglou opened the meeting at 3.45 pm. and the agenda was approved.
Point 2: The minutes from the meeting on 18.10.2012 were discussed after MM wanted to know
who controls that the open questions from the last meeting are answered. PP reported back on just
such a question concerning the social fund. The fund was used this year to help towards the costs of
Eurosport and in two cases to help families with the school fees and in one case for a scholarship.
The PA explained that their social fund, primarily from left-over photo money, has strict and clear
regulations and is mostly used to help families towards the cost of trips up to a maximum of 50%. PP
suggested that the PA meets with the management to discuss both social funds.
JR brought up the situation of class 5D and aired the parents´ frustration at all the lost maths and
physics hours due to the long absence of the teacher. JR also felt that the pupils were not aware of
the rules for electronic devices. PP pointed out that there are signs and the extract of the rules on
electronic devices on the information boards in the secondary school. The pupils definitely know the
rules even if some of them choose to ignore them. JK mentioned that only certain colleagues chase
after those breaking the rules; that most teachers would prefer to concentrate on teaching. PP was
asked what happens if a pupil refuses to hand over a device. He explained that the pupil has to hand
it in for a certain length of time every morning to Mrs Wähling, and then if they further break the
rules, by for instance having a second device which they continue to use illegally in class, they are
then suspended from lessons for a day or two. Such was a case we had this week. JB asked about the
canteen as it used to be ok to use electronic devices there but now it apparently isn’t. JR thought
that the idea of the kiosk was that it is a place where pupils can sit and listen to music or use their
iPads etc. It was felt that this should be the case but not at break times. PP will discuss the use of
electronic devices in the canteen/kiosk with the section heads.
JR requested a website calendar like an iPhone one, perhaps different colours for the primary and
secondary, always updated and very visible on the website.
The minutes were accepted.
Point 3: Mr Pialoglou
Info on school trips. Year 3 will go to Tuscany in the last week before the October holidays. As
always this is being organised by Matteo. Year 6 trips are being planned to Poland and Spain. These,
and hopefully a third option, will be presented in the second week of June. Pupils do not need to
make a choice until then. MM asked if the trips were work or holiday. PP explained that they are
cultural trips but with important social aspects too.
SMS. This week administration staff have been on a training course for the new school management
system software. Parents will receive login and password details and then from September onwards
will be able to see absences, upcoming tests, announcements about trips etc. PP is going to check all
the data protection policy questions to make sure that people can only see what they need and are
entitled to see. The teachers will be shown the new system before the holidays. In future webuntis
will just be used for the timetable.
Draft minutes of the Educational Council of the Secondary School on 16. May 2013
Pedagogical day 2014. It is inconvenient having pedagogical day directly after the November
holiday. There is no possibility of making last minute arrangements. PP made two proposals for
alternative days: June 19th (Corpus Christi/Fronleichnam) or May 2nd ( A Friday between a bankholiday Thursday and a weekend). The majority voted for May 2nd 2014.
School policies. PP presented the annex to the ICT policy in all three vehicular languages. The
purpose of it is to let the pupils know the framework for using the computers in school. At the end is
a declaration for them to sign. We “borrowed” these documents from the ES Frankfurt but felt they
covered our needs. They are also being discussed in the primary school and will be presented for
acceptance at the mixed educational council in June. The same applies to the lab rules, necessary
due to damage in a relatively new chemistry laboratory. JK found some sentences for correction in
the German version.
Assessment policy. This is very important. New teachers need to be made aware of our grade
system straight away, the differences between A and B grades, the criteria involved, how many tests
should be written etc. The criteria presented in the annex originate from a working group formed
last year to find criteria for the A mark, which according to the rules is everything except the B mark.
LC explained that the idea is to give transparency, that the pupils should know what is expected of
them. The majority of the rules for assessment are set out in the General Rules of the ES but they do
allow for a certain amount of flexibility. For instance on page 4 is stated that we will introduce a
November report in year 7. When pupils receive their first final year report in February it is, in some
cases, very late to react. JB thought this was a good idea.
Homework policy. MM felt that tests often come at the same time in a number of subjects and
asked if it would be possible to arrange things better. PP pointed out that there is no fixed plan for
years 1,2 & 3 but there is a “test calendar” in the staffroom although not all teachers fill it in. For
years 4,5 & 6 the dates of tests are planned beforehand, which so far has caused more complaints
from teachers than from parents and pupils. JB felt though that, on the whole, most teachers are
flexible and understanding if told that other tests are taking place on a day when they had been
planning a test in their subject. The homework policy will also be discussed in the primary so that it
is a common ESK policy. The responsibility of the school is outlined on page 2, point 3. JK would like
to see “should” and “shall” replaced by “must” and “have to”. DB asked if all the teachers are
controlling the homework. MM asked about the amount of homework, what is a normal load? PP
said there are two clear sides; those who think the pupils are not given enough and those who feel it
is already too much considering they have long days, travelling time (Strasbourg, Heidelberg etc),
sport, music … LC felt there were cultural differences in the attitude to homework. Even 2 hours per
subject per week mounts up to a heavy load. Although teachers don´t cross-check with one another
most are adaptable and considerate if asked.
Child protection policy. The document is based on the policy of the ES school system. It needs to be
discussed which of the policies listed on page 6 are to be prioritised for the next school year. PP will
await remarks from the mixed educational council. MM would like links to documents mentioned in
the various policies. PP welcomes proposals to reconstruct the website in a way to present the policy
documents better.
Exchanges. For exchanges within the ES system we may be more flexible than set out in these
guidelines. PP emphasized though that we can not oblige another school to accept an ESK pupil. JR
thinks it is a shame that it categorically states that “exchanges aimed only at immersion in another
culture are not foreseen.” MM suggested that it may be done but the pupil would have to repeat the
year. PP pointed out that going to another country for “cultural” reasons is not technically speaking
Draft minutes of the Educational Council of the Secondary School on 16. May 2013
an exchange. As absences count towards promotion, 10% being the limit, it is a question of duration
of the exchange and the necessity of finding a school with a similar curriculum to the ESK and proof
that the pupil followed it. In this case the “could” of the following sentence could be replaced by
“will”. “Marks in oral and written exams appearing in the report provided by the host school could
form a part of the pupil’s assessment on returning to ESK.” The matter of fees was discussed. It is, on
the whole, cheaper and more advantageous for a pupil to remain registered at the ESK for the
duration of an exchange even though no refunds are made. Certain SWALS with L1 in their mothertongue would lose this right and other families would forsake their bonus from Baden-Württemberg
if they had their child leave and then re-register. For information on local exchanges with other
Karlsruhe schools like Goethe and Fichte Gymnasium, ask PP. Insurance during an exchange: MM
pointed out that in the ES document it says that insurance is covered by the school of origin. In the
ESK document it states that “Pupils visiting another school are not covered by school insurance
during their stay at the host school”. PP is to clarify this question.
Point 4: Parents Association.
Lost hours. The PA asked about the latest statistics concerning lost hours. PP explained that, since
Easter, seconded teachers are now available for substitution for 3 periods per week. Theoretically
every period now has 4 substitutes which significantly helps the flexibility of planning substitutions.
PP will present the latest statistics in more detail at the mixed educational council.
Booksale. This took place, at the request of the PA, at the beginning of this school year as opposed
to traditionally being held at the end of the second semester. The reason being that sometimes
teachers changed their booklists over the holidays. MM asked the teachers present if most pupils
have their books at the beginning of the school year? JK answered that those who don´t, wouldn’t
anyway, booksale or not. Some parents felt that September was too late as some books were hard
to find by then, sold out or needed long delivery times. JB felt that the end of the school year was
better from a pupil´s point of view as they had the chance to prepare themselves better and see
which books they still needed. PP proposed the last day of school, July 1st, which was unanimously
accepted on the condition that the booklists are published beforehand.
“Sommerfest”. Will take place on June 23rd. So far the secondary school has not provided anything
for the programme. Any ideas to the PA please.
Book prizes. TR suggested that the teachers all order at Thalia, for example, and the bill is sent to the
PA. LC explained that it is not the ordering of the books which is a problem but the prior organisation
– discussing which pupils come into question, choosing one and for what, effort or achievement?
Sometimes in the past the choices have proved counter-productive. It also makes no sense when
certain pupils win more than one prize. The difficulty lies in the prizes being per subject and not
knowing which criteria should be taken into account. There is also no official “coordinator” nor have
volunteers been asked for up until the present time. LC offered to work on an award system.
Info evening class 6. PP explained that the year 6 pupils have been informed about the new Bac
regulations and the option forms have been made accordingly. There will be another info talk before
they make their choices. Careers orientation has also been given.
Calculator. It is obligatory from next year for scientific subjects and geography. Up until now the
ruling was more flexible and could be decided by the school.
ICT lessons. MM pointed out that in some ICT lessons the pupils learn exciting things, in others just
technical definitions. Having heard that Karlsruhe is the second main centre of the IT industry in
Europe it would be extremely positive if we could get representatives of these companies to show
our pupils how to do up to date technical things like creating apps and games etc. ICT could be so
Draft minutes of the Educational Council of the Secondary School on 16. May 2013
much more than just the usual office products. PP explained that unfortunately the ICT curriculum
dates from the 90’s and that there had been a proposal from the Secretary General to integrate ICT
into other subjects. This idea was then withdrawn but may still be considered in the new secondary
concept. MM suggested that the ICT groups produce the flyers etc for school events. PP praised the
excellent and very professional website produced by year 2 of the ES Alicante for this year´s
Eurosport. It was suggested that Mr Høyem could perhaps use contacts from the European Dialogue
Centre, Karlsruhe local/Karlsruhe international to bring experts into the ESK.
Options. The PA enquired, for the optional subjects, how many wishes can´t be fulfilled and how
satisfaction may be increased? PP explained that sometimes it is a technical issue, too many choices
and too few time slots. All courses with less than 3 pupils are automatically cancelled. Those pupils
are sometimes offered distance learning courses (eg advanced maths) or may go to another section.
Another possibility is mixing classes, eg music 4 periods and 2 periods together if the curriculum
allows it. All courses with at least 4 pupils will be presented to the Admin. Board for approval in
September. JR asked about the options for next year´s 6th year and that it would be nice to hear if
the choices were accepted or not.
Girl´s Day / Boy´s Day. MM felt this was a very good opportunity and it should be more actively
supported by the school. As well as promoting it teachers should be considerate of it and not put
tests on that day. PP explained that we had an invitation to send 5 girls to John Deere and despite
making it incredibly easy for them by arranging transport etc we only managed to find two to go. JK
also mentioned the apathy surrounding the “Berufsstart” event in February which was eventually
cancelled due to lack of numbers.
The meeting ended at 6.15 pm.