More staff and new classes

After major personnel challenges in previous years, things are looking better again at primary and secondary schools as of Tuesday’s start. The school authority can cover the demand completely and with some buffer using external staff and thanks to fortunate developments.

District – The Miesbach State School Office is reporting a positive development in staffing levels at the start of the new school year. Fewer pregnancies, fewer no-shows and a large pool of substitute staff will ensure a “plannable, better and more stable mobile reserve” in 2024/25, especially in the primary school sector, said school office director Jürgen Heiß at a press conference on Friday. The staffing levels at middle schools are sufficient – albeit without any leeway – to ensure that there are no cuts in hours.

The new year is not without its challenges, however. As the school authority director and deputy subject manager Andrea Pelters-Mönkemeier added, the school authority is responding to the increasing need for inclusion and special support needs in regular classes with a task force. The authority is also focusing on further training to help newcomers find their way around the “school system” better. The external staff are necessary to ensure basic services, said Heiß. But this is not without its burdens for schools, because they initially need support with the induction process.

Teachers

Compared to previous years, however, the school authority feels better supplied with staff. “In the past three years, we have had the problem that we could no longer adequately supply schools when there were absences,” recalled Heiß. Classes almost had to be merged twice. The school authority also had to make use of the Ministry of Education’s toolbox, which provides for a shortened music lesson in the third and fourth grades, in 2022/23. The school authority has recently been particularly hard hit by teachers who were supposed to be transferred to the district but did not take up the position. Since there are currently no waiting lists, according to Heiß, such positions will remain vacant until the school authority can make do with career changers or student teachers, for example. In return, the teachers would forego civil service status, but due to the high demand, they are usually offered employment contracts at their desired location. This year, things went better. “Almost everyone was happy to start in the Oberland,” says Pelters-Mönkemeier.

Pupils

The school authority is pleased that the number of pupils in primary and middle schools is increasing slightly. The district’s figures are in line with the trend across Bavaria. “But there are also regions where the numbers are declining.” Against this background, they are happy about the – albeit small – increase. The average class size in both primary and middle schools is increasing by 0.7 pupils per class.

German classes

The previous bridging classes, in which only Ukrainian children were taught, will no longer exist in the new year, which is also due to the falling numbers and the parallel increase in immigration from other countries, explains Heiß. Instead, the refugee students will be taught in two different classes across the country: fifth and sixth graders will be taught in German classes that are independent of the type of school – a new format – at the Miesbach high school (16 registrations so far) and at the Holzkirchen secondary school (13). “The aim is to get the students ready for regular classes in one year, ideally,” says Heiß.

Refugees in grades seven to nine are taught in two German classes at the Holzkirchen and Miesbach middle schools. This model already existed, but most recently fifth to ninth graders were grouped together. The concept provides for flexibility: the German classes still have space and can be expanded with mobile reserves if necessary. Advanced students could switch to regular classes during the current year.

Special offers

All other offers (see box) can be maintained as in previous years. According to Heiß, another new development, but not yet ready for announcement, is an intensified language assessment for four-and-a-half-year-olds, which is intended to determine the need for more support at kindergarten age. Voluntary reading support programs are also intended to promote reading skills, which have declined according to the PISA study. nap