Questions Around Primary School Admission Process

[toyworld 1]

Hi,

 

I have a few questions regarding the primary school admission process, which I don't seem to find answers to anywhere. Mine is a typical 'want bilingual school, can't afford private school' situation. What I have figured out so far:

1. A default school will be assigned to me by the officials.

2. I go to this school and fill in the school-change form since I want admission to the bi-lingual school.

3. I fill in my 3 school choices, in that order. Go to the first choice school and submit the form there.

4. This school will conduct the language 'test' for the child and decide if the kid qualifies for admission.

5. If the kid qualifies but there are more kids than the total seats (which would be the case), there will be a lottery.

 

Now my questions are:

1. How do I know which default school is allocated to my kid? It's just 14 days remaining and so far I have not received any letter. I have checked the official website but was expecting a more formal letter which I can take to the school authorities.

2. What if I do not get admission to the first-choice school? When and how do I approach the second choice school?

3. Similarly, while I am waiting for the language test result of the first choice school, do I need to go to the second and third choice schools and appear for their tests? How is this managed and synchronized?

4. What if the kid fails the test in all three school choices? What happens then? Do I get allocated the default school?

5. In my case, the default school that will be assigned by the officials is a German-Spanish school (at least this is what the Berlin official website says). My kid is already dealing with 3 languages and it will be brutal if I introduce a fourth language (Spanish). If the kid is not able to get admission to the three choices, what other choice do I have?

 

Thank you for your time. Hoping to get some insights.

[toyworld 1]

Anyone?

[arsenal21 400]

Mis-posted.

[robinson100 12,792]

Normally, I would not do this, but in your case I would seriously recommend doing things the German way.

First thing on Tuesday morning, get on the phone to your local school/your first-choice school, and make your case for your child getting a place there. Germans can be really "in your face" if they want something that bad, so see to it that you play by their rules and not by any others.

Ask them directly if they have a place available for your son, and exactly what you need to do to get him allocated a place there.

Good luck!

 

[snarf 2]

I think I would disagree with the "in your face" approach. The school administrators at public schools are already quite stressed, and admission if there are not enough spaces is done through a formal lottery-process over which they have no control. Attempting to bypass the method dictated by the Berlin Senate might lead to more trouble for getting your kid in. You might be able to discuss the results of the language test, I'm not sure about that.

[Krieg 14,924]

1. You will receive a letter informing you of your default school.

2. You have to apply in all schools you want at the same time.  The procedure in every school is not different.

3. Answered in #2

4. While you are doing all these processes your kid is still assigned to the default school.   Only when you get a place in another school you will go to the default school and deregistered there, bringing the paperwork you get from the school you've got the place.

5. If your default school is a no go then one of your three alternatives should be one that is relatively easy to get a spot.

 

And something extra:  The most sought state bilingual primary schools (Nelson Mandela, Charles Dickens, Quentin Blake) will mostly only give chance to kids who put them as first choice.    Putting one of them as second or third choice might be just a waste of time, but that's something you have to decide yourself.

 

 

On 10/1/2022, 8:46:15, robinson100 said:

Normally, I would not do this, but in your case I would seriously recommend doing things the German way.

First thing on Tuesday morning, get on the phone to your local school/your first-choice school, and make your case for your child getting a place there. Germans can be really "in your face" if they want something that bad, so see to it that you play by their rules and not by any others.

Ask them directly if they have a place available for your son, and exactly what you need to do to get him allocated a place there.

Good luck!

 

 

This does not help in Berlin and not particularly in the type of school the OP is interested in.   The places are assigned by the Schulamt and not by the school.

 

[toyworld 1]

Thank you, everyone. Thanks, @Krieg this was super helpful.