Can my child start school as soon as he turns 6?

[kiwiten 0]

Hi

 

I've quite a numbe rof posts but can't quite find the answer I'm looking for.

...

We have just arrived in Munich. Our son 2nd son has just turned 6 and completed a full year of primary educaiton in NZ. There are no Kita places for him here.

Our local school has acccepted his elder brother (8)  last month who had no German. But they said our second has to wait till September.  The school has however, already accepted his enrollment for then.

 

My question is ... do they "have to" take him now, or are they allowed to?  Obviously Iwill be asking after the easter break, but would be interested in hearing of others experience similar to this or advice.

 

Thanks

 

Donald

 

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3 hours ago, kiwiten said:

We have just arrived in Munich. Our son 2nd son has just turned 6 and completed a full year of primary educaiton in NZ. There are no Kita places for him here.

Our local school has acccepted his elder brother (8)  last month who had no German. But they said our second has to wait till September.  The school has however, already accepted his enrollment for then.

 

My question is ... do they "have to" take him now, or are they allowed to?

Neither.

They are only allowed to (and have to) take him in September 2023, since he "just" turned 6, which means that:

• he did not turn 6 at some point up to 30. June 2022 --> if he had, the school would have had to put him into the ongoing 1st grade
• he did not turn 6 between 1. July and 30. September 2022  --> if he had, the school would have had to put him into the ongoing 1st grade, if you had insisted on it
• he did not turn 6 between 1. October and 31. December 2022 --> if he had, the school would have been allowed to put him into the ongoing 1st grade - but they wouldn't have done so with a child who doesn't know German

 

source (Bavarian Ministry of Education): https://www.km.bayern.de/ministerium/institutionen/schulberatung/schullaufbahnberatung/schulpflicht.html

• Compulsory school attendance

  Compulsory schooling according to Art. 35 - 39 BayEUG: https://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/BayEUG-37

  Start:

  In Bavaria, since 1 August 2010, all children who turn six by 30 September have to attend school. This means that children born in October, November and December do not start school. However, they will not suffer any disadvantage from this regulation, because the parents' wish for early school enrolment is given special consideration here. The final decision on admission to the school is made by the school management.

  Starting with the 2019/2020 school year, an enrolment corridor will be introduced for children who turn six between 1 July and 30 September. Parents decide after consultation and recommendation by the school whether their child will start school in the coming school year or one year later.

 

I suggest you get your child exposed to German immediately, e.g. by paying for a private Kindergarten.

These months of learning German from his peers will make a big difference.

The Bavarian school system is hard, you do not want your child to start it with a disadvantage like not knowing German.

 

I also suggest you do some further reading:

 

P.S. please change your location from "Cologne" to "Munich" in your Toytown profile.

Educational law differs by Bundesland (Cologne is in NRW, Munich in Bavaria).

[kiwiten 0]

Thanks for the replies!  This certainly clarifies it for us.

 

 

[MikeMelga 7,325]

5 hours ago, kiwiten said:

..

We have just arrived in Munich. Our son 2nd son has just turned 6 and completed a full year of primary educaiton in NZ. There are no Kita places for him here.

Our local school has acccepted his elder brother (8)  last month who had no German. But they said our second has to wait till September.  The school has however, already accepted his enrollment for then.

Good luck for both! They will need it without any German!!