Upper school
The gymnasiale Oberstufe in NRW offers students the opportunity to gain an in-depth general education, but also to develop their personal skills and inclinations through their individual choice of subjects and to prepare for their future careers.It is divided into a one-year introductory phase (EF) and a two-year qualification phase (Q1 and Q2).
In the introductory phase, the knowledge acquired in the lower secondary level is deepened and expanded. Lessons no longer take place in class, but are replaced by a course system. Here we offer students the following subjects, some of which are compulsory and others can be chosen according to individual preferences.
We offer Spanish as a new foreign language. In addition, so-called specialization courses are available in mathematics, English and German. They serve to provide individual support at all performance levels.
In cooperation with the Federal Employment Agency, we once again offer numerous career and study guidance opportunities in the upper school, such as a weekly consultation hour with the careers advisor from the Federal Employment Agency, project days that build on each other to help students find and apply for careers in the individual year groups, the annual careers fair on Humanitarian Day and much more. The work placement takes place in the last two weeks of the first semester of the introductory phase.
In the qualification phase, students take two advanced courses, which are taught for five hours, and basic courses in the various subjects of the three subject areas. These are taught for three hours. They differ in the scope of the topics, the intensity of their treatment and the degree of methodological and scientific development.
In order to be able to offer the broadest and most varied range of advanced courses from all three subject areas, we cooperate with our neighboring school, Gymnasium an der Wolfskuhle, and are therefore in the fortunate position of being able to offer advanced courses in the following subjects on a regular basis in recent years, in line with the choices of our students: German, English, art, education (educational science), history, social sciences, mathematics, biology, computer science and physics.
As many compulsory courses have to be taken into account in the sixth form in order to meet all the requirements for admission to the Abitur, students are supported in all choices by our sixth form team. The advisory teachers accompany the students from the time of the first elections for the introductory phase until the end of the Abitur examination, review all elective decisions and provide advice and support.
In the second semester of the qualification phase (Q1.2), students write a term paper in a subject of their choice instead of a written exam. This is an extensive term paper that must be written independently. The aim of this paper is to produce an exemplary piece of academic work. This includes searching for topics and materials, planning the work, organizing and evaluating the materials and writing the text. The students are supported in this by their subject teachers. We also work with one of our cooperation partners at Ruhr University Bochum, who train the students in information literacy as part of a workshop.
Our project courses also start in the second semester of the qualification phase. In terms of their subject focus, they are linked to the subjects taught in the qualification phase, but students can set their own framework topic without being bound to the content requirements of the curriculum. Individually or in teams, students then devote themselves to individual projects, which they research, plan, develop and present largely freely and independently. This allows them to work intensively and independently on a topic. A computer science project course on AI (artificial intelligence) and an art/social science project course on Europe are regularly offered.
There are also courses to prepare for the CAE (Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English) and DELF B2 (Diplôme d’études en langue française) language certificates. These certificates entitle students to study at many English and French-speaking universities.
Course trips
In the final school year, all students go on a study trip with one of their advanced courses to destinations related to the content of the course, e.g. Berlin, London or Vienna. The course trips are extremely popular as final school trips and ensure a deeper connection with their group and the school.
Crash course
In the EF, the police visit us and organize the CrashKursNRW. This is a traffic accident prevention program that aims to sustainably reduce the number of traffic accidents by means of emotional reports from victims and vivid images.
The Abitur (general higher education entrance qualification)
At the end of the qualification phase, students take their Abitur examination, which consists of three written examinations (in the two advanced course subjects and one basic course subject) and an oral examination in another basic course subject. The grades achieved are included in the overall grade together with the grades from the entire qualification phase and form the average Abitur grade at a ratio of 1:2. In addition to the Abitur, a further qualification can be achieved in the upper school: the academic part of the Fachhochschulreife.