50 years of Holweide Comprehensive School: A celebration of inclusion and learning!

50 years of Holweide Comprehensive School: A celebration of inclusion and learning!

More and more people are moving to Cologne, and with this popularity the city's educational offerings are also growing. A special highlight is the Holweide comprehensive school, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last weekend. This school has not only established itself as an educational institution, but is also a place where the concept of learning together is implemented with a lot of heart and commitment.

The Holweide comprehensive school was founded in 1975, at the same time as the Heinrich Böll comprehensive school and the Willy Brandt comprehensive school. A key milestone in the school's history was the introduction of the concept of shared learning in 1985. The parents of the Rosenmaarschule in particular provided the decisive impetus for this. As early as 1981, a school trial for shared learning was started at the primary school in Cologne-Höhenhaus, which laid the foundations for the successful integration of students with different needs.

The school has become a pioneer in the field of inclusive education. Since 1985, students with and without special needs have been learning together here. In each year there are nine classes with a total of around 30 children who need support. Teachers take on flexible roles that include both special education and general classroom management. “Learning together not only promotes social interaction, but also the integration of children,” says the headmistress. It becomes clear here that children not only learn subjects, but also try out how to interact with each other and deal with different realities of life.

A home for everyone

The “team small group model” practiced here involves three classes being taught together by a team of teachers. This not only creates a family atmosphere, but also promotes the bond between teachers and students. It shows how important a “home” is for the development of young people. The children use their first name names to their teachers and the headmistress, which further strengthens the feeling of belonging.

An impressive example of the values ​​that are taught at Holweide Comprehensive School can be seen in the sensitivity of the children. On the one hand, they actively seek a conversation with a manager about getting a classmate in a wheelchair onto an ice rink. This not only illustrates social cohesion, but also the empathy that is encouraged here.

Today, the German education system presents many challenges. Originally it was structured in three parts, with a secondary school, a secondary school and a high school, as the discussion about the school systems shows [german.stackexchange.com reports that...]. A key goal of the comprehensive school is to combine these different educational paths and offer the students a flexible and integrative school time.

These developments are not only local, but also reflect social changes. Thanks to the many reforms and experiments, it has become possible for children from different backgrounds to learn together in one school. This confirms how important the Holweide comprehensive school is in Cologne's educational landscape and that its approach has significance far beyond the city limits.

Cologne remains a city where education is very important. It is gratifying to see how the Holweide comprehensive school is not only an institution of learning, but also functions as a center for togetherness and social learning. This will pioneer future generations in a warm, welcoming way that is needed now more than ever.