Primary school forms in NRW

In NRW, more than 90% of elementary schools are open all-day schools. Children can, but do not have to, go to the so-called open all-day school. There, children are cared for from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at least until 3 p.m., from Monday to Friday, at the parents' request. Open all-day schools offer a varied program that includes lunch, learning time, individual support and shared leisure time. The team of teachers from the respective school and the pedagogical staff at the all-day school is responsible for the concrete organization on site.In many open all-day schools, cooperation with local youth welfare institutions, cultural institutions and local sports clubs has proven successful. Extracurricular activities in open all-day schools often include:

• qualified learning times, in which children can work on their homework,
.
• theme-related offers / working groups / projects,
.
• offers for musical-artistic education and education,
.
• Games and sports,
• Movement promotion,
• Free spaces for social learning,
.
• Projects of child and youth welfare.

Primary schools in NRW are generally open all-day schools. In a bound all-day school, all students of the school basically participate in the all-day offerings. When students are admitted to a bound all-day school, daily participation in the all-day offerings of that school becomes mandatory for one school year.

Schools that are not open all-day schools can offer care in the mornings when there are no classes. This ensures reliable school hours from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day for the children in care. Comparable offers are also possible, if required, at open all-day elementary school for children who do not attend all-day school. If required, other forms of care (for example, breakfast offers, morning and afternoon care, silentia) are also possible at open all-day elementary school.

So-called "Thirteen Plus" schools also offer afternoon programs. Here, for example, the children can eat lunch together, do their homework and use open offers from culture and sports. "Thirteen Plus" is available following "School from Eight to One" for schools in rural areas that have only a low childcare requirement and for this reason are not converted into open all-day schools.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, independent schools (private schools) offer an alternative to the state school system. Within these schools, a distinction is made between so-called alternative schools and so-called supplementary schools. These are substitute schools if they essentially correspond to the educational programs and qualifications of the public school system in terms of their educational objectives. Supplementary schools, on the other hand, offer teaching content that public schools are not familiar with in this way.

Free schools can distinguish themselves through special educational concepts and individual offerings. Possible orientations can be, for example:

Possible orientations can be, for example:

• Christian (Protestant, Catholic, free Christian schools, etc.)
.
• Waldorf education
• Montessori education
• Integrative education
• Reform pedagogy
• Orientation with artistic, mathematical, scientific, sports, artistic or linguistic focus
.
• Offers of common learning - if necessary to special focus
.
• Healing / special education

Important to know

Supplementary schools, unlike substitute schools, do not receive government subsidies, so attending a supplementary school regularly involves costs. In some private schools, the costs are linked to the income of the parents, in others the flat rates are the same for all parents. Before you decide, you should inform yourself in detail about the additional costs incurred and also, for example, about scholarship concepts.

A directory of recognized foreign and international supplementary schools can be found on the homepage of the NRW Ministry of Education.