Compulsory school

Compulsory Kindergarten begins with kindergarten. This lasts for 2 years. As a rule, children are 4 years old when they enter. The deadline is July 31. 

In Kindergarten children learn in a playful way. Playing fosters important fundamentals such as creativity, perseverance, and social behavior.
 

> Leaflet for Parents (german)

In Primarschule , children attend grades 1 to 6.

The students are taught in the subjects German (English from the 3rd grade, French from the 5th grade), mathematics, nature, man and society, music, design, sports, media and computer science. In addition to these subjects, social skills and self-competence are also promoted at school.

For pupils who need more support, there are support measures.

Pupils who do not yet speak any or only a little German attend additional German lessons. This is organized by the school.

Following the 6th grade of primary school, the Sekundarstufe I begins.

It is divided into the Realschule Sekundarschule . This structure helps to provide students with an education that corresponds to their talents and learning dispositions. Depending on the school, individual subjects are taught in level groups.

Pupils usually enter Sekundarstufe I at the age of 12. 

When assigning to a certain class level, several aspects are taken into account: 

• Achievements at the end of primary education
• The teacher's recommendation (often with the involvement of parents)
• Entrance exam (e.g. Gymnasium level) 

After 3 years, the compulsory schooling is over. Now the young people move on to Sekundarstufe II , where they can choose the educational path that suits them best:

In Kindergarten and primary school, your child will receive an annual report at the end of the Primarschule year. From the 2nd grade onwards, the school grades are also noted there.

In the Sekundarstufe I , there is a school report every semester.

How can teachers create meaningful report card grades?

During the school year, there are various evaluation occasions such as exams, observations of learning situations or presentations. Your child will bring home many exam results during the school year so that you are constantly informed about the level of learning.

To create the report grade, the teacher uses all available information - not just individual exam results. The teacher prepares an overall assessment for each subject. This assessment is not the same as the average of the exam results known to you.

The grade in the school report corresponds to the current level of achievement in a subject.

As a parent, you and the school are jointly responsible for your child's education. That's why we need to work together. 

There are Sonderschulen for children who are unable to attend regular school, such as children and young people with: 

• an intellectual disability/multiple disability,
  
• a speech and hearing impairment, 
  
• severe learning and behavioural difficulties,
  
• a physical disability
  
• a visual impairment (there are no institutions for this in the Canton of St.Gallen, only non-cantonal offers) 

In the Canton of St.Gallen there are special schools either as day schools with a day structure or as Sonderschulen with a boarding school. 

There are already curative education offers for young children. As a result, the children receive the best possible support despite their impairment.    

After compulsory schooling, special needs pupils can continue to be supported at a Sonderschule in individual cases until they reach the age of 20 at the latest.

School social work helps all pupils, parents or teachers with questions, problems or crises. The school social work office is usually located in the school building. The consultation is free of charge. 

Directory of School Social Work in the Canton of St.Gallen