ARGE

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der
Elternräte der Gesamtschulen in Hamburg

 

The ARGE is the pool and network of the parents’ advisory councils of all the 38 Hamburg comprehensive schools. At the beginning of every school year each parents’ advisory council elects a delegate and his or her substitute onto the association of parents’ advisory councils of comprehensive schools in Hamburg, in short called the ARGE [‘ɑrgə].

The educational reform with its development towards a two-column model with City District Schools and Grammar Schools from grade 7 on is a first step into the right direction. We want to use the available chances. Therefore, we want to open up to all the district schools, including all their new parents’ advisory councils in order to build up together a strong lobby support for our school form. For that purpose a change of name will be necessary.

This co-determination body for parents ARGE meets every second Tuesday in a month (except for the holidays) in the main conference hall of the education authorities in 41, Hamburger Straße.

In these meetings information is being transmitted that may be of importance to parents’ advisory councils in comprehen­sives. Besides, the delegate of each school has a chance of reporting on their schools, introducing pedagogic, organisational, and other topics, and putting questions to a representative of the Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung (“Board for School and Vocational Training”, i.e. the education authorities) as well as working on various special issues using different working methods.

 

At the ARGE we mutually support one another in order to better depict problems within the schools as well as in front of the authorities. Together we promote the comprehensive school concerns in public.

 

When one parents’ advisory council does not get along on its own anymore, it may find allies via the ARGE in order to look for answers collectively.

 

At the ARGE we safeguard the parents’ and schoolchildren’s interests at comprehensive schools and support future-oriented education politics:

 

·        continue to develop and depict comprehensive-school-style points of view and their outward propagation;

·        ensure the flow of information between academic experts, political bodies, official representatives, headmasters, parents, and students/pupils;

·        ensure the exchange of experience between comprehensive schools.

 

In the past few months we dealt - among other things - with the following topics at the ARGE:

 

·        Initiative "One School For All"

·        Internal differentiation

·        Hamburg School Reform

·        Self-accountable school

·        Regional school development conferences

·        Independence of Primary Schools

·        Including the new City District Schools

·        Future of the ARGE

 

Further topics that are reflected in our work are:

 

·        integration and teaching  tolerance;

·        supply of lessons, shortage of teachers, provision of schools with teaching and learning materials as well as pedagogically furnished classrooms and labs; schoolbooks;

·        relationship based on partnership between teachers, headmasters, schoolchildren, and parents as well as further education for all of these groups;

 

 

 

·       opening up classes: teachers and schoolchildren learn together and together stay curious;

·       cross-curricular, project-oriented lessons, age mixed groups,

·       breaking up the rigid school time structure;

·       bringing in specialists and skilled people from outside the school.

·      Written reports on what progresses are being made in learning instead of reports with marks (“key skills” orientation).

 

It shouldn’t be tomorrow’s school – it is today’s school that must be democratic.

 

We want a child-oriented school and we don’t want school-oriented children. We want a school for the children that motivates learning where childen are learning, having fun.

 

Patents’ advisory councils, that haven’t got any delegate at the ARGE as yet, are kindly invited to attend the next few meetings. The meeting schedule is on the invitation letter.

Please give us information of a contact address where we can send the invitations.

 

Together we're stronger!

 

 

 

 

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