Educational Opportunities in the Canton Thurgau Table of Contents Introduction

Department of Education and Culture Educational Opportunities in the Canton Thurgau Table of contents Introduction Most important information in brief 3 Dear parents Dear Ladies and Gentlemen Preschool remedial offers 4 Kindergarten 4 School is one of the most important life stations for children and adolescents in the first two dec- Primary School 5 ades. School, teachers and classmates – they are Secondary School 5 all important and characterising in childhood and adolescence to adulthood. With this knowledge Special education 5 it is important for us to inform you about the Bridge offers / Integration courses 6 comprehensive educational system of the Canton of Thurgau, to advise your child and accompany Basic vocational training 7 it for the course of its school career. This brochure • Vocational maturity 7 • Mathematics and Computing College 7 should serve you as a guide to find your way in • Passerelle course 7 Thurgau’s educational landscape. Matura schools 8 • Upper secondary schools 8 You, as parents, have an important role concern- • Specialised secondary school and 8 ing the school visit of your child. Through good specialised school baccalaureate cooperation with your child’s school and teaching Higher vocational training 9 personnel you can contribute a lot to the good • Federal exams – professional exam PR 9 school development of your child. and higher professional exam HPE • Higher vocational schools 9 • Additional higher vocational school 9 Additional to information about the educational system Thurgau this brochure also refers to more Academic institutions 10 information and course offerings. We would be • Teacher training college Thurgau 10 • Other universities 10 pleased if they awaken your interest and you are making use of them. Further education 11 Additional offers for all educational levels 11 Councillor Monika Knill • Parental education 11 • School psychology and speech therapy 11 • Vocational and study counselling 11 • Education contributions and contributions 11 for schools outside the canton • Further details and contact points 11 DISCLAIMER Publisher Department for Education and Culture Fourth issue, January 2018 The brochure is available for download in Albanian, Arabian, English, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Slovakian, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish and Hungarian language at www.gsdek.tg.ch → Publikationen und Downloads → Bildung. Editors General Secretariat of the Department for Education and Culture Department for Primary School Department for Secondary Schools and Universities Department for Vocational Training and Counselling Concept and layout Joss & Partner Werbeagentur AG, Weinfelden Most important information in brief The primary school visit is obligatory and comprises 11 years. The visit of About a third of the adolescents visit an upper or specialised secondary a public school is free of charge for children and adolescents living in the school at secondary level II, which prepare for educational courses on ter- Canton of Thurgau. tiary level. The obligatory school time starts with two years kindergarten. Then the With a secondary level II graduation various universities can be visited children visit the primary level for six years. Afterwards the secondary level at tertiary level – depending on whether an apprenticeship, a higher vo- I follows, which takes three years. After the secondary level I the obligatory cational school-leaving certificate or a school education at a secondary school time is finished. school or specialised secondary school has been completed. Following the adolescents can take different paths in secondary level II. About two thirds of the adolescents complete an apprenticeship which HIGH ACCESSIBILITY OF EDUCATION qualifies them for exercising the chosen profession. Additionally to the apprenticeship talented adolescents can achieve a vocational school-leaving The Swiss educational system is characterised by a high accessibility: certificate and thus a direct access to a university of applied sciences (ter- There are different ways to start or change to an education or school and tiary level). to catch up and complete an education. Further training courses, post-graduate courses, post-graduate studies Quaternary level Age Fed. specialist Higher University Universities Teacher Tertiary level and higher vocational of applied training ISCED 5A, 5B vocational schools sciences college certicates Access to educations on tertiary level: depending on educational background general pre-courses or internships might be necessary Secondary level II ISCED 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A Passerelle E SM BMS 2 (additive) T 18/19 17/18 Basic vocational training Three to four years (with Swiss Federal Diploma) 16/17 (integrative) Two years (with vocational certicate) S S M S P 15/16 M F BMS 1 IM Transitional oers / Integration courses S 14/15 M Secondary level I Secondary school G ISCED 2A 13/14 12/13 11/12 Primary school Primary school level ISCED 1 10/11 9/10 8/9 7/8 6/7 Kindergarten level 5/6 Special pedagogical oers Kindergarten ISCED 0 4/5 BMS GYM Vocational school Upper secondary school FMS: Specialised secondary school PMS with vocational school certicate Pedagogic secondary school IMS TSME Optional transitional Informatics secondary school Thurgau-Schahausen Matura with vocational school certicate School for Adults education Most important information in brief 3 Pre-school remedial offers Kindergarten Facilitating a perfect start Room for playing, experiencing and learning First of all the parents are responsible for the education of their chil- Kindergarten is organisationally and pedagogically tightly connected dren. The family is the first and most important place of early support. with primary school as first educational level. In Kindergarten children With offers for early learning, support and education young children are educated according to a holistic approach. In a playful manner con- and their families are supported on demand. These include the advice cerning perception, thinking and feeling the child is led to the goal-ori- for mothers and fathers, educational counselling and parental educa- ented learning at primary school and achieves the prerequisites for tion as well as family-complementing offers and playgroups. learning to read, write and calculate. A broad range of remedial offers is available for children with developmental deficits. Learning experiences in the first years of life are fundamental for all learning processes to come. Concerning school visit it is especially important for foreign-language children to learn the German language. A great possibility therefore is the language-learning group, which is conceptualised in particular for children with migration background. But also the visit of a nursery or playgroup is an important contribution for learning the German language. Age group Children from 4 – 6 years. Children who reached the age of four before the 31st July are obliged to visit the kindergarten at the beginning of the new school year. Parents can declare that the child will start one year later. Offers/contact Duration Individual offers can be found on the following website: 2 years www.familienplattform-ostschweiz.ch or inform yourself directly at your school and municipality. Class size Standard: 20 pupils Timetable Monday – Friday, at least Wednesday afternoon is free 20 – 24 week lessons (depending from the age of the child) Place of school The kindergarten needs to be visited in the school community in which the child is living. If a child obliged to visit school is visiting no public kindergarten, an adequate visit of another facility has to be evidenced to the school authority of the community. Remedial and support For children various supplementing and supporting remedial offers such as speech therapy, offers psychomotor activity or courses for German as a second language and in native language and culture are available. Contact Amt für Volksschule Spannerstrasse 31, 8510 Frauenfeld Phone 058 345 57 70, av.tg.ch 4 Pre-school remedial offers Kindergarten Primary school Secondary school Basics for life-long learning Finding the individual educational path Primary school has a holistic educational and training mission. It teach- Pupils extend and deepen their knowledge and skills acquired at pri- es important, fundamental knowledge and skills, fosters the individ- mary level and are supported in their progression and personal de- ual mental, musical and physical abilities of children and raises them velopment. The adolescents are also supported at the choice of their for independent and responsible behaviour in our society. The pupils further vocational or school career (secondary level II). develop competencies to increasingly inform themselves and learn in- dependently. The education on secondary level I is offered for different performance levels. Primary school is thereby setting an important basis for the following school education. Age group Age group Children from 7 – 12 years. Primary school starts directly after two years in Children from 13 – 16 years. kindergarten. Duration Duration 3 years (change to matura schools is possible after 2 years) 6 years Class size Class size Standard: 24 pupils Standard: 24 pupils Timetable Timetable Monday to Friday, one afternoon is free Monday-Friday, Wednesday afternoon is free 1st class: 33 lessons 1st – 2nd class: 24 lessons each 2nd class: 33 lessons 3rd class: 29 lessons 3rd class: 31– 33 lessons possibly additional optional courses 4th – 6th class: 30 lessons each

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