The School: Past and Present

Ethos
In the spirit of our patron Albertus Magnus, the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium today stands on the pillars of education in languages and the sciences and thus is open for a future in the European framework. It is our philosophy that tradition and innovation, challenge and encouragement do not oppose each other, but are integrate parts of a comprehensive education.
Our school aims to create an open-minded and dynamic environment for learning, experiencing, and living under the ethos of mutual responsibility and consideration.

Foundation of the School
The Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium, founded in 1858 as a Progymnasium, looks back on a long tradition and an eventful history.
As in the 19th century nearly all educational facilities were located in cities and the transport to the surrounding areas was extremely limited, it was often impossible for inhabitants of rural areas to have their children educated in establishments of higher education.
Thus from the 1850s also in Bensberg talented students were prepared privately by Herr Schröder, a vicar, for the 8th, 9th and 10th grade of grammar school.
In October 1858 when the number of students had increased to 28 and the funds necessary for the foundation of an institution of higher education had been collected from the town council and the people of Bensberg , the board of governors applied for the permission to establish a Roman Catholic school to teach academic as well as vocational subjects for pupils from years five to eight.
On December 14, 1858, the provincial government in Cologne appointed Reverend Viktor Lejeune to work as a headmaster at a grammar school in Bensberg as he was obliged to perform ecclesiastical as well as educational duties.
Initially there were only two forms at the school, but within two years it grew up to grade eight.
School fees were 20 Taler and on registration the parents had to pay 1 Taler. Due to the headmaster’s relocation in 1860, Herbert Krämer succeeded him as the school’s headmaster.

AMG since 1930
In 1938 the school applied to become a preparatory school. The application was denied by the Reichsminister for Science and Education in 1940 and then granted in 1942.
On the 1st of January 1946 the school became a prep school with the focus on science.
The sixth grade was introduced on Easter, 1947 a year which also saw Dr Rosin take up the position of headmaster.
On the 17th of April that year the school became a secondary school for pupils up to the age of 16 with the focus on modern languages.
Dr Rosins new aim was to have the school made into a proper secondary school and he put all his energy into his new plan. Originally the extension was planned for Easter 1950 but was delayed due to other important issues within the community, such as the increasing interconnection of Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg.

A new application, made on the 20th of December 1957, used the city’s growth as an argument, along with the large catchment area, the benefits of a school of that size (when compared to the mammoth schools in neighbouring regions), the school’s good performance, the cultural importance of a grammar school for our city and the benefits of mixed classes.

On the 25th of March 1958 the Minister of Culture gave permission for a gradual conversion into a grammar school.

The seventh grade was introduced around Easter 1958.

The first Abitur (final exams) were taken in 1961, overseen by Dr Rosin.

There was no rest however after this success as the new problem of space had to be dealt with.
The original school building, built in 1907, was designed to accommodate 130 pupils split into 5 classes.
By 1940 the school was overcrowded with 156 pupils. Things got even worse however and in 1949 the school housed almost 300, twice the planned number.

Since 1958 children from all over Bergisch Gladbach and neighbouring communities have been educated to take the Abitur (final exams) in order to be entitled to further education. Usually the school has an intake of 120 pupils each year, allocated into four forms.

The upgrading of a cellar room into classes, as well as the construction of three classrooms in the former one tiered Protestant elementary school, was no solution.

The school was located next to the busiest road in Bensberg at the junction of three other roads. This lead to severe disturbances of lessons.

Therefore plans for solving the shortage of classrooms concentrated on the construction of a new school building.

In agreement with the Ministry of Reconstruction (Wiederaufbauministerium) and the regional government of Cologne, a suitable plot was bought. in Bensberg-Kaule, which was owned by the Roman Catholic parish and the building society (Wohnungsbauverein) of Bensberg.

Due to a joint order of the State’s Minister of the Interior and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on March 20th, 1959, the first financial support of 500,000.00 Deutsch Marks were allocated for the erection of the new school building.

The estimated cost were 3.7 million Marks for a school building consisting of 15 class-rooms, 4 additional class rooms and further necessary rooms, including an auditorium and a gym, to teach 500 pupils.

In year 1962 the school could relocate into the new building, the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium.

Herr Oberstudiendirektor Dr. Rosin as headmaster was in charge of the school until 1966.
After his retirement, Herr Oberstudiendirektor Dr. Fleiter took office as headmaster.
Herr Oberstudiendirektor Dr. Kuhn was the school’s headmaster from 1972 until 1997.

The present headmaster is Ms. Sanio.

At present (2007) the grammar school has about 1000 students, 60 teachers and about 7 supporting staff. Although lessons mainly take place until 2 o’clock, many extracurricular activities and classes also take place in the afternoons.
One of the entry classes is English bilingual and another one starts with English and French lessons simultaneously.

Funds
Basically the school is funded from three different sources:
Mainly the school is funded by the City of Bergisch Gladbach, which means the town council is entitled to set or alter certain non-curricular guidelines and standards.
The teaching staff are mainly civil servants (Beamte) and thus paid by the state of North-Rhine-Westfalia, which is usually the case in German grammar schools.
We take pride in our Förderverein (Friends of the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium) whose generous support of innumerable curricular and extra- curricular activities has given us ample and wider scope of pedagogical work otherwise hardly possible.

Environment
The Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium has developed a good relationship to neighbouring schools and institutions – private and public – and takes part in a number of both curricular and extra-curricular activities. We especially try to stay in close touch with the local economy.
Furthermore we see ourselves as a school of and for the community, widely and deeply integrated into the neighbourhood. Naturally we are glad to offer our facilities for cultural events of local and regional significance.

School community

Participation
School matters are organized in the following bodies

• Schulkonferenz (representing teachers, students and parents)
• Schulpflegschaft, (representatives of all parents)
• Klassenpflegschaft (made up of pupils’ parents of one form)
• Schülervertretung (body of students’ representatives)

The bodies convene regularly, but also when urgent matters require it. Parents, who would like to get more involved in school matters are always welcome.

Advice and Support

Personal Support
Non-academic help is offered by trained staff on a day to day basis.

• Support for academic skills
• Mediating
• Co-operation with the local branch of Lion’s Club International
• Psychological advisor
• Mentoring
• First Aid Group

Working with Media

Library
Integrated among the classrooms and overseen by our professional librarian, the library is popular with students of all ages and teachers. It stocks a great number of foreign language books for students of all ages.
Although books are still most important, the large stock of virtual media increasingly supports the students’ independent learning and research.

IT-rooms
Ample use of IT is a matter of course at our school internally as well as externally.
Lessons are enhanced by the school computer systems with numerous computer terminals and the systems are used by numerous subjects to an increasing extent.
Computer labs are equipped with CCTV-surveillance devices.

Rooms assigned to certain subjects and classrooms
Each classroom is equipped with chalk and blackboard, a VCR, a DVD-player, a CD-player and an overhead projector. Additionally several laptops and large screen projectors (video projectors) are available for use in classrooms also for internet access ( W-Lan) from all classrooms.
The school’s announcement facilities have been extended by six video-screens. They are strategically placed in the halls for easy access. This means that announcements made at short notice for students and staff alike are communicated without disturbing lessons or tests.
The school’s concept features an extended structure for subject specific rooms. Beside the “classic” rooms for certain respective subjects such as music, arts, computer science, natural sciences, there are additional one for foreign languages, bi-lingual classes, religious knowledge and social sciences.

Classes and Teachers
It is well-known and generally accepted that academic and social skills are best acquired, trained and expanded within a stable social framework. Because of this classes are usually taught by a team of teachers for several consecutive years. Even the choice of another obligatory foreign language in year 6 and the choice between, a third (optional) foreign language or an additional subject (e.g. sciences or philosophy) in year 8, do not break up the existing form structure. The students stay together for all the other subjects taught from year five onwards.

Bi-lingual German-English Education

We aim to enable the students to communicate with a high degree of proficiency in situations not only pertaining to every day matters, but to matters of trade and economy, science, technology, sociology and history, politics and culture. In short, having completed the course our students should be nearly bi-lingual after their Abitur.
We give them the opportunity to study in depth the foreign cultures’ ways of living and thinking to widen their own scope. Thus they are also enabled to get a deeper and more profound understanding of their native culture(s).
Our aim is to enable students to read subjects at a university in an English-speaking country, to take up a professional training there or to train with a company based in Germany having a lot of contacts abroad.
These aims are achieved first by intensive language lessons in years 5 and 6 with two extra English language lessons. This creates a solid foundation for the following years. In years 7 to 9 lessons in Geography, History and Politics are increasingly taught in English. If desired pupils from other schools or from the non-bilingual classes can change over into the bilingual class until year 10.
In year 10 the students have to take three English lessons, and three Geography and History lessons respectively, i.e. they have 9 lessons in English per week. In the final two years they have to take 5 periods of English language and literature classes and either Geography or History in English. This gives the students an extra qualification, not only expressedly certified on the Abiturzeugnis but also documented by a British Council diploma.

Dual Branch (English – French)

Since the school year 2003/2004 the AMG offers the so-called “dual branch” in addition to the normal and bilingual system. Thus there are three models of teaching foreign languages at the AMG:

1. Starting with English as the first foreign language (5 lessons per week) in connection with extra lessons in arts and science.
2. Starting with English in the bilingual branch (7 lessons per week in classes 5, 6 in class 6, and increasingly, bilingual courses form year 5 onwards in geography, then history and social sciences usually alternating)
3. New: The parallel start with English and (!) French (4 lessons a week each)

What is the idea behind starting two foreign languages at the same?
The ability to speak modern foreign languages constitutes a key qualification for careers of all kinds now and in the future. Even today people who can speak and write not only their mother language and English, but another living language fluently are more sought-after. Only an early start can lead to a multilingual career. Learning two modern languages early also allows pupils to gain further qualifications in their school career (e.g. Latinum: certificate of proficiency in Latin) also learn a fourth foreign language like Spanish in year 8 or 10.

If this option taken a focus on mathematics and science is possible without any restriction.

Why French simultaneously to English?
French is the language of our most important trading partner in the EU and also the second working language in Europe. Furthermore the language opens up our neighbour’s rich culture and therefore makes a real encounter and communication with people in all situations and aspects of life possible (from holidays to business).

Can my child actually achieve this?
If it is really qualified for a grammar school, of course. You and your child must be prepared to put in the extra effort involved. Especially at the age of 10 the ability to imitate and the willingness to communicate are especially well developed, which is important for learning a modern language.
Good marks in one’s own mother language are surely an important requirement for this language branch.

If you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us personally, on the telephone, or by e-mail.