Wednesday 21st
Hornesgasse general secondary school.
Head teacher: Beatrix Taxer
• It is the biggest secondary school of its type in Vienna, with 400 pupils and 60 teachers. 10 of these teachers are not full time and teach in other schools as well.
• There are 6 inclusion classes with 2 teachers each, one class teacher and one special needs teacher. Usually classes are made up of 30 pupils or so and inclusion classes consist of 24 pupils, of which 5/6 are SEN. There are 25 different nationalities in the school (approx 30% are Austrian), and it is considered essential to integrate these.
• The school is currently testing the Dalton (spelling?) plan. Pupils are free to choose what they want to learn within a particular programme which lasts one or two weeks. It appears to encourage co-operation between pupils of all abilities, and pupils appear to be less aggressive while working this way. This plan appears to suit pupils with behavioural difficulties particularly well, as they become responsible for their own learning.
• One of the issues they face at the moment is truancy. The procedure for dealing with this is to send a total of three letters home to the parents, if the situation is still not resolved then it is handed over to the police whereupon a 100 – 150 Euro fine can be issued. There are no registers taken – the teachers “just know who is away”.
• Although behaviour is generally good, there has been a rise in divorce rates, particularly within the Islamic community, which has led to the behaviour of the boys in these families becoming an issue. The head was of the opinion that this was because the boys were missing the authority of the father.
• Any behaviour issues that do arise are dealt with in detailed discussions with the pupils and their parent/s.
• Amazingly, head teachers are expected to do all the administration for the school. This feat includes from dealing with the truancy issues, to ordering new furniture. She can’t see things changing any time soon because she doesn’t have time to get together with other heads to plan a strike!!
• There is no such thing as a supply teacher. If a teacher is ill their class is covered by one of the other teachers from the school.
• Secondary schools have a budget of 42 Euros per child per year and 11 more for SEN pupils. The government pays the wages and for the upkeep of the building.
Inclusion has been an ongoing theme everywhere we have visited so far, be it inclusion of abilities, languages or including parents in disciplinary procedures. The Viennese appear to place great stead on everyone being included in things, this was amply demonstrated in one particular class we visited, where out of 29 pupils, 1 was Austrian, and the rest was made up of 11 other nationalities. This group also was of mixed age groups from 11 to 14 yrs old. They were put in this group according to ability, as is the ethos of how they work here in this inclusive city.