A very warm welcome, our dear „Firsties“!

Weiß Falk

On Saturday, it was that time of year again! On this special day, 48 smartly dressed, nervous and excited children were welcomed into both of our new 1st grade classes. The 2nd graders and the senior choir performed a wonderful welcome program under the guidance of our music teachers Ms. Kemish and Mr. Leonard. There was a fancy buffet prepared by the 2nd grade parents and a champagne reception provided by us and the Förderverein (parents association) for all of the parents in the cafeteria. Even gray skies and drizzle could not dampen the festive atmosphere and the excitement of the children and their parents.

A new chapter in life has begun for 48 children and their families. From now on the children will not only get a little bigger each day, but they will also become more independent, unattached and will get smarter, too! From now on, they will go to school every day and on some days, they will definitely need motivation and help with that, especially on the cold, dark mornings. These parents will also learn a lot from their children, because children have an advantage over us adults: children are objective and have the confidence to try a lot of new things – they want to join in, help and really know everything. In order to understand what holds the world together, one must ask questions – many many questions. And at the same time, you have to have confidence in yourself to ask questions that nobody will have an answer to – even your parents, grandparents, Erzieher*innen and teachers won’t be able to answer these questions. At one point, you will start to discover the answers for yourselves. Then the world starts to develop a little bit further and that is what it should do – with our help.

What makes us unique as people is that we think and we believe. Every person thinks and believes something different, sees things differently or speaks differently – and that is one of the greatest and most exciting things in the world and for us here, at our school.

As professor Dumbledore, Harry Potters‘ teacher and school principal said:

“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”

On that note, we would like to wish our new first graders and their parents a great start and a wonderful schooling here at Platanus Schule Berlin.