Deutschherren-Gymnasium Aichach

The school is a grammar school (higher secondary education leading to A levels, i.e. qualification for university) in a small historical Bavarian town close to the state capital Munich with mainly Catholic inhabitants. The school has a technical / science branch and a languages branch (English, French, Latin, Spanish, Italian). There are regular pupil exchanges with France, Italy and Spain. At the moment there are 656 pupils (age 10-18) enrolled, two principals and 55 teachers. The school encourages the inclusion of physically and mentally disabled pupils, the integration of pupils with migration background and the support of asylum seekers as there are many families of need in the area.

There is an obligatory curriculum at our school that includes sciences (Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, IT), languages (English, French, Latin, Spanish, Italian), social studies (history, politics, RE/Ethics, Philosophy, Economy, Geography), cultural studies (arts, music) and PE. Additionally, there are optional courses in which pupils can participate like music classes, drama classes, environmental education, IT team, etc.

Pupils have become more and more interested in sustainability. Our school has already contributed to that fact by offering seminars connected to the department of Biology and Chemistry. From next year at our school will also be part of “Ökoprofit Plus” which is the establishment of an environmental management system for the school. After that, we will have a certification as an environmentally friendly school. The Erasmus project would go hand in hand with that.

Our school also set up a new canteen two years ago that offers organic food and tries to reduce waste, e.g. by avoiding one-way containers for food or offering reusable bottles. Still, there is room for improvement as the pupils still use too much one-way plastics in their everyday life. Additionally, there are several areas in which the school can improve like energy management or reduction of materials, etc.

The school has participated in various Comenius projects, also about environment in which they introduced a better system of garbage separation in classrooms. The school also takes part in another Erasmus+ project in 2020 which is about overcoming stereotypes.