2024-04-29 09:19:56
The kindergarten school in Bischofshofen has been teaching prospective elementary teachers for 50 years. Since April 1st, the BAfEP has had a new director, Christoph Schöffmann. The lack of space in the old school building is increasingly becoming a challenge.
The educational institution for elementary education (BAfEP) in Bischofshofen is celebrating its 50th anniversary this school year. The school, then still a federal training institute for kindergarten teachers, started in the fall of 1973 with 37 students on the premises of the Hermann Wielandner secondary school. After a short stopover at the Neue Heimat elementary school, the current school building on the northern edge of the municipality was moved into in 1979.
“The house is bursting at the seams”
Director Christoph Schöffmann has been a music and geography teacher at BAfEP for around ten years. At the beginning of April he took over the school management from Angelika Werner. Actually, the kindergarten school should have moved to a new building near the soccer field as soon as possible. Since the municipality has postponed the construction of a new sports center for cost reasons (the PN have reported), nothing will come of it. “We have information that a feasibility study is currently underway on how the proposed concept can be implemented,” says the director.
The proposal submitted primarily provides for more space: “We now have 420 students, around 80 of whom are adults in the college. The house is bursting at the seams.” While we currently have to make do with one music hall, the concept for the new school envisages three. There are currently twelve classrooms, in the future there will be 18. The age of the school building is also noticeable. “Drafts are a problem, especially in winter. Some of the old windows are simply poorly sealed.”
The school community is making the best of the situation
Despite these shortcomings, Schöffmann also looks forward to the new building that will be built sooner or later with a teary eye. “We feel very comfortable in our school building,” he emphasizes. The characteristics of the building with the large auditorium in the center – where a big summer concert will take place on June 27th at 7 p.m. – have “a unique charm”. Schöffmann compliments the students and teachers: “Everyone is pulling together and making the best of the situation, which hardly anyone in the house is complaining regarding.”
BAfEP places are in great demand
In any case, the demand for places in the BAfEP remains unbroken. In the fall, a school year will start with three first classes for the first time. “It would be very nice if we might make this the norm in the long term,” hopes the new director. Around 75 percent of all those who complete the classic five-year training path with a high school diploma would ultimately start their careers in elementary education, explains Schöffmann. The number of female graduates from the college is “almost 100 percent”. In addition, pedagogical assistants are trained at the BAfEP as part of a three-year technical school. “Technical school graduates can then be trained to become qualified educators with a high school diploma in our new three-year advanced course,” explains the director. A one-and-a-half-year course for graduates of social education colleges is also set to start soon. “We are doing everything we can to train as many future educators as possible,” assures Schöffmann.
We are looking for staff for practical kindergarten
In order to keep up with the increasing number of students, the BAfEP also needs the appropriate teaching staff. Around eight full-time equivalents have currently been advertised. “We are an attractive school location for teachers,” Schöffmann is relatively relaxed regarding the new appointments. The situation is more tense in the in-house practical kindergarten, where, in addition to the prospective teachers from the school, fully trained staff are also needed. “We urgently need staff here and welcome applications.”
In general, a goal for the coming years is to further intensify the cooperation with the kindergarten in teaching. “It would be nice if we regularly implemented joint projects until the school’s 60th anniversary, from which the kindergarten children benefit as much as the students,” the director looks to the future and adds: “Then hopefully in a beautiful new school building.”
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