Welcome to the Otto Hahn Gymnasium

This page is a resource for parents and students who are interested in finding out more about our school. Our school is in Landau, a town of some 40,000 inhabitants, situated in Rheinland·Pfalz. We can be found in the town centre, not far from the town hall and market square. Nearby are the cities of Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Heidelberg, the area is surrounded by wonderful scenery with its mountains, vineyards and picturesque villages. In the summer of 2008 we celebrated our 175th Anniversary, a wonderful occasion at which all involved with the school, parents, children and teachers joined together to show exactly what it means to be a member of this school community.

What does the Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium have to offer? 85 teachers, together with the school Headmaster, Herr Emil Straßner, ensure that our school provides an ordered and disciplined learning environment, in which our 1100 pupils can successfully study and reach their potential. In class 5 each child will take a course in English as a first foreign language. In class 6 there is a choice between French and Latin. In class 9 pupils may choose a third optional language: Spanish, French or Latin. ln order to strengthen the language expertise and cultural awareness of our staff and students we organise several exchanges each academic year: contacts include schools in Croatia, Poland, France, Great Britain and the USA. We also have many students who choose to spend a year in the Sixth Form studying abroad, these students are fully supported by the school. We encourage students who have participated in these schemes to share their experiences and pass on their enthusiasm to others.

In classes 5, 6 and 7 all students follow a course in Natural Sciences that encompasses Biology, Chemistry and Physics. From class 8 this is further refined into discrete Chemistry, Physics and Biology courses.Our attainment in these areas is particularly noteworthy, the school maintains an exceptionally high profile with regard to prizes and research in science in Rheinland Pfalz.

The Sixth Form begins in the 11^th school year. The students can now specialise by majoring in three courses whilst at the same time following subsidiary subjects. For example a student can choose between taking Mathematics at Major or at a Minor level. This forms a points·based system which leads directly to the Abitur and allows our students to progress successfully to Higher Education whilst at the same time providing a broad-based and rigorous education.

A particular strength of our school is the provision for the Ganztagsschule, which we implemented in 2004. The Ganztagsschule offers the opportunity for pupils to spend the whole day ie from 8am to 4pm in school. This provision is available from Monday to Thursday. In order to cater for the needs of our students a canteen and cafeteria have been constructed, which allows us to provide every child of the Ganztagsschule with one hot meal per day. The small additional cost to parents is minimal, because our lunches are subsidized by the Education Authority. After lunch the pupils are in supervised homework clubs or may continue with a combination of homework and lessons subject to timetable.

In addition we offer a large number of extracurricular activities for example: football, table tennis, drama, Science Challenge, choir, orchestra, in-line skating , and the school newspaper ("Wekker"), to name but a few.

Sporting achievement is a high priority here, various events such as "Youth Training for the Olympics", football and table tennis tournaments are strongly supported. We are justifiably proud of our success in table tennis, having won the Federal Championship in 2008.

In order to prepare our students for the world of work we offer a Work Experience programme in the Sixth Form and a three-day Community Service placement for our class 9 pupils.

Between 2003 and 2006 the school was completely renovated thanks to a generous subsidy from the local government of over 7 million Euros, we therefore now enjoy excellent facilities of the highest order. In addition a former unused basement has been converted into a venue for cultural events with the help of parents , teachers and students, who donated over 1000 hours of their time. This resource is also available for community use. We extend a very warm invitation to you to visit our school and to see our pupils at work. You will be most welcome and we look forward to seeing you.

Emil Straßner
Headmaster