History of Kaeferberg - School and Kita Am Kaeferberg, Oerlikon Zurich

Basic Values

Children should discover the world through true-to-life examples. This is what the scientific drawing of the May beetle stands for. Which gave the Käferberg its name.

Montessori Education in Kindergarten and School

Together on the way to independent learning.

We would like to outline the basic attitude of Maria Montessori with the following quotes:

“Help me to do it by myself. Show me how to do it. Do not do it for me. I can and want to do it alone. Have patience to understand my ways. They may be longer, I may need more time because I want to make several attempts. Allow myself mistakes and effort, because I can learn from them.” Maria Montessori

Emmi Pikler Pedagogy in the Baby and Toddler Group

In the toddler group it is important to give children time for their individual development.

“Give me time” Emmi Pikler

We support this with stimulating materials and impulses for physical, linguistic and social development.

Schweizerischer Emmi Pikler Verein
Kernaussagen von Emmi Pikler

Weekly workplan in school

Using the weekly plan, we support the children’s learning process. Each child has the opportunity to develop individually and purposefully according to his or her learning speed, skills and abilities.

Quarterly projects at School

With the different quarterly projects, we enable the children to explore and try out additional skills and abilities over a longer period of time.

Preparation for the selective school systems

We prepare the children specifically for the selective school systems they have chosen.

Sustainable Development

Schule und KITA am Käferberg promotes the competences and principles of sustainable development (e.g. networked thinking, change of perspective, dealing with complexity and values, discovery learning, action orientation), as they were also lived by Maria Montessori. Among others, we are involved in the following projects:

eco-school project vegetarian day & cooking

The eco-school project (https://ecoschools-ch.org/de/karte-der-schweizer-eco-schools/) takes place in English. Both the eco-audit on nutrition at school and learning to cook are conducted in English using vegetarian recipes.

From healthy nutrition to healthy and sustainable nutrition

The city of Zurich is committed to sustainable nutrition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFZTwKmfCYQ

We are part of it and are also committed.

Here you can find the short brochure of the sustainable nutrition strategy of the city of Zurich: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/dam/stzh/gud/Deutsch/UGZ/umwelt-energie/ernaehrung/dokumente/broschuere-ernaehrungsstrategie.pdf

Eco-council

Since the 2020/2021 school year, the school and KITA at Käferberg has been part of the Eco-Schoolsnetwork.

As an educational program, Eco-Schools promotes concrete measures for a more sustainable functioning of schools. At the same time, it puts education for sustainable development at the center by creating numerous references to curriculum 21.

The Eco-Committee brings together

Experts who support the school community with advice and expertise on the annual Eco-Schools
project, and
School staff who, as the driving force, coordinate the implementation of the chosen measures and
activities.
Children at middle school (4th to 6th class)

Anna McPherson

Anna McPherson leads the implementation of the Eco-School project with the primary school students.

When the school asked me to head up the eco-school project, I must admit, I was nervous. Like most people, I suspect that I’m doing things that are bad for the planet, but what can I change? or more to the point, what do I want to change? The topic is vast and eco warriors can be pretty scary.

Focusing on the positive, I did some research and discovered that like most people, I’m not completely terrible, but I could make a few simple choices that would make a huge difference.

We’ve decided to take food sustainability as our main topic. Starting with the children, our aim is to help the school community to understand more about why it’s important to know where our food comes from, how to make healthy and sustainable choices, how to reduce food and water waste and how to cook delicious and healthy food.

Our aim is that our informed and proactive children, parents, staff and school community will find some action points that they can take forward for a healthier more sustainable future.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-mcpherson-8b3b92142/

Gardenproject

At school we learn about the garden and the basics of permaculture. In the process, we also conduct experiments described by Umweltdetektive.ch, plant our garden plants according to the rules of mixed culture and explore the topic of biodiversity with the learning material from PUSCH.

We also get to know the trees in our neighbourhood https://fallingfruit.org/

Early Development

Languages

In primary school we prefer to learn foreign languages immersively. Our children learn French as early as grade 4.

Movement

Learning in motion is a concept that allows children to learn through play and movement. It is a sustainable preventive measure with regard to the phenomena of increasing lack of movement, concentration difficulties and overweight in children.

Early musical education

Music plays a central role in early childhood development. Early music education at the “Schule am Käferberg” offers children a great opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of music and to regularly engage with music, rhythm and movement in a very natural but concentrated way. Up to the age of 3 we also offer this for children together with their parents (Suzuki early childhood education). During one hour, we sing songs in mixed groups, recite children’s verses and move around the room to drum rhythms.

In this way, a common repertoire soon becomes established. Through constant repetition, the children achieve a real mastery of what they have learned, which contributes to a calm and positive atmosphere and gives the children a sense of security. It is very important that we take into account the natural learning pace of each child and acknowledge and praise all steps, no matter how small they seem. Every child should be able to develop her or his potential in this way.

Painting and creative design

“Just let the children paint freely!” Arno Stern

STE(A)M and discovering nature and environment

At primary school teaching STE(A)M – Science Technology Engineering (Arts) Mathematics – is key. We usually teach this project based or in dedicated workshops. For example in IT we teach the children computer hardware and programming skills with SCRATCH.

The toddler group and the kindergarden regularly visit the farm, play in the forest and experience how plants grow in the garden and which ones we are allowed to pick and eat.

History

The Käferberg – a mountain with several names

In Wipkingen, the mountain is called Käferberg, but in Höngg it is known as Waidberg. It extends as far as Oerlikon.

Käferberg and the Käferholzstrasse are named after a forest with a large collection of beetles.

Together with ramparts and entrenchments, the Käferberg was part of the so-called third town fortification in the 17th century. The city wall or fortifications of Zurich were demolished in the 19th century, because they were of no military value and hindered the growth of the city and traffic, especially at the gates.

Even today there are still large areas of agricultural land on the Käferberg / Waidberg in the immediate vicinity of „Science City“ (ETH Hönggerberg).

Geschichte KAEFERBERG

History of Schule und KITA am Käferberg

Originally, the School, Kindergarten and Day care centre were located at Griesernweg 26, directly on the Käferberg Mountain in Zürich.

Am Käferberg was founded in 2003, by a group of parents, to educate and care for children aged between 2 months and 12 years. Since 2006, it has been run by Natalie Lutz alone.

In March 2020, the Käferberg KITA moved from Griesernweg 26 in Oerlikon, to the new spacious premises at Gubelhangstrasse 6. The old property was demolished. At the same time as the move, KITA Käferberg was renamed Am Käferberg Schule & KITA.

At Am Käferberg School and KITA we follow concepts that promote independence and personal responsibility, such as The Maria Montessori method. The daily routine is structured in such a way that the care of the children and their education interlock. The teachers are responsible for both care and education.