Hello together :-)
I only have one more month of school left which is great, but in response to Victoria's blog I'd like to explain how school worked for me here in Germany...
Well first of all it's important to mention that I'm attending a "Gymnasium". That's one of the three different schoolsystems we have here in Germany. It can be called the highest of all three 'cause it's the only system you can get your "Abitur" at the end, but if you start in an other system (which is a decision that is made after primary school) you can easily transfer to a Gymnasium, if your grades are good enough.
I've been to school for 13 years now (4 years of primary school and 9 years of Gymnasium). During the years 5 to 11 you only have to pass. During that time your not able to chose your subjects, because their set by the government to guarantee an overall basic education for everyone (exception is year 11 in which you chose between some subjects).
In the end, only the years 12 and 13 really matter ( 11 and 12 for younger generations, 'cause they only go to school 12 years). During that time you have two main subjects, in my case these are Maths and Geography (both 4 terms -> 1 year = 2 terms). Furthermore you have at least 7 other subjects. The number of subjects you have depends on different rules and your own interests (I wont explain that, because it took me a whole year to understand :-) ). In my case these subjects are: religious education (2 terms, compulsory), literature (2 terms, compulsory), history (2 terms, compulsory), politics (2 terms, compulsory), sports (4 terms, compulsory), german (4 terms compulsory), spanish (4 terms), french (4 terms), english (4terms) and biology (4 terms).
So, to get the Abitur you have to collect points in your subjects. Every term you can get a maximum of 15 points in each subject, while some (main subjects) might be counted double in the end. Consequently after year 13 you have (hopefully) got a bunch of points in every subject. Then you are allowed to do the final examns in your two main subjects and two normal subjects. 3 of these Examns are written: the two main subjects and one normal subject, the 4th examn will be held orally. After that you get points again for every examn (a maximum of 15 points each, which are counted 4 times). And in the end you'll have a number of points which shows the level of your Abitur. Most people have a level between 2.0 and 3.0. 1.0 would be the best while 4.0 is the worst.
Okay now I'll quickly talk about my points: till now I have earned quite a lot of points (I went out most subjects with around 13 points). But most important will be my last four examns and till then I might not have too much time to write long blogs (Excuse me!).
Hope you got a good insight of German school life (I am so happy that it ends this year, because I am really looking forward to university).