Our general principle is that children are not preparing for life; they are living it.
The AKG is a present-focussed, free, student-centred, alternative school
- We are present-focussed because our educators believe that adolescence is just as much a transitional stage in a person’s life as any other period. Thus, in addition to conditioning for adulthood, we place great emphasis on striving for short-term success, the experiencing of daily pleasures, and resolving current problems and conflicts.
- We have renounced the institutional regulatory instruments (e.g., the gradebook) and replaced them with freedom of information, free choice for students, interpersonal relationships with interest and concern. Legal instruments have been replaced by a tutorial or “patron” system. Freshers choose their patrons at the freshers’ camp held before the start of their school year.
- Our professional guideline states that each individual child is the centre of what we do, so we have developed organisational structures and activities that are based on personal relationships and continuous collaboration.
- The AKG guidelines are closely linked to the reform pedagogies and pedagogical alternatives of the early twentieth century; we want to convey value, norm, and educational alternatives to our students.
Features of our courses of training
6+1 grade classes
Lower secondary stage: grades 7-10
In our primary courses, we offer general and uniform training, with individual differentiation within groups. School life is characterised by a practical and problem-oriented approach, epochal teaching [subject study blocks], projects, differentiated but prescribed activities for all, predominantly school-based, practice-oriented, experiential learning, collaborative learning, non-graded. We teach subjects in blocks, in broader areas of literacy: mother-tongue studies, foreign language communication; social studies; mathematics; art; science blocks; practical subjects (computer literacy, creative arts, management skills, communication, learning methods, physical education).
Language preparation year: year 11
In this year, 2/3 of all lessons are devoted to intensive second foreign language study (Spanish, French, German), alongside IT training, physical education, English language level maintenance and skills development. Groups in the second foreign language start from beginner level and students take the B2 level exam at the end of the year. The academic year thus condenses the curriculum from 4 years of traditional language study into one year of continuous intensive study. At the end of the second semester, students go on a 9–10-day exchange trip to the language area (Spain, Germany or France). The students from our permanent exchange partners are then hosted by our students. Following the conclusion of the language year, a high percentage of our students take the advanced intermediate school-leaving examination. The period concludes with an independent one-year project presentation.
4+1 grade course
Lower secondary stage: grades 9-10
At the basic level, we offer general and uniform training, with individual differentiation within the groups. The school life is characterised by a practical and problem-oriented approach, epochal teaching [focussed study blocks], projects, differentiated but prescribed activities for all, predominantly school-based, practice-oriented, experiential learning, collaborative learning, non-graded. We teach subjects in blocks, in broader areas of literacy: mother-tongue, foreign language communication; social studies; mathematics; art; science blocks; practical subjects (computer literacy, creative arts, management skills, communication, learning methods, physical education).
Language preparation year: year 11
In this year, 2/3 of all lessons are devoted to intensive second foreign language study (Spanish, French, German), alongside IT training, physical education, English language level maintenance and skills development. Groups in the second foreign language start from beginner level and students take the B2 level exam at the end of the year. The academic year thus condenses the curriculum from 4 years of traditional language study into one year of continuous intensive study. At the end of the second semester, students go on a 9–10-day exchange trip to the language area (Spain, Germany or France). The students from our permanent exchange partners are then hosted by our students. Following the conclusion of the language year, a high percentage of our students take the advanced intermediate school-leaving examination. The period concludes with an independent one-year project presentation.
Upper secondary stage: grades 12-13 (all levels)
We offer a complete, differentiated, alternative baccalaureate-type course of education in the upper secondary school. This phase is characterised by the autonomous nature of the subjects, with typically individual timetables, independent learning, multi-level training in each subject and programme, specialisations in the subjects, grading, examinations, and a much greater amount of individual work. The general aim is career orientation, preparation for school-leaving exams and admission to further and higher education, but the emphasis is on learning as an end in itself, the pleasure of acquiring knowledge and culture.
Subjects: Hungarian literature, history, foreign languages, mother-tongue language studies, mathematics, natural sciences (physics, chemistry, geography, biology), social sciences and economics (economics, social studies, psychology, social geography, ethnography), art, creative circles, physical education.
The school offers students 5 “Matura” subjects and 8 other subjects.
In recent years, 95-100% of students who have graduated from the school have gone on to higher education.
