My school education in Kehl, Pierre Gülden, punching and forming mechanic apprentice in his 3rd year of training

After attending Gerolstein's vocational school for basic “metal” training in the 1st and 2nd years of my apprenticeship, I have been a graduate student at the BS Kehl in the Black Forest since September 2016 specialising as a ‘punching and forming mechanic’ The objective of attending this school is to gain further qualifications as a punching and forming mechanic.

My first block course in Kehl:

After a six hour train journey covering 365 kilometres I arrived in Kehl and went straight to the vocational school's hall of residence. I received a warm welcome from the head of the hall of residence and I was allocated my room.

The first night I met one or two of my classmates and fellow residents, and I was given information about daily life in the school, including the school curricula, the lesson plan, the breaks, lunch, and recreational opportunities.

The next morning, I went to school which is about one kilometre from the halls of residence. My new classmates showed me the way to school, my classrooms and labs, and the cafeteria where lunch is served to the students of the hall of residence.

I met my teacher, Mr Arbogast, when lessons started at eight o'clock. I was asked questions about my school, my company, my home, and even my dialect, which made me smile. On my first day, I met almost all of my teachers, and was able to integrate well into the course. We had lunch at 1.00 pm, which is always freshly cooked; there are even desserts! Students only have to pay for their own drinks.

At 1.00 pm, after school, you have the option of going back to the halls of residence, where your are undisturbed, and you can work through your lessons or prepare for upcoming exams on your own or with your classmates.

You can also phone your parents and friends, or use the Internet. Dinner is served in the halls of residence at 6.00 pm. Occasionally, there’s a hot dinner in the evening, for instance scrambled eggs, schnitzel, or baked fish, followed by a dessert of yoghurt, blancmange or fruit salad. After that, you can get relax in your room, or you can go to one of the two lounges that have balconies, a TV and a sofa.

I am really pleased with the whole idea of attending vocational school and the block course in Kehl. While in Kehl, you can focus totally on the day-to-day life of the school, be in the subject class with your peers, and benefit from very dedicated teachers, the technical orientation of the school and excellent vocational education.

Block learning also has the major advantage of being permanently in the company during important process tasks, such as cold-running tuning, making the entire week of work available to the department.

My Part 2 final exam and my preparation:

Before my theoretical final exam in May of this year, I'm going to attend three blocks of vocational school in Kehl, where I'm working with my classmates and our specialist teachers to prepare for the written exam with our teachers.

My satisfaction and the excellent professional and human support from school and home are also reflected in my very good academic performance. I hope that I will be able to demonstrate this in the final exam.

For leisure activities, I can recommend the guided tour of Kehl with the pedestrian arcade, the Rhine Bridge to Strasbourg and its parks and paths, and the city of Strasbourg. If you have a little time at the weekend, it's also worth taking a trip to the Europapark Rust, which is just an hour away. Kehl is great for shopping and, if you want to see a little more of the area, you can do it travelling by bus and train.