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The purpose of pre-school education is to further children who are not yet mature enough to attend primary school. These children may complete their first year of compulsory schooling by doing a pre-school year. In addition to that, the pre-school year provides non-school-age children who celebrate their sixth birthday between September 1 and December 31 of the respective school year and who are admitted to primary school upon request of their parents with the possibility to change over to pre-school education if it turns out that they are not yet mature enough to follow lessons in primary school.
There is no assessment of the child's performance, the annual report only states that the child participated in the non-assessed compulsory subject classes. Pre-school classes are located in primary school buildings.
The first two years of primary school are considered a unit. All children may proceed to the second year after attendance of the first year, irrespective of the assessment of the child's performance in the annual report. In addition to attending compulsory subjects, pupils are free to choose to attend non-assessed optional classes (such as school choir singing, drama classes etc.) which are designed to foster special interests and skills.
Moreover, pilot projects on new ways of integrated pre-school and primary education have been started. These new ways to enter school education are designed to complement conventional ways in the years to come.
From the third year (elementary level II) onwards a modern foreign language (Croatian, Czech, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Slovak or Slovenian) is taught on a compulsory basis, though without assessment of the child's performance.
Based on interests and performance, parents are informed and advised on the kind of educational pathway recommended for their children after completion of the fourth year of primary school.
Depending on the demand, i.e. given there are at least three pupils in need of it, remedial classes to the extent of one teaching unit per week are offered for language subjects and mathematics (e.g. for pupils with learning difficulties or for pupils who have missed lessons because of illness).
With the exception of religious education, lessons at primary school are usually held by a form master. In addition to that, there are specially trained tutors who may be deployed to attend to children with special needs and to children with mother tongues other than German who have problems to follow lessons held in German.
