About us
The Michael Friedrich Wild Elementary School serves approximately 310 students from Müllheim and the surrounding areas with backgrounds from nearly 30 different nations. Students are organized in 15 classes, a primary school special needs class, and an after-school program. The school is staffed by a dedicated team of 30 teachers and educators. Classes are housed in three pavilions and a main school building which are part of a larger education center constructed in the 1960s including a comprehensive school, a special ed counseling center, and a municipal music school.
We also share this building with a French elementary school, accommodating approximately 50 students. This unique arrangement exists since 1992 following the establishment of the Franco-German Brigade in Müllheim. In the 2003/2004 school year, the two schools formalized their close collaboration within the framework of the “Müllheim Concept.”
Our school is one of 14 elementary schools in Baden-Württemberg offering French as a foreign language in a bilingual program beginning in first grade. Another unique aspect is our close cooperation with the municipal music school, which is supported by the town of Müllheim.
Our school is a place where children set out on a journey of experiential learning, guided by both our dedicated staff and their parents. We prioritize the holistic development of each child, nurturing their talents and fostering exploration of various educational areas while balancing the mind, heart, and hands of children. Our approach to education emphasizes both nurturing and empowering students. Education is implemented in a dynamic and engaging manner. We uphold values of mutual respect, transparency, teamwork, and openness as we collaborate to create enriching learning experiences that strengthen each child’s personality. Our school fosters a climate of trust and collaboration, where all members of our community – including students, staff, parents, and external partners – work together in a trustful and constructive manner. For us, school means to … Educate!
✓ In our school community we treat each other with appreciation and respect.
✓ We are mindful of the environment and protect it.
make education possible!
✓ Every child should be encouraged and challenged according to their abilities.
✓ Lessons are designed holistically and in a differentiated way.
✓ “Learning by doing” permeates our lessons.
✓ We equip students with methods that help them “to learn how to learn”. School community: being active together
✓ Rhythm and motion promote learning.
✓ Seasonal festivities are celebrated communally.
✓ Local learning and cultural education have a high priority.
How do we implement our principles sustainably? Here are some examples of daily routines and special offers at our school:
✓ the Monday morning circle, the class council, social projects in every class
✓ regular school assemblies, a children’s parliament, social skills training/ social work, training children to become mediators and assistants
✓ the school garden
✓ methodological training & media education
✓ student development plans
✓ special needs class at the primary school level
✓ German as a second language
✓ support and diagnostics of dyscalculia
✓ Cooperation with our partners, such as the municipal music school, DRK Müllheim, Müllheim handball club, etc.
✓ making school transitions memorable
✓ active breaks/movement intervals – our school is a certified “Moving School”
✓ school choirs / orchestra (string and brass ensembles)
✓ religious education/ group training
✓ reliable elementary school
✓ intercultural circle, training & involvement of parent mentors
✓ services: courtyard service/ energy monitoring / waste & recycling
Dyslexia Support Center Müllheim:
Diagnosis, advice and support: Children from our elementary school and surrounding elementary schools requiring help with reading and spelling are fully supported, individually and in small groups.
Parents’ council – educational partnership right from the start:
Teamwork among parents is very important to us! Our Parents’ Council plays a special role. The Parents’ Council Board consists of a team of seven members who take care of various tasks in our school community, e.g. our intercultural circle, parties & celebrations, social projects etc.
Friends of the School
We are greatly supported by the association of Friends of the MFW. Many of our school’s needs were met with the financial, moral and practical support of the Friends’ association:
✓ Co-financing of the “Methodi boards”
✓ Equipment for the playground
✓ Funding for the choir and drama club
✓ School garden project with experimental stations etc.
New members and donations are always welcome!
Contact: Mr. Matthias Ganninger
E-mail: freundeskreis@mfw-grundschule.de
What is it all about?
Information, topics, goals and more…. Our Michael Friedrich Wild primary school is taking part in the 3-year EU programme ERASMUS+ together with the Strasbourg schools École Élémentaire Jean Sturm and Lycée Jean Sturm (France) and the Kufstein/Sparchen primary school (Austria). The common goal of the project, which is called ‘Language Makes Europe’, is to develop an intercultural school development concept for all three schools.
Representatives of the respective institutions have therefore been meeting at regular intervals since the 2021/22 school year for a ‘Transnational Meeting’ to jointly analyse the work at the respective schools and develop ideas for an intercultural concept for teaching and cultural diversity outside the classroom. The focus is on seeing multilingualism as an asset.
The programme is accompanied and scientifically supported by the University of Strasbourg (France), the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg (Austria), the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Germany) and representatives of the non-profit organisation Education Unlimited e.V.. The results of the project will later be integrated into teacher training programmes.
In the long term, we hope to promote and exemplify multilingualism even more strongly at our school in order to make everyday school life easier for children and families of foreign origin and to offer children with German as their mother tongue the opportunity to gain an impression of how to deal with many other languages and perhaps even cultures in the classroom.
In four working groups, in which members from each institution are involved, multilingual teaching materials are created, assessed and further developed. Existing DAZ methods and bilingual teaching materials are also analysed and optimised for this purpose, for example by asking the needs and wishes of children and parents with different linguistic backgrounds in order to then implement them. These findings are then incorporated into the organisation of lessons as well as into intercultural work with parents. Our school is primarily involved in this working group and is responsible for the project results – some important milestones have already been achieved, such as the establishment of the Intercultural Circle at our school with the formation of a network of involved and affected groups and organisations within the town of Müllheim. These organisations meet regularly, once a month, to exchange ideas. In addition, with the help of our school social worker, Mr Seifert, an international parents’ café is being planned, the main aim of which is to facilitate exchange between cultures.
In addition, other working groups in the ERASMUS+ project are looking at intercultural learning in connection with an optimal room design to promote this learning, as well as the establishment of a digital education platform for several European countries, linked to the correspondingly modified teacher training programme.
The project results of the individual project partners will be presented in autumn 2024.
We are grateful and proud to be part of such an important initiative and, with the help of parents, teachers and pupils, to be able to contribute to the further development of our school and our teaching approach in such a way that we sensitise the children linguistically and interculturally in order to be prepared for the challenges of the modern world.
Our Team
