Press releases

Language is the key to education and social participation. The Department of Youth and Schools has been guided by this principle since 2018. Through a variety of programs offering continuous language education and targeted language camps during school breaks, the City of Aachen supports newly arrived immigrant children as well as children with special language support needs.

“The city of Aachen successfully offers a wide variety of programs and tools to support children in learning German. This encourages and empowers them to find their way in school and society, and is an important step toward greater educational equity,” emphasizes Heinrich Brötz, Aachen’s Deputy Mayor for Education, Youth, and Culture.

At the joint meeting of the Committees on Education and Continuing Education and on Children and Youth on Tuesday, November 10, the administration took stock of the situation: Despite the tight budget, numerous language support programs were implemented in 2026 as well. At the same time, an outlook on the future development of the programs was provided.

Language Vacation Programs 2026

At the heart of these language education support measures are four different course formats that take place during school breaks and are organized in close coordination between the Department of Youth and Schools and the City of Aachen’s Municipal Integration Center. These programs support children and adolescents through a variety of approaches.

The “FerienIntensivTraining – FIT in Deutsch” program is designed for students in grades 1 through 10 who have been living in Germany for only a few years or months. It serves as a welcome program and is 80 percent funded by the state funding program of the same name.

Each FIT course can accommodate 18 to 25 newly arrived children and adolescents. Each course is supervised by two language learning mentors. The courses are organized so that the groups of participants are as age-homogeneous as possible. Here, immigrant children and adolescents receive a program tailored specifically to their needs over several days, seven hours per day.

In terms of content, the courses are designed to facilitate step-by-step language learning by linking theoretical concepts to practical, everyday situations. To this end, opportunities are created within the courses for children and teenagers to try out and apply what they have previously learned in authentic speaking or communication situations. Specific examples: a visit to the zoo following an introduction to various animals, or real sales conversations at the weekly market that boost the participants’ self-confidence. And when the groceries they’ve purchased are then prepared and eaten together, the brain additionally links the vocabulary to sensory perceptions and stores it more effectively.

This year, five groups were offered at several school locations during each of the Easter, summer, and fall breaks. About 300 children and teenagers participated in 2026 alone. However, the state funding program is currently set to expire at the end of 2027, and no decision has yet been made regarding an extension.

The school social work vacation project for integration, run by the Youth and Schools Department, is aimed at immigrant children of elementary school age and has been running consistently for several years. The project also takes place during the Easter, summer, and fall breaks, each time during the second half of the break. Between 25 and 30 children consistently participate in the courses. The program is specifically designed for families who are largely known to the school social work program because they are struggling with various challenges, while the children are experiencing significant academic difficulties at school. As a result, the children usually participate regularly over several years and benefit from ongoing support with schoolwork.

Since 2024, the project has been fully funded by the municipality, allowing it to be tailored to individual needs and thus better adapted to the target group’s requirements. In addition to volunteers, four language support specialists are deployed during each school break, which is essential to the program’s effectiveness.

The summer program provides a structured yet accessible framework in which school curriculum content is explored in a practical way and knowledge gaps are specifically addressed. Through real-life learning situations, the program fosters fundamental skills such as reading and understanding instructions, working with units of measurement, and developing learning strategies. At the same time, the children experience a sense of self-efficacy by being able to immediately recognize the concrete results of their actions. The children thus acquire key skills that help them in school and in everyday life. Furthermore, the program makes a significant contribution to integration. Through shared activities, such as visits to libraries, museums, or nature-based learning sites, new opportunities for experience are opened up that would otherwise often remain inaccessible to the children.

Another key aspect is the involvement of parents and guardians. They receive concrete guidance and practical support to better support their children in the school setting. At the same time, fundamental aspects of supportive parenting are taught and brought to life. The opportunity for active participation—such as helping prepare meals or accompanying field trips—strengthens parents’ ability to take action and fosters trust in social work. This also facilitates access to further support services, such as when dealing with government agencies.

This program is the only one that combines these diverse aspects in this way. It has evolved over the years, is based on solid expertise, and is very well received by participants.

The Municipal Integration Center’s preschool course, “Hurray, I’m Going to School!,” has been offered at the Nadelfabrik during summer break for several years. The program is designed for children who are about to start school but have limited language skills and little to no experience with daycare. Goal: The program aims to help children connect with other children in similar situations, to alleviate some of their anxiety about the new experience, and to prepare them as best as possible for the start of their school career.

This year, the program took place shortly before the start of school, for four hours a day over two weeks, Monday through Friday. Each of the two groups—a total of 26 children—was led by two part-time instructors. Since there were more applications than available spots, priority was given to children with significant individual support needs.

The focus was on preparing for the transition to school, as well as teaching school-related vocabulary and important concepts for everyday school life. Topics such as school supplies and traffic rules were covered and reinforced through hands-on exercises. The children’s progress over the course of the program was particularly encouraging: improvements in language skills, growing self-confidence, and positive developments in social interaction were observed.

The feedback collected from parents was consistently positive: In particular, satisfaction with the course and the children’s enjoyment of participating received very high ratings. The children’s progress and the support they received in preparing for school were also rated overwhelmingly positively.

The OGS Language Camps, also organized by the Municipal Integration Center’s School Education Team, offer open all-day schools (OGS) support in developing a program for language camps. Several municipal OGS programs have benefited from this initiative in recent years. The conceptual cornerstones of the OGS language camps are language education integrated into daily life that takes into account the children’s multilingualism, an inclusive approach, learning with all the senses in community settings, and participation.

In 2026, the after-school care program at the Driescher Hof Community Elementary School received extensive consultation and support in developing its program. As a result, the three weeks of summer vacation during which the after-school care program was open were fully integrated into the language camp program, allowing all 97 children in attendance to participate.

The program was so popular that some children extended their originally booked participation from one to two or even all three weeks of vacation. The first two weeks of vacation were explicitly planned and organized as language camps. During the third week, the language-enrichment activities that had already been established continued.

One of the many highlights was the neighborhood tour titled “Show Me Your D-Hof.” During the tour, the children took on the role of experts, guided the group through the neighborhood, and pointed out places that hold special meaning for them. Through this experience, they learned to express their own perspectives and experiences in words.

Outlook

In the coming year as well, the department intends to continue and offer the programs and course formats designed to support children with language development needs, taking into account the budgetary situation and available financial resources.