First Day of School at Irchel

Seeing young people flocking to Irchel Campus is nothing unusual as students have been coming and going here for over 40 years. What’s new is that over 2,000 pupils from the cantonal school are now also being taught there. On 19 August, Kantonsschule Zürich Nord relocated to two specially converted buildings, which it will use until 2027. Between now and 2033, another four high schools are set to follow suit and will move into UZH buildings while their own school complexes are renovated.

We spoke to a few pupils to find out what they made of it:

“I find the site really clearly laid out. At first I thought it might be difficult to find my way around. But everything is really well signposted. I also really like that the Irchelpark is right next door. We might be able to eat lunch there.”
Fabienne

“The fact that we’re now sharing this big campus with the uni is OK for me as we were already in a big school before. So it’s not going to be as big a transition as I thought at first.”
Smilla

“Overall, I’m really happy about the switch and the new environment. And actually, what I’m most looking forward to is spending lunch breaks in the Irchelpark. That’s going to be one of the best bits. The campus is really nice and new.”
Franz

 “I really like that it’s so green here. But there are also loads of buildings, which at the moment is still quite confusing. I like that the shops around the campus are different to those in Oerlikon. And I hope that the UZH students won’t find us annoying.”
Ben 

“It seems much more modern here than our school. Finding the right classroom is still quite hard as everything is new. But hopefully that won’t be the case for long. I can’t yet imagine what it’s going to be like here at Irchel with the uni students as they’re still on their semester break. I hope they’ll welcome us! To them, we probably look like we belong in kindergarten.”
Muhim

UZH would like to extend a warm welcome to all pupils, teachers and staff from Kantonsschule Zürich Nord. A campus shared by a university and high school is a unique situation in Switzerland.  UZH worked closely with the high schools and the Department of Education to prepare for the interim use by schools. For example, a separate canteen was built for the cantonal schools. Tours by UZH members will familiarize pupils, teachers and staff from the cantonal school with their new school environment.

The proximity between university and high school offers the opportunity to network and to develop new approaches through joint learning and teaching projects. An initial call for joint projects is already under way.