This partnership enables children to broaden and deepen their knowledge through hands-on learning and practical applications under the guidance of experts.
This year, primary school pupils from various schools in Tübingen once again had the opportunity to take part in the course ‘From raw material to finished aluminium dinosaur’. Over four Thursdays, the participating children designed and built a Tyrannosaurus Rex out of aluminium.
In this course, the pupils were introduced to various areas of learning, ranging from design and materials science through machining to the inspection of components and final assembly. The individual aluminium components were manufactured on a DMU 50 CNC milling machine, and the learning sessions take place at the Paul Horn GmbH training centre.
Supporting young talent is one of the cornerstones at Paul Horn GmbH for ensuring the company’s long-term success. Alongside vocational training and the dual study programme, the Hector Children’s Academy adds another building block to this.
As the only nationwide support programme, the Hector Children’s Academies offer particularly gifted and highly gifted primary school children a specially developed programme in addition to their regular school lessons, which goes far beyond the standard curriculum. Around 23,000 primary school children take part in the courses offered at 69 locations each year.
The focus of the course topics at the Hector Children’s Academies is on the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Talent and giftedness develop through a close interplay between innate predisposition and the environment. A large proportion (50 to 70%) of the variation in intelligence within the population is determined by genetic factors. It follows that non-innate influences, such as encouragement, can also contribute positively to the development and emergence of giftedness. To ensure that children with exceptional talent and potential can achieve outstanding results, it is also necessary – as in music or sport – to cultivate intellectual giftedness with an appropriate level of perseverance and diligence. The earlier a child’s giftedness is recognised, the sooner training and support can begin.
Early learning opportunities are crucial for the development of special talents. However, meeting individual support needs is not easy to implement, particularly in the day-to-day routine of primary school. Expanding the range of learning opportunities through enrichment is therefore an effective support approach, which the Hector Children’s Academies programme adopts. Enrichment means that gifted and highly gifted pupils receive additional learning opportunities, tailored precisely to their needs, alongside their regular school lessons. The development of exceptional talent occurs in specific subject areas and depends on personal characteristics such as the children’s motivation and interests.
The range of courses is designed to foster the children’s interests and potential, whilst creating intellectual and social challenges. The children are to deepen their subject-specific knowledge, develop new skills and be able to unleash their creativity. The programme is continuously refined based on findings from scientific studies, which also demonstrate the effectiveness of the support. The participating children benefit from this close interaction between science and practice through a range of courses optimally tailored to their needs.

Source | Paul Horn