Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz | Nursery | Nursery

Our day care centre introduces itself

Preface

Dear Readers,

for us, a day care centre is...

...a meeting place for children, parents and educators
...a place of education
...a place where your children are well looked after.

After the family, the day care centre is the first place where your children come into contact with the topics of upbringing, education and socialisation, intentionally through the educators. In addition to your loving and responsible guidance, I see it as an elementary task to support you and your children as best as possible with our professional expertise. We see ourselves as counselling experts and multipliers for upbringing and education. For your children we are: Early risers, helpers with a heart, musicians, nappy changers, toilet trainers, arbiters of disputes, tear-dryers, motivational artists, storytellers, playmates and paving the way for successful entry into school. Our day care centre sees itself as a place of experience for your children. Here they can be discoverers and actors of their own experiences and adventures. We make this possible by offering a wide range of activities and projects at the day care centre and through their very own discovery tours and adventures that arise during free play.

As a provider of day care centres - primarily for students' and staff members' children - I see it as our most important task to contribute to the success of studying with a child and to the family-friendly profile of the colleges and universities. In addition, the Studierendenwerk's facilities also serve to promote youth welfare and/or welfare work. Due to far-reaching social changes that extend into the family, it is increasingly a balancing act for you as parents to reconcile your studies, career and family life. Through lived participative mechanisms, our day care centre offers the possibility to successfully master this balancing act and to support you in the best possible way.

You as experts for your children and we as experts for upbringing and education are strong partners for a successful early childhood education, which makes your children experience the present in many ways and strengthens them for their individual future.

I wish you and your child a lot of fun and joy in our institution.

Marcel Schmitt
Supervisor

Legal framework

The Social Code (VIII §47) defines the framework of our day care centre work. The facts described according to §47 are to be made accessible to the competent authority.
The day care centre provider is subject to a legal duty to report and document as well as a duty to keep documents related to their child and the care contract. Furthermore, the day care centre law of Rhineland-Palatinate determines the structure of our day care centres and the protection mandate in Social Code Book VIII § 8a in a supplementary form.

Opening hours and closure days

We offer a 9-hour daily care time from 07:30 - 16:30 for all children.
During this time, we serve a warm midday meal. In order to make it easier for the children to find their way actively into the group and play activities, as well as to participate in weekly activities (such as projects and excursions), we have a core time from 9:30 am to 2 pm. During this time, all children should be in the house. Each child should be allowed to have at least one week's break during the course of a day care year. Irrespective of this, the Kita Lufanten has a total of 15 closing days, for example during the Christmas and Easter holidays (the annual planning is adjusted annually and handed out to all parents).

Food and drink

Personnel key

6.0 approved posts for specialist staff, including managerial duties
1 trainee
1 trainee in voluntary social year
1 housekeeper

In addition, school interns are in the house throughout the year. We see the guidance and accompaniment of these interns as a welcome enrichment of our daily
We see the guidance and support of these interns as a welcome enrichment of our daily educational routine, as well as an important core task in order to optimally (co-)train future professionals during their training.

General information

The Lufanten day care centre opened its doors with an official inauguration on 25 April 2018. After the new day care centre law comes into force on 1 July 2021, we will have space for 35 children who will be cared for by 6 educational specialists. Our day care centre now offers 35 full-day places for children from 9 months to school age.
Up to 15 children from nine months to four years are accommodated in the entrance group (red). The transition to the group for older children usually takes place in the autumn, when the school children have left the day care centre and new admissions are due.
This group (blue) accommodates 20 children from three years to school entry. Supervision is handed over to the professionals when the child is handed over and returned to the parents when the child is picked up. When parents are present on the Kita premises, the parents are always responsible for supervision.

Pedagogical focus and goals

Guiding principle

"The situational approach is an invitation to engage with the children in life"
Jürgen Zimmer
Accompanying families and children's development is our greatest motivation. On the one hand, our educational work is based on the legal foundations of the Rhineland-Palatinate Day Care Centre Act, the education and upbringing recommendations for day care centres of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Social Code VIII. On the other hand, the image of the child, the pedagogical concept of the situational approach and the latest scientific findings on the education of children also form our pedagogical foundation. We see our facility as a place of security, experience and learning. Doing things together, playing, doing handicrafts, experimenting, singing, celebrating festivals, going on outings and laughing together is the best way for children to discover and conquer the world, in short, to learn.
Successful education and upbringing need the cooperation of adults. Professionals in the day care centre and parents as experts for their children work together in partnership at Kita Lufanten.
The continuous development of our team and the pedagogical work corresponds to our idea of quality. The transparency of our work is another important quality feature.

The image of the child

The basis for all developmental and educational processes is a secure attachment and relationship. Only when the child's need for attachment is met can educational processes succeed.
"The child decides independently when to open certain learning windows to enable the acquisition of certain skills."
Maria Montessori
We see the child as an individual human being who brings with him or her very own experiences, abilities, characteristics and needs. Each child develops at his or her own pace. It takes the time it needs to develop its existing resources. Only a child who is willing to take individual developmental steps will devote time to them. A child always learns by finding its own solutions to new challenges. We support the children in going their very own way and respect the individual child in its wholeness, whereby the child with its individual needs is the focus of our pedagogical work.
Due to its innate curiosity, the child forms its own complex idea about the world. To do this, children need to interact with other children and
adults. This image of the child determines the pedagogical actions of our pedagogical staff.

Bonding and relationship

The basis of all learning lies in the relationship - without secure emotional bonds, children cannot develop freely.
children cannot develop freely and autonomously. On the basis of relationships that provide security and safety, children explore their environment and make educational experiences. The quality of the relationship has a great influence on the emotional, linguistic and social development of the children

Situational approach

Our day care centre works according to the pedagogical concept of the situational approach. We have decided to work according to this concept, because for us the life situations of the children and their families form the starting point for the development of the children. This concept serves us as a tool to accompany and support the children in their development, as well as to perceive the individual needs of the families and to include them in our pedagogical considerations.
The situational approach places the child and its family at the centre of our pedagogical work. Learning situations are developed from the individual life situations of the families and the claim is formulated that children, young people and adults can shape their living environment together and influence social processes.
The aim of the situational approach is for all children to acquire competences with which they can act independently, in solidarity and in a competent manner in a changing world.
Knowledge, skills and abilities are not acquired in artificially created situations, but in their normative and meaningful contexts. Factual and social learning form a unit and support personal development. Children can thus acquire different competences in one and the same situation depending on their previous experiences, their prior knowledge, their developmental interests and their temperament.

Ownership and participation

In pedagogy, participation means sharing decisions that affect one's own life and life in the community and finding solutions together. It is
important to us to shape everyday life and community life together with the children. This begins with individual suggestions for the use of materials, the design of the daily routine
This begins with individual suggestions on the use of materials, the design of the daily routine or the design of the room and ends with children's conferences in which the groups also have a say in the rules and planning of life together and activities. The educator
responds to the individual composition of the group, needs and life situations.
Participation competence develops above all through trying things out and trying them out for oneself. Therefore, it is necessary to give the children room for self-determination and co-determination.
In the regular children's conference, for example, the children have the opportunity to exchange ideas and make decisions together. At the same time
the foundations for an understanding of democracy are laid. The children also have opportunities for self-determination and co-determination in everyday life, be it at lunch or in the sitting circle.
opportunities for co-determination. The children should realise their own potential through their own activities. The professionals support and accompany the children's zest for action, which enables them to
become aware of their own skills and abilities in dealing with the environment.
The experience of participation, of having room for their own ideas and decisions, gives children a sense of agency, which strengthens their self-efficacy.
is strengthened. They experience themselves as competent people who master difficulties that arise, take responsibility for themselves and their actions, and develop their own problem-solving and planning strategies.
planning strategies. A basic understanding of participation and democracy is laid through experience and their own experience.

Rituals and festivities

Rituals give the child a sense of security and support in the large structure of the day care centre. They structure the day and give the children orientation and security. For example, a farewell ritual, such as a hug at the door, can make the separation from the parents much easier, or the table saying at the beginning of the midday meal, because repetitive experiences provide security. Rituals can also be extended to the week and the year. For example, the weekly exploration of our habitat is on the schedule for all children.
our living space on a weekly basis. Throughout the year, we look forward to recurring celebrations such as the joint summer festival or St. Martin's Day with the lantern procession.

Standards and values

Learning in everyday life

In everyday life situations, the children acquire necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. Recurring activities (setting the table, playing games,
preparations for parties, preparing breakfast, etc.) allow time for deeper insights and provide sufficient space for individual experiences and learning progress.
Everyday situations affect the children holistically and provide them with insights into far-reaching connections. Through playful learning and movement
this understanding continues to develop.
At Kita Lufanten, both movement and play are given a high priority. The children have the opportunity to pursue their urge to move at any time.
[Where free play is possible for children, learning comes alive. Giving space and freedom to play is the basis for meaningful learning processes." [F][/K]
Schenker Ina

Play always comes first and is valued by adults as a learning activity.

Prejudice-conscious education

We are aware of the cause and effect of prejudice and discrimination and want to actively create a respectful approach to diversity in everyday life.

"Yes to differences, no to exclusion"

As an educational institution we have the responsibility to protect children from discrimination, to take social differences into account and to create a learning environment that
that ensures protection and belonging for all children. We want to achieve this goal by strengthening the children in their identity and enabling all children to experience diversity.
We strive to treat differences with respect and work against the formation and consolidation of stereotypes. We support the children in developing their sense of justice and the ability to stand up for themselves and others in the face of discrimination. It is the task of the professionals to constantly reflect on themselves and their own actions and to remain in dialogue.

Experiencing nature

Within the framework of creativity development, we place great value on experiencing, discovering and creating in nature. It should be a place for play and fun for the child with all its charms. For example, a child can occupy himself for a long time with a stick. This stick first serves as a magic wand, turns into a witch's broom and finally serves as a fishing rod.
Our aim is to give the child the freedom to create the world anew for himself, to live out his creativity, to solve problems and to think and act with joy.
This results in a broadened horizon that the child discovers together with the professionals: how do raindrops feel on the skin or warm sand under the feet,
how does a tree change with the seasons or how does a rainbow come into being?
Together with the children, we embark on these journeys of discovery and pursue the goal of developing an appreciation for our environment. As often as possible, we leave the nursery to explore our flora and fauna and to perceive the climatic conditions.

Food

At every meal, whether breakfast, lunch or snack, the children are supported in developing their own eating behaviour. This is done by giving the children the opportunity to fill up and top up their own portion. The children decide for themselves what and how much they want to eat. In this way, they learn to pay attention to their hunger and satiety signals. In addition, they experience a table culture through eating together, where the exchange with the children is important to us.
The professionals eat with the children pedagogically in order to show them that they can try and eat all the food, but that it is also okay if they don't like something.

Sustainability

We would like to introduce and clarify the topic of sustainability to the children in everyday situations.

"The meaning of sustainability refers to the fact that all people should act and think in such a way that all living beings on earth can live well and that the earth is still worth living on in the future. This means that we should treat the earth's treasures, air, water, soil with care." (Source: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation).

Our aim is for all children to develop a sense of what sustainability means; to create an awareness that they can positively influence their environment and take responsibility for it. To this end, we use situations such as food preparation or waste separation, excursions and walks.

Media

Analogue and increasingly digital media are a big part of children's lives nowadays. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and strengthen the children's media competence already in the day-care centre through a pedagogically sensible handling of digital media. The competent and responsible use of media must be learned in the same way as behaviour in traffic. We do this by offering the children a variety of opportunities to use and design media, by critically questioning media content together with the children and by using media as a means of entertainment, research and information. Our guidelines on media use include a set of rules for the use of digital media in a pedagogical context.

Education places
An educational place invites the children to discover, experiment and explore on a daily basis. Furthermore, it serves as a meeting place for the children from all groups (e.g. the outdoor area and the corridor).
outdoor area and the corridor). Through clear, agreed rules, the children have the opportunity to use the room according to their age and under the supervision of a specialist.
Through regular use, the children expand their competencies and can process their experiences and adventures. Therefore, the children are offered the opportunity to use different educational places and meeting places on a daily basis:

The group room

The affiliation to the home group and its staff is an important basis for the child to feel safe and integrated in the facility.
The core group creates a structured framework through recurring rituals that only take place in the group (breakfast, conversation and singing circle, setting the table, lunch, snack, etc.).
structured framework. This enables the child to experience itself in a safe environment. By being integrated into the daily tasks, the child can develop a sense of
and can test his or her self-efficacy.
In the course of its further development, the child can draw ever larger circles and increasingly explore the diverse places of education according to individual needs.
The adjoining room belonging to the group is adapted to the children's topics on the basis of observations and designed together with the children. During lunchtime, the adjoining room is converted into a sleeping and resting room.

The hallway

The gym

The building corners

The outdoor area

Our large outdoor area is available to the children all year round. By arrangement, they can use the garden in small groups or independently on their own. Experiences of nature are gained through daily play outside in all seasons and weather.
In the process, the various natural phenomena can be observed. The children take responsibility and experience the conscious handling of their environment also through our kitchen garden. Various movement experiences and role play take up a lot of space in the outdoor area. Bushes and hidden niches provide the children with
retreat corners. Children experience movement throughout the entire grounds.

Complementary educational venues

The professionals offer the children projects limited in time and space. These include projects such as: "where do I live - I know my address". In this project, we went to the children's homes by public transport and looked at where they live. Afterwards, all the places were marked on a large city map. There are inter-group activities such as "reading aloud in the mother tongue", "singing with guitar accompaniment" or baking workshops in the big kitchen.

Excursions

Development goes from the inside to the outside, from the near to the far. Children should move on foot in order to be able to make their own independent and self-determined experiences along the way.
and self-determined. The individual development determines the achievable distance, the way is the goal. On this basis, the children conquer their environment. The first excursions therefore take place in the immediate vicinity of the day care centre, possibly the youngest ones master the path from the day care centre to the college or the Blies Park and explore the grounds there.
The older and more mobile the children become, the further the excursions can take them, through the streets of our industrial area to the allotment garden colony or to go shopping at Lidl.
Developmentally, the excursions take the children further and further, until finally, in the last year before school, they explore whole districts or even other cities, also by bus.

Our youngest

In the red group

The younger children up to the age of three can be found in the red group. In the first days and weeks, the foundations for further development are laid by building up the bond during the settling-in period. After the morning arrival and welcome ritual, the daily routine is adapted to the age of the children. This consists of meals (breakfast, lunch and snack), free play time, care and nappy changing times and bedtime. Accompanied by the specialist staff, the children gradually discover the functional rooms of the day care centre and the outdoor area.

The exploration of the nursery takes place from the inside to the outside. In the course of their development, the children conquer new and additional spaces in the house as well as in the garden or in the fort. As far as possible, networking with the blue group takes place in that the younger children also participate in joint activities.

Nursing

Sleep

As far as possible, we take into account the sleep and rest needs of each individual child.
The younger a child is, the greater his or her need for sleep. The afternoon nap takes place after lunch. The sleep phase is individually supervised by a specialist. Our nap rooms are designed to meet the needs of the children.
Children who no longer need a nap take part in the midday quiet time. This is a quiet time during which the children are told stories or have books read to them and have conversations. In addition, the children have the opportunity to choose books to be read to them.

Transitions
Transition in the pedagogical sense is the change into a new, unknown life situation. Transitions are part of human life and belong to a child's world of experience. By successfully coping with transitions, the child acquires skills that it can use in dealing with future changes and that strengthen its personality. The child learns that transitions are challenges that also offer opportunities. They gain self-confidence, flexibility and a certain composure with regard to further transitions.
Every day, the children experience a small transition in the drop-off situation. In order to facilitate this and due to the experience gained in the pandemic, the separation on arrival takes place directly at the entrance door.

Acclimatisation

For children as well as for parents, the transition to a childcare facility is a far-reaching step. All sides have to go through a process of detachment. For the parents, this means that they have to entrust their child to people they have never met before.
The acclimatisation process at Kita Lufanten is based on the Berlin Model. The initial focus is on the development of a bond and relationship between the child and the responsible professional.
the child and the responsible specialist, the so-called reference teacher.
The positive support of the accompanying family person is a key element in this process.
The aim is to create a basis of trust between all those involved, on which the attachment relationship between the child and the caregiver can grow.
A positive settling-in phase is a decisive step towards the child's independence. The settling-in period is based on the one hand on the individual
The settling-in period depends on the child's individual life situation on the one hand, and on the development within the day care centre on the other, and can last several weeks.

Transition within the day care centre

This change affects all children who are admitted to the red group and remain in the facility beyond the age of three. At the age of about three years, the children move to the blue group. Before the change, a "transition meeting" takes place between the specialist of the red group, the specialist of the future blue group and the parents of the child. The content of the discussion is both an exchange about the child's development so far as well as information about the upcoming changes and the new framework conditions of the future group. The transition is organised individually with each child.

Transition from day care to school

At Kita Lufanten, the future school starters form their own group in the last year of kindergarten to gain experience for the start of school.

[The transition from nursery to primary school is a crucial interface for children. The aim must be that the children, taking into account their individual resources and deficits, have elementary knowledge and skills that form the basis for work in primary school. This includes sufficient linguistic knowledge as well as so-called key skills such as perseverance, completing a task."[/F][/K]
Ministry for Integration 2014

The focus is on successful orientation in the social space of the city of Ludwigshafen, as well as planning and organising excursions in this living environment on their own responsibility.
In this way, they train key qualifications such as self-efficacy, self-confidence, personal responsibility and orientation skills. They practice their social and emotional competences, conflict skills and frustration tolerance again and again in the everyday life of the group.
Another aspect of the preschool work is the regular activities in which the children get to grips with various school materials. Among other things, they try out particularly challenging play material that challenges their cognitive abilities. With this weekly role play "Playing School", they playfully acquire their first skills for school.
In the last few months before starting school, the children visit all the schools to which they will be admitted together. In doing so, they gain confidence in dealing with the new environment of school and learn to find their way around. The day care time ends with the ritual of a special day, planned by the children, on which they can go on an excursion, spend the night and test their courage on a night hike.

Observation and documentation
Observing a child and documenting his or her actions enables professionals to draw conclusions about the child's development. Based on this, the child's learning paths can be supported and accompanied. In order to make observations and documentation as transparent as possible for parents and children, we use various methods: portfolios with photographs, educational and learning stories.

Privacy

Data protection at Kita Lufanten serves to protect the personal rights of the child. If consent to data use is required, parents must decide in the interest of their children whether or not to give such consent. As a rule, photos are used for the children's portfolios and notices within the day care centre. We also require a written declaration of consent for this. The corresponding form is given to the parents with the contract.

Portfolio

A special feature of the portfolio is the individual view of each child. The portfolio is a free form of documentation and allows for the inclusion of elements appropriate for each individual child. Individual development paths, interests and topics are recorded without comparing the child with other children.
Professionals design the portfolio, thus giving parents a transparent view inside.
The portfolio should create an occasion for dialogue between children and professionals, professionals and parents, and parents and children.
The participation of the children in their personal portfolio enables them to contribute their individual "handwriting", for example by painting, drawing or writing. In addition, they are encouraged to look again at their previously documented development paths, preferences and inclinations and to consciously reflect on them.

Education and learning stories

Educational partnership

For us, parents are partners in the care, education and upbringing of children. They are the first and most important attachment figures for their child. With their knowledge of their children, they are the experts in the educational partnership. In this way, the experiences of parents and the pedagogical knowledge of the professionals are combined with each other. In discussions at eye level and constant exchange between the parents and the professionals, the educational partnership becomes alive and is lived by everyone. It is important that parents can openly express their issues and suggestions. We want parents to participate and encourage them to make suggestions and constructive criticism. Together we look for possibilities, changes and solutions. Therefore, door-to-door talks are important components within the educational partnership and usually take place during drop-off and pick-up and serve as an informal exchange. In addition to the daily well-being of the child, this time-limited conversation serves to make arrangements and pass on relevant information to each other. In addition to the regular door-to-door talks, the regular development discussions between the parents and the professionals are very important for us. During these meetings, progress made so far and milestones in the individual areas of development as well as current learning topics of the child are communicated.

Continuous observations by the professionals form the basis for discussion. The two-way communication between the professionals and parents helps us to better understand and categorise the child's behaviour and emotions in everyday life. We see our facility as a meeting place where parents are welcome. Parents are always invited to participate in the day-to-day life and educational activities of the day care centre. It is important to us that parents can contribute their own competences. Be it through professional or job-related knowledge or through hobbies and preferences. In this way, they can provide us as professionals and the children of the day care centre with additional valuable resources.The transparency of our work for all those involved is another essential quality feature. This is reflected in the documentation of our work in the house, in parent meetings, parent afternoons or evenings and in other joint activities.

The Parents' Committee

Kita advisory board

Pedagogical team

Our team meetings take place on Mondays. In these meetings, the team discusses upcoming changes, special challenges from the groups and upcoming events that affect the day-to-day life of the day care centre. The two groups have the opportunity to meet every second Monday if there is a need (otherwise there is a whole team meeting) to form small teams and to discuss and plan important events that have taken place recently. Throughout the year, our nursery offers many activities for parents and children, such as parents' evenings (parents' committee election), parents' afternoons (handicraft afternoons) and festivals (summer festival, lantern procession). These events are planned, prepared and carried out by the team together with parents and children.

We are regularly supported by interns in training, e.g. interns in the voluntary social year, recognition interns, trainees in dual training, block internships, student internships and various job shadowing. The interns often give us an external view of our work and enable us to reflect and critically question our work. As professionals, we attach great importance to regular further training in order to further develop the quality of our work. Quality management, first aid courses, fire protection training, safety training, child welfare risk, hygiene training and a day of further training for the responsible body are just a few examples of how we have advanced the education of the professionals.

Concepts

We have written our own concepts for some topics. As some of these documents are very extensive, we do not want to integrate them directly into the concept. Nevertheless, these concepts are to be seen as a basis for our understanding of the pedagogical work and the cooperation in the Kita Lufanten. The following concepts are available and can be explained in more detail upon request:

Protection concept with complaint management for professionals, children and parents
Framework hygiene plan
Catering concept
Emergency plan in case of staff shortages

All documents have been prepared by the professionals of the facility and are accessible at all times in the facility.

Networking
Our facility is located in an industrial area in the immediate vicinity of Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences. Companies such as Moster, the letter distribution centre and Keipp are located here. In addition, the vocational schools are located here. The allotment garden area "Große Blies" and the small park with the outdoor swimming pool "Große Blies" are within walking distance.
Children of students and employees of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences are primarily accepted. If not all places can be filled with children from this target group, children from Ludwigshafen are also accepted. The catchment area for students and staff extends to the whole of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Kita Lufanten relies on diverse networking in the social space of the city of Ludwigshafen to provide the children and their families with the greatest possible variety of life experiences and support.

Kita Lufanten emergency plan

The challenge
Staff absences, planned e.g. due to holidays and further training, but especially unforeseen absences due to short-term illnesses, are a continuous challenge in the kindergarten.

Foreseeable absences (holidays, further training, time off in lieu) always happen in consultation with the management. She has to find a replacement for this time or reschedule the services.

Unpredictable absences mean a short-term change of services, overtime, waiving of further training, availability time, postponement of pedagogical activities, etc.

Many things can be absorbed and mastered by flexible reactions in the team. Beyond that, however, it is necessary and helpful to proceed according to a structured plan of action. The aim of the plan is to be able to proceed in a concrete emergency situation in a way that is actionable, transparent and comprehensible. Even in emergency situations, it is our claim that cuts in the quality of care are avoided as far as possible and that the staff on site are not overburdened. The staffing ratio is calculated on the basis of the Kita-Gesetz RLP. According to this, 0.263 specialist staff must be available for a child under 2 years of age and 0.1 specialist staff for 7 hours for a child over 2 years of age. When assessing emergency situations, the minimum attendance to ensure the duty of supervision is used as a benchmark.

Preliminary Measures

We see one of the foundations for the effectiveness of our action plan in transparent communication with parents. Thus, as a matter of principle, we try to maintain care for families with an urgent need. To this end, all families are informed of the emergency situation and asked to organise alternative care if possible. In the past, this has often made it possible to provide care without restrictions.

Minimum requirements

In principle, the following regulation applies in the event of staff absences in order to be able to guarantee the duty of supervision:

The minimum requirement is based on the individual care intensity of the child as well as on the staff situation in terms of competence/requirements. As a guideline, the stated full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the U2 area of 0.263 FTEs and in the Ü2 area of 0.1 FTEs per child apply. In summary, the minimum requirement consists of the variables:

Individual child care intensity,
Competence/requirement of/for the pedagogical specialist,
FTE in the U2 and Ü2 area.

In addition, the opening hours of the Kita must be observed. Likewise, the legally required break after six hours of work must be made possible for every employee. Otherwise, the Kita must be partially or completely closed. At least two educational specialists) must be present in the Kita in order to be able to admit children in general. In justified exceptional cases, this can be deviated from; this applies especially to covering the marginal times (early and late service). In these cases, a specialist in assistance (1) can provide support. This assistant must be suitable for this exceptional case (the suitability is checked by the kindergarten management). The number of children admitted is determined individually on the basis of the rule described above. Temporary staff who do not fulfil the criteria of a qualified assistant do not count as a qualified assistant and are therefore excluded from the regulation! An exceptional case only applies to short periods of time. In order not to overburden the day care centre staff in the long term, the regulation must not be maintained in the long term. It is important to bear in mind that assistants cannot be responsible for the pedagogical part with regard to e.g. documentation, parent talks, offers, settling in, overall view of the group, etc. The assistants act as a supplement to the nursery staff in order not to overburden the nursery staff in the long term. The assistants act as a supplement. They have a supplementary character and support the daily routine, especially in care and nursing.
During very high staff shortages, individual groups may be closed or the facility may be closed completely. In the case of foreseeable and unforeseeable absences, temporary staff can be brought in as support. The work of our housekeepers is also part of the quality work in a day care centre. In the event of their absence, they are also to be replaced by our qualified staff.
If no temporary help is available, it is possible to ask for support in the other day care centres of the Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz.

to (1): Specialist in assistance is: educators without professional experience, social assistants, educational assistants with a state examination, child care workers with state recognition, curative education assistants after completing their training, professional trainees in their final year of training, dual trainees who have completed their school education and have to work off the remaining time..

Procedure and concrete measures in the event of staff shortages

Emergency situations are assessed on a case-by-case basis before appropriate steps are taken. The absence of a specialist is compensated for by internal arrangements regarding early and late duty, changes in break arrangements and/or swapping of duty times. In addition, the ratio of registered children to the professionals present must always be assessed.

We divide emergency situations into three levels, which are usually manifested by the absence of two, three or four (and more) professionals.

The emergency group

An emergency group must be formed as soon as supervision in several groups is no longer guaranteed due to a lack of staff. The number of children in the emergency group is based on the minimum requirements described above and is variable. Criteria for the selection of children are presented below.

1. both parents (2 points) ...

a. ... work full time (without the possibility of home office)
b. ... are studying and working (without the possibility of a home office)

2. one parent (1 point) ...

a. ... works in presence
b. ... works in home office
c. ... studies in presence
d. ... is a single parent and studies / is employed

3. pre-school child or child with special care needs (1 point)

A sum score is formed from the criteria (a sum score is the sum of the values of the criteria of the emergency group) which decides which children are given priority if there are too many applications. In addition to this sum score, the registration time of the need counts; i.e. at what time the notification of need arrived at the day care centre (preferably by E-MAIL, in exceptional cases also possible by telephone).

In detail, this means for the Kita Lufanten:

Due to the new operating permit from 01.09.2023, our opening hours will be reduced to 07:30 - 16:00, which means that all 5.75 pedagogical specialists will work in one service. If pedagogical specialists are no longer available, we have to further adjust the opening hours and / or reduce the number of children. Our approach is based on the pedagogical staff present on the respective day. We adapt our approach by including the pedagogical assistant, the trainee, the FSJ and the temporary staff. Please also note that the head teacher is included in this key, but cannot be available in the children's service at all times due to her additional duties.

For all these reasons, there may be different procedures in the respective stages.

1st stage: 4 or 3.75 professionals are in the house

Request for external substitutes
Use of availability times for childcare services
Postponing or cancelling activities such as excursions, projects
Suspending the settling in period

If our part-time staff member is one of the pedagogical specialists present, emergency care for 10 children (until 15:00 or 16:00) must be set up in the rear group from 13:30 onwards if no temporary help is available. Depending on the availability of temporary staff, the number of children to be cared for and the possible opening hours will be decided on a daily basis.

If both full-time staff are present, care for all 20 children in the group is possible until 16:00.

If the front group is absent, a member of staff from the back group will take over in the morning. We will try to integrate temporary staff and will also decide on the number of children to be looked after on a daily basis according to the number of temporary staff available.

In addition to the age of the children, the amount of care required is also decisive, whether children need to be changed, dressed and undressed and need help with meals. In addition, a staff member is needed in the sleeping room to ensure supervision during rest time.

Depending on the staff constellation, it is also possible to look after all children between 07:30 and 16:00.

Please note that trainees may only be employed to provide supervision in the last quarter of their training year. This is subject to the approval of the State Youth Welfare Office, the school, the day care centre management, the supervisor and the consent of the trainee.

Stage 2: 3 or 2.75 professionals are in the house

Depending on whether the front or the back group is staffed with only one teacher, measures such as reducing the opening hours or the number of children in the group concerned are taken.
number of children for the group concerned.
If the pedagogical assistant, the trainee, the FSJ or temporary staff are available, the number of children is adjusted accordingly. The head teacher is not permanently available for the children's service, as she has to carry out administrative tasks.

Stage 3: 2 or 1.75 professionals are in the house

Stage 4: 1 or 0.75 professionals are in the house

Housemaid's absence

Procedure in case of closure of individual groups or closure of the facility