The daycare centre "Kita im Grünen"

The premises
Kita im Grünen wants to break new ground. This becomes clear as soon as you enter the premises. In the centre of the new main building, a spacious plaza welcomes visitors. This space not only serves as an entrance area. It is also used for various events. The eight group rooms with adjoining side rooms and bedrooms are also spacious and bright. There are also other functional rooms such as the creative room, music room, work room and a reading room. A multi-purpose hall also offers space for exercise activities.

In March 2017, the daycare centre moved into a new, extended main building. The old building was extended with four new groups, a spacious entrance area, function and administration rooms. The new building 2 was connected to the existing daycare centre building (built in 1999) with an intermediate wing. This extension enabled the number of childcare places to be doubled from 60 to 120. The content of the centre was also revised, which is why the name "Kita 4 Jahreszeiten" was replaced: From now on, the new facility will be called "Kita im Grünen, Pädagogisches Zentrum am Campus".

The outdoor area
The outstanding feature of the daycare centre is the very large outdoor area with over 4,000 square metres and an old stock of trees, which gives the impression of a small forest excursion. The grounds are completely fenced in and have several pieces of play equipment (including a mud table, swings, slide, climbing frames, sandpit, bobby car track). In summer, the electric XXL awning keeps the sun's power at bay and allows children to play outside at any time.

The kitchen
The Studierendenwerk is subject to high quality criteria and acts in accordance with the "Quality Standards of the German Nutrition Society" and the FIT KID programme. At the daycare centre, the children are provided with breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack. Breakfast and afternoon meals are prepared directly on site. Lunch is delivered from the neighbouring central kitchen of the Studierendenwerk. The so-called "Cook & Chill" method is used for production. The food is prepared in the kitchen, cooled quickly and stored at temperatures of 2 to 3 degrees. In the daycare centre, the meals are then regenerated to at least 72 degrees immediately before consumption. This process is the system of communal catering with the best possible nutritional physiology. Vitamins and micronutrients are largely preserved, as is the flavour.

A total of 120 children are looked after in eight groups at the daycare centre:

• 3 groups from 3 to 6 years
• 1 group from 2 to 6 years
• 4 groups from 1 to 3 years

The children entrusted to us form the core of our educational work. Our philosophy sees each child as an independent personality with their own needs, emotions and abilities. We believe in the developmental partnership between parents and the daycare centre and always base our educational activities on the needs of the children and parents. We have therefore decided to work in a closed group system and according to the situational approach.

The closed group system gives the children safety and security as well as a routine daily routine. The situational approach picks up on the real and current life that children are involved in here and now, and with which they want to actively and curiously engage, as well as their needs, their current questions, their fears and their issues, thus creating the basis for the pedagogical actions of the specialised staff.

U3 childcare
In order to give our youngest children a feeling of security and safety, we organise a structured daily routine with recurring phases such as playtime, time spent in the garden, mealtimes and nap times. Children under the age of three experience a sensitive familiarisation phase with their parents, opportunities to rest and a structured daily routine, individual contact with the specialist staff, development-promoting room activities and games, continuous observation of their learning progress and free play with older children.

Junior children/preschool children
The older children get, the more they want to have a say in the daily routine and utilise personal freedom. In co-operation with parents, we create an atmosphere that awakens the curiosity of three to six-year-olds and at the same time gives them many opportunities to help shape and co-determine the day.

Projects
Children want to experiment, act and talk about it. Project work is a good way to encourage this behaviour. Topics include fire safety education, road safety education, sustainability and cooperation with the senior citizens' centre. All projects have the following characteristics:

• they are about imparting knowledge and dealing with everyday life
• the topics are orientated towards the children's need for action
• Projects are time-limited and divided into work steps

Our projects with children have a "common thread of planning" and are not just a schedule. There is always a plan for the realisation of a project as well as a definition of goals and a description of the objective. The consistent principles of our planned educational processes areexploring, deciding, acting and reflecting.

Celebrations
In addition to the various seasonal celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, carnival and the summer festival, we also celebrate each child's birthday in the group. Your child is celebrated on this day with games, songs and stories - a very personal highlight in the course of the day-care centre's life!

Excursions and co-operations
We are constantly looking for ways to broaden the children's horizons. We therefore also want to open up areas of learning for them outside the daycare centre, for example through excursions and collaborations. Excursions to the fire brigade, police, airport, zoo, Westfalenpark, etc. are therefore regularly on the programme.

How much does daycare cost? This so-called parental contribution is not set by the daycare centre, but by the City of Dortmund (in accordance with the law on daycare facilities for children). This law stipulates the following:

• The fees for day-care centres are income-dependent and the same for all facilities - regardless of which organisation runs them.
• The parental contribution must be paid for each month in which the child is enrolled at the centre.
• The contribution is also payable for the holiday period and when the child is absent from the facility.

Changes that may affect the calculation of the parental contribution must be reported to the Youth Welfare Office of the City of Dortmund as the funding organisation. In addition to the parental contribution, meals including breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks and drinks amounting to EUR 3.10/day must be paid. The Studierendenwerk Dortmund will debit the total monthly fee of EUR 75.60 directly from your account by direct debit authorisation. Due to the company holidays, the catering fee will not be collected in July.

Together with the parents, we see ourselves as "educational partners" for the children. Parents and educational staff should support and complement each other. Parents can participate in these committees:

• in the parents' council
• Council of the centre

The parents' council is elected from among the parents and represents the interests of the parents and actively participates in the organisation of the daycare centre. The parent representatives of the respective groups form the daycare centre council together with the pedagogical management. The parent representatives are newly elected by the parents every daycare centre year. The representatives of the groups then jointly elect the board.

To register your child at the daycare centre, please use the City of Dortmund's daycare portal.

• To the Kita-Portal
• To the portrait of the Kita im Grünen in the Kita-Portal

You will need an e-mail address to register on the portal. In addition to Kita im Grünen, you can register your child at a maximum of five other daycare centres in Dortmund. Detailed instructions can be found on the portal and are also available in various languages. Please note: Parents do not receive a childcare place just by registering. The final decision on admission is made by the Studierendenwerk Dortmund, as the organisation responsible for the facility.