Introduction/specifics

The Storchennest St. Michael kindergarten is located in the heart of Fürth's old town, right next to St. Michael's Church.

We have space for up to 100 children, who we look after in 4 mixed-age groups.
The groups give the children a sense of belonging, support and orientation. With this support, they can courageously get to know the other children and rooms in the kindergarten and develop independence.

The Storchennest is run by the Lutheran parish. We are open to children and families of other religions and world views and value diversity. At the same time, we celebrate Christian festivals, say a prayer before lunch and invite children to events organised by the church community.

The work in the kindergarten and crèche is supported by the Storchennestkindergarten St. Michael e.V. support association. The association helps with the organisation and implementation of events, contributes ideas to promote cohesion within the institution and works closely with the kindergarten team and parents' council. More detailed information about the association is available at the kindergarten.

Rooms

The kindergarten and all its groups are housed in the building at Kirchenplatz 2a.

The interior of the kindergarten is characterized by wooden fixtures according to the "Würzburg model". The fixtures radiate warmth and stability and divide the group rooms into different play, learning and retreat areas. In this way, the room design supports the educational activities.

In addition to each group room, the children have access to a play corner in the entrance hall (with rocking horses and a cave under the stairs) as well as a hall and creative corners on the second floor.

There is also a large garden with a sand and water area, play barn and swing corner, where all the children meet and play together every day.

Daily Schedule

Our opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 6.30 am to 5.00 pm, Fridays from 6.30 am to 3.00 pm.

Mandatory booking time in the kindergarten is daily from 8.30 am to 1.00 pm.

Children can be brought in until 9.00 am. The kindergarten is closed from 9.00-12.30 to allow the children undisturbed time for games and activities. The children can be picked up again from 12.30 pm.

A usual day in a kindergarten group looks something like this:

• Arrival by 9.00 a.m.
• Free breakfast until approx. 10.30 a.m.
• Free play, creative activities, activities
• approx. 11.30 a.m. Group meeting in the ‘Amphi’
• 12.00 noon Lunch
• from 12.30 free play in the garden
• approx. 14.00 hrs Snack break
• Free play

Food

Each group chooses and prepares their own breakfast.
We ensure a healthy mix of muesli, bread, spreads and toppings, fruit and vegetables.
We charge an extra breakfast fee for breakfast.

Lunch can be ordered from us or you can bring your own snack.
We get our hot lunch from our caterer Hans Fäßler (https://www.hans-faessler.de).
We alternate between vegetarian and meat-based options.

For the afternoon snack, each child brings their own snack and water bottle.

Basics

The Bavarian Education and Upbringing Plan (BEP) forms the basis and framework for the educational work at Storchennest St. Michael. The Christian view of humanity describes the basic attitude of all employees towards children and adults and is reflected in our actions.

We work in a way that complements the family and pursue common goals with the carers.

We want to encourage and support the children in their interaction with the other children, the team and the environment to (further) develop their own competences and thus develop their personality holistically.

Holistic education focuses on various dimensions:

• - Personal dimension - basic skills, e.g. self-confidence
• - Social dimension - interactional skills, e.g. the ability to deal with conflict
• - Cultural dimension - social values and personal values
• - Knowledge dimension - basic knowledge for actively shaping one's life
• - Participatory dimension - having a say and taking responsibility

Employee

In our kindergarten, kindergarten educators and nursery nurses work as a team. Each member of staff is assigned to a group. At the same time, there are tasks (e.g. sleep watch, early and late shift) that are undertaken across all groups. We see ourselves as equals in the team, so that the opinions and observations of all are important for the good care of the children as well as for the quality development of the centre.

The kindergarten is managed by Johanna Kluge (Dipl. Sozialpädagogin FH).

In addition to the educational staff, we also employ a housekeeping assistant, a cleaner and a caretaker.

All members of staff play their part in ensuring that the children and families feel at home here.

Additional Offerings

At Storchennest we work closely with the Fürth e.V. music school.

• Early musical education with Wolfgang Kohlert
  This course offers variety: singing and speaking, music theory, listening to music, playing instruments, movement and dance. The children gain access to different styles and ways of playing music and may even discover which instrument they would like to learn themselves one day.
   
• Drumming course with Eva Frey
  Drumming, singing and movement are the essential elements of a course lesson. Playing with different volumes, instruments and dynamics gives the children a playful approach to attention, consideration and community.

Teamwork with school

In the course of school enrollment, we work together with all Fürth elementary school attended by our kindergarten children.

However, we also work closely with the elementary school on Kirchenplatz.
This is also where the school part of the "Vorkurs Deutsch" takes place for all our Storchennest children, who are offered or entitled to special language support in the last year of kindergarten.

Many of the Storchennest children move on from the kindergarten to the Kirchenplatz School, which is only a few meters away. This allows us to stay in contact even after the children have left kindergarten.

Teamwork with parents

We are always open to the concerns and feedback of parents and guardians.
In the interests of a successful educational partnership between parents and carers and the daycare team, open, trusting and respectful interaction is important to us in order to accompany and support the children well in their individual life situations.

At the beginning of the kindergarten year, a parents' council is elected annually, consisting of 2 representatives per group. Additional parents can be added if necessary.
The parents' council meets around 3-4 times a year and liaises closely with the kindergarten management. Here, concerns from everyday kindergarten life are discussed, as well as questions about the staff situation, excursions and activities, conceptualisation, etc.
Thank you to all the parents who contribute time and again with help and advice!

Projects

Excursions and special activities are an integral part of our annual programme.
While the focus in the first year of kindergarten is on settling into the group and the kindergarten environment, the activities outside the kindergarten increase with each year.
From a visit to the library to workshops in the art gallery to a visit to the fire station ... Every year, we reconsider which destinations to visit with which age group, taking into account the children's current wishes and (cultural) offers in Fürth and the surrounding area.

Overview

In allocating places, we not only take into account the reservation date, but also family relationships (siblings), place of residence, age of the child to be admitted and, last but not least, the composition of the existing group.

It is not until spring that we find out which children will actually start school in September. This means that the final decision on how many places will be available for new children will not be made until then.