Introduction/specifics

The Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. Deltastraße daycare center was newly opened in 2020 and is located in the center of Ritterhude in a mixed-use area. Our facility looks after up to 72 children in three crèche groups, an elementary group and an integrative group. The building is barrier-free and extends over two floors, with the crèche children playing and learning together on the first floor and the elementary children on the upper floor. The outdoor area is spacious and natural and invites children of all ages to play and explore. 

Rooms

Our daycare centre was built to the latest standards in 2020. The building has a floor area of around 900 square metres and extends over two floors. It houses the respective group rooms as well as a creative room with a children's kitchen, an exercise room, a multifunctional room, three sanitary areas for the children as well as rooms for the staff, the daycare centre management, the kitchen and a storage area. Each group also has its own bedroom.

The outdoor area covers around 2,000 square metres. There is a large playground with lots of natural materials and wooden play equipment. There is, for example, a water feature, a nest swing, a sand play area, swings, slides and tree trunks for balancing. The highlight: the mud kitchen.

Daily Schedule

The daily routines of our crèche groups: 

07:30 - 08:00: Cross-group early service

08:00 - 09:00: Arrival of the children and free play time

09:00 - 09:30: Breakfast together

09:30 - 11:00: Age-appropriate activities in the groups and free play time on the outdoor area

11:15 - 11:45: Lunch together

12:00: Pick-up time for the children in half-day care

12:00 - 15:00: Bedtime and free play time in the midday care centre

until 15:00 : Pick-up time 

The daily routine of the crèche groups is very similar, but the needs of the individual groups and children are very individual and dynamic. As a result, there may be changes during the day. 

The daily routine of the elemetra area: 

07:30 - 08:00: Cross-group morning service

08:00 - 09:45: Arrival and free play time

08:15 - 09:45: Breakfast for both groups

10:00 - 11:30: Free play time (indoors and outdoors) and activities in the groups and across groups

11:30 - 12:45: Lunch on the go in the bistro - both groups

13:00 - 15:00: Activities and free play time (indoors and outdoors)

until 15:00 : Pick-up time

Our elementary groups are partially open and the children can move and play freely on the upper floor. The activities are mainly organised across groups and there may also be deviations here. 

Food

Our in-house fresh kitchen is particularly noteworthy. Our cook and our housekeeper provide our children with a healthy, balanced and varied breakfast and a child-friendly lunch every day. We attach great importance to regionality and quality when selecting our meals and food, for example we co-operate with farmers and companies from the region. We have raised beds and a greenhouse outside the daycare centre. This gives us the opportunity to watch and harvest fruit and vegetables as they grow together with the children. Due to the close proximity to the kitchen staff, the children have the opportunity to help organise and participate in the menus. 

Basics

In our centre, we work conceptually with the situational approach of the Institute for the Situational Approach in Berlin. The situational approach is based on the assumption that the child learns in a self-determined, self-effective way and on their own initiative. The situational approach is divided into five dimensions:

1st dimension: lifeworld orientation - the children's personal lifeworlds find their place in our daily work and are integrated into the planning of everyday educational activities. 

2nd dimension: Education - the understanding of education in the situational approach envisages that the children acquire the necessary knowledge and educate themselves based on their own motivation, prior knowledge and understanding of values. In this context, adults take on the role of learning guides. They provide appealing learning environments, give impulses and provide materials so that the children can immerse themselves in the educational processes.

3rd dimension: Participation - the children's desire for autonomy is highly valued in the situational approach.They are involved in decisions that affect the children in everyday life at the daycare centre, they are listened to and have an influence on our decisions.The children's own boundaries and needs are recognised and accepted (e.g. no coercion when eating and co-decision in nappy-changing situations). 

4th dimension: Equality and difference - The children are recognised in their individuality and the diversity of traditions, cultures and values find their place in the facility. Children learn individually and require customised learning opportunities and diverse play materials. 

5th dimension: Unity of content and form - This dimension is highly relevant for the adults in our centre. Regular discussion and reflection on their own work and the aspects of the situational approach are part of their daily work. In the situational approach, the adults are both teaching and learning.

Quality Assurance

qm

Cooperations

The children in the elementary section have the opportunity to take part in early music education at our daycare centre. Once a week, the Ridder music school offers this programme at our daycare centre. 

Teamwork with school

There is a cooperation agreement with the Ritterhude all-day school. Within a year, the children coming to school have the opportunity to get to know the school and take part in parties and lessons. There are also regular meetings between the teachers and the educational staff at the daycare centre to ensure that the children get the best possible start to their school life.

Teamwork with parents

During the course of the daycare year, parents and guardians have the opportunity to get involved and provide information. We offer up to two parents‘ evenings, two parents’ council meetings and annual development talks as well as the opportunity for spontaneous discussions at any time (‘door-to-door talks’, extraordinary parent talks).  It is very important to us that families can get involved, for example in the planning of parties and excursions as well as in the organisation of emergency care situations. 

Specifics

At our daycare centre, we work with the development documentation process of educational and learning stories. Colleagues use observations to write an educational and learning story for each individual child on their birthday. In these educational and learning stories, the personal interests, learning development steps and joint interaction are recorded. The children are read the educational and learning stories by their colleagues. Based on the educational and learning stories, a development discussion is held with the carers once a year and there is the opportunity to discuss each individual child, their interests and abilities