Introduction/specifics

Welcome to the Schwanenkinder daycare centre!

We are happy to help you find the right childcare for your child. Here you can get a brief insight into who we are, our facility and our educational work. If you have any further questions, please write to us or give us a call. To get a personal impression, feel free to visit us on our open day. 

We care for and accompany your children on their journey from one year of age until they start school in mixed-age crèches (1–3 years) and nursery groups (3–6 years). The crèche groups have a maximum of 10 children and the nursery groups have a maximum of 25 children.

As a daycare centre offering full-day care, you can choose between half-day, part-day or full-day care for your child, depending on your individual needs.

As a daycare centre offering full-day care, you can choose between half-day, part-day or full-day care for your child, depending on your individual needs.

Our facility is designed for three nursery groups and three kindergarten groups. We currently accommodate two nursery groups and three kindergarten groups with different opening hours:

Nursery: The Snail Group offers care between 8:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and the Beetle Group from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Nursery: The Dragonfly Group and the Grasshopper Group offer care until 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. as phasing-out full-day groups. The bumblebee group provides care until 12:00 or 14:00.

Special services: Working parents can take advantage of a special service half an hour before and after the care period.

Rooms

Nursery:

The two nursery groups are located in the upper part of this two-storey building with their respective bedrooms, where each child is offered their own sleeping place. The group rooms are individually designed and offer plenty of space and versatile opportunities for movement and retreat with platforms, sloping surfaces or a raised platform. All nursery rooms are equipped with age-appropriate toys. The bright and spacious washroom is used by both groups. It is equipped with changing tables for each group as well as child-friendly toilets and washbasins.

Each child has their own wardrobe and storage compartment in the corridors. The corridors are also a place for children to meet; the nursery doors are often open and the nursery children meet friends from other groups to play.

A large kitchen invites even the youngest children to cook and bake. Lunch is also delivered here and served by our kitchen staff and distributed to the groups.

Kindergarten:  

Our regular groups are housed on the ground floor. This area is spacious and extends from the ground floor of the two-storey building, where one of our kindergarten groups has its rooms opposite the office, through the arched wing of the building to our branch. The group rooms are large and bright and friendly thanks to their many windows. 

The group rooms are divided into different play areas. Furniture and toys are changed regularly to encourage more play. The small butterfly room expands our space and allows us to do things like differentiated small group work. The washrooms are equipped with children's toilets and sinks, a changing table and a small shower.

The long corridor of the building invites children to meet, play or even retreat. All children have their own coat rack and a locker. The kindergarten has a small kitchen where the children regularly prepare, cook and bake their group breakfast.

The heart of the nursery is our exercise hall. With its large windows, it also offers a view of the greenery and our outdoor area. The gym has a point-elastic floor and is equipped with gymnastics and climbing equipment for all age groups. The hall offers children the opportunity to let off steam and enjoy physical activity, especially in bad weather. In addition to exercise landscapes and guided sports lessons, the gym is also a place for socialising. It serves as a meeting place for all groups. We use it for joint activities, such as our singing circle. During celebrations, it also becomes a dance hall or theatre. 

One of our nursery groups has its own space in the building opposite. In addition to the cosy group room, the house has its own kitchen where the children eat, laugh and live. The nursery groups are physically separated, but they still enjoy a sense of community. Mutual visits are conceptually anchored, embedded in the daily routine and supported by the staff.

Office:

Organisational threads converge in the office of the management duo. It serves as a contact point for all children, parents and employees and as the workplace for the management team. It is located in the entrance area of the right-hand, two-storey part of the building.

Outdoor Facilities

Our spacious outdoor area connects the various parts of the building with the different groups. We enjoy using it every day, as it offers age-appropriate play opportunities with climbing frames, slides, playhouses, wobble and balance beams, wooden horses, a carousel, a stream with a water pump and mud area, large sand play areas with sand toys, children's vehicles and other movement and building materials. The kindergarten has a large terrace with tables and benches where we can play games, do educational activities or eat meals. 

In summer, large lime trees attract numerous insects and birds, which we enjoy watching. The trees also provide ample green shade. In autumn, the children can enjoy playing in the leaves or helping to rake them up. Bushes have been planted to provide wind protection and hiding places. We also maintain a snack garden with raspberries, blueberries, currants and strawberries, raised beds with herbs and vegetables, and a small flower meadow for the bees.

The nursery area is separated from the regular area. A gate in the fence allows for a quick chat over the garden fence or mutual visits at any time. Once the settling-in period is over, we make all play areas accessible to all children. A high fence secures the area from the street.

Daily Schedule

Nursery

7:30 - 8:00 a.m. Early shift

8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Drop-off time

8:30 - 8:45 a.m. Tidying up

8:45 a.m.           Morning circle

9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Breakfast

9:30 a.m.           Individual nappy changing

                           Activities, free play, excursions

11:00 a.m.          Nappy changing

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.   Lunch

12:00-1:45 p.m.      Afternoon nap and quiet free play

1:45 - 2:00 p.m.      Gentle waking and pick-up time for part-time children

2:00 - 2:30 p.m.      Special service and nappy changing

2:30–3:00 p.m.       Special service for the full-day group

Kindergarten

7:30 - 8:00 a.m.      Early shift

8:00 - 8:30 a.m.      Drop-off time

Until 9:00 a.m.        Free play and activities

9:00 a.m.                Tidying up

Morning circle

approx. 9:30 - 10:00 a.m.    Breakfast

from 10:00 a.m.            Activities, free play, excursions

11:45 a.m.                    Table service for day children

11:55 a.m.                    Tidying up together

11:45 - 12:00 p.m.        Pick-up window for morning children

From 12:00 to 12:45 p.m. Lunch

From 12:45 p.m.           Free play and activities

1:45 to 2:00 p.m.          Pick-up time for part-time children

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.  special service

2:30–2:50 p.m.         Snack time

2:50–3:00 p.m.         Pick-up window

3:00–4:00 p.m.         Excursions, activities

4:00–4:30 p.m.         Special service

Food

Children spend a large part of their day at our all-day facility, where they eat several meals. We attach great importance to these meals, also from an educational perspective. We have decided to have communal meals in groups. These meals form a familiar ritual in the daily routine and are seen as a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Lovingly laid tables, sufficient crockery and friendly company ensure a cosy atmosphere when eating in a group. 

The nursery provides drinks in the form of water, unsweetened tea or milk for breakfast. To quench their thirst between meals, each child brings their own water bottle, which is stored at the so-called filling station. The children can refill their water bottles themselves at any time or with the help of the staff or kitchen staff.

Breakfast

The children eat the important first meal of the day, breakfast, at home in a family setting. The basic needs of drinking and eating should be satisfied after the night before the children come to the nursery. This allows them to start the day with energy. Breakfast at the nursery is a snack. Each child brings a filled lunch box from home. We recommend filling it with healthy food in manageable portions. This ensures that the children still have a healthy appetite for lunch. 

At the nursery, parents take turns bringing in ingredients for a weekly communal breakfast. The children make their own sandwiches or rolls and practise using knives. Then, at a festively laid table, they enjoy their weekly breakfast. In the kindergarten, there is a monthly group breakfast prepared together. The parent representatives collect money for this and make it available to the groups for shopping. The children are involved in the planning, go shopping together and prepare the breakfast themselves.

Lunch

The nursery offers a hot lunch from a local caterer, which is charged to the parents, in accordance with the applicable nutritional and hygiene standards. It is possible to order vegetarian meals and dishes that comply with Muslim dietary requirements, or to take food intolerances into account. If there is a choice of meals, we involve the children in the groups on a rotating basis. The meal plan is visualised for the children and can be viewed by parents in the KiKom app.

Afternoon snack

For children in full-day care, our snack time is a second snack between meals. Parents provide the group with healthy snacks such as crispbread or rusks, raw vegetables, muesli, etc. Occasionally, there are also small sweets such as biscuits or, in summer, ice cream. On Mondays, snack time becomes a gourmet meal prepared by the children. The activity has a family feel and strengthens the sense of community. It teaches the children how to prepare food, is fun and tastes especially good when eaten together!
 

Basics

Our view of children

Every child is an individual with their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, fears and hopes. Children are attentive observers. They form their own impressions of the people around them and thus grow into society.

With a keen spirit of inquiry and all their senses, they explore their surroundings and develop their own ideas about the world. They do not just absorb what we offer or teach them. They are active creators of their own learning processes. Through their actions, they experience self-efficacy and develop self-confidence. We are thrilled to see how children constantly set themselves new goals and how they take the next step with full concentration and inner peace. The joy of having achieved something themselves gives them courage and motivation for new challenges. 

Learning through play

All children play. They do so of their own accord and incorporate everything they experience and everything they find around them into their play. In play, the world can be changed with imagination. Through play, children can:

try things out and practise with joy
acquire knowledge and skills
devote themselves wholeheartedly to something
experience something again under their own control and process it
empathise with other people and experience themselves in a new role
communicate with others, engage with them and work together
make friends and feel part of a group
The more stimulating and motivating the play situations we offer children are, the more they learn.

How we see ourselves

We want to be caring confidants, providers, protectors, motivators and attentive companions. We offer children a reliable emotional foundation in which they feel accepted and secure.

Our aim is to offer children the opportunity for discovery-based learning. To this end, we give them the time they need and create a suitable, constantly stimulating environment for them.

In our everyday work, we observe the children's actions and give them ideas. We take up their ideas, help them to implement them and work together to find solutions to problems. We encourage the children to ask questions and find the answers themselves. We share the children's joy in trying things out and offer ourselves as co-constructors (meaning: doing something together and talking about it in order to gain insights). We do this so that the children can discover their world with us by their side and continue to develop. In this way, we want to preserve and strengthen their innate joy of learning. 

Educational content
A stimulating mix of free play, everyday activities and themed activities guides us through the day. Life at the nursery opens up a wide variety of learning and experience areas for the children:

Emotional and social development

Language and speech

Body, movement and health

Cognitive development and enjoyment of learning

Life skills

Aesthetic education

Nature and the environment

Ethical, religious and existential questions

Basic understanding of mathematics

Whether we are helping children wash their hands, singing with them or learning about ecological relationships in a bee project, we can support learning and development in every situation. The children find friends in their group and beyond the group as part of our partially open work.
 

Transitions
It is important to us to ensure a smooth transition from nursery to kindergarten through good cooperation. Mutual visits and joint activities help children and staff to get to know each other at the right time. One year before starting school, our older children meet across groups for the ‘Schlaufuchstreffen’ (clever fox meeting). Here, they conduct research together, work on projects or visit schools.

A second home for children and parents
Only in an environment where we feel comfortable can we learn and develop together. We see it as our task to create an atmosphere of security through intensive relationships. Our desire is to become a second home for the child and to offer parents a place where they know their child is in good hands.

We achieve this by
•    approaching the children and their families openly and with joy.
•    lovingly accompanying the child's first steps in their new environment.
•    being attentive, reliable caregivers.
•    supporting the child in becoming more and more confident in the community with their peers.
•    giving the children the opportunity to participate and take on responsibility every day, thus sharing and encouraging their       joy of learning.

Employee

Quality Assurance

Maintaining and developing our quality standards

The core of our team consists of educational specialists who have completed at least one training course to become a social assistant. At least one of the specialists in each group must be qualified as a nursery school teacher. In almost all of our groups, two members of staff have this qualification. Many of us have also completed further training to become nursery specialists. In addition, various additional qualifications held by individual colleagues shape the work of our facility. Examples of this include the areas of language, nature education, exercise, integration and child protection.

We regularly take advantage of in-house training courses and further training opportunities offered by various providers for our continuing professional development. Studying specialist literature and exchanging ideas with each other and with colleagues from other daycare centres in the community helps us to reflect on our work and take on board new ideas. Team building, team development and collegial consultation are just as much a part of our weekly staff meetings and several study days throughout the year as specialist content.

In special situations, we seek expert advice or supervision. We benefit in particular from the comprehensive services offered by the district youth welfare office, which provides a wide range of quality assurance and development services, from working groups at management level to practical meetings and further training for specialists, right through to support in cases where the welfare of children is at risk.  

At our facility, we use the ‘QuiK’ (Quality in Day Care Centres) quality development process to continually align our work with current educational standards. We also use the ‘Index for Inclusion in Day Care Centres’ to evaluate and improve our work.

We are happy to pass on our knowledge and skills to new generations of educational professionals. As a practical training centre, we make an important contribution to the training of social assistants and educators.

Cooperations

In addition to working closely with our sponsor, the municipality of Schwanewede, we maintain contacts and partnerships with:

• the district of Osterholz
• the primary schools in our catchment area
• local paediatricians and therapy practices
• the municipal library
• local institutions (sports clubs, church communities, volunteer fire brigade)
• support organisations such as the SOS educational counselling centre and Lebenshilfe Osterholz
• Newcare Park Schwanewede
• local farms

Teamwork with parents

We see ourselves as partners with parents in the educational community for the benefit of the children. It is important to us that we treat each other with respect and show interest in one another. This mutual appreciation allows families, professionals and children to trust each other. On this basis, children can feel comfortable and develop well. We value open and close communication. We appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing your views. Different forms of exchange and cooperation include: 

• Casual conversations
• Exchange of information via the KiKomApp
• Notices on the whiteboards
• Development meetings and occasional meetings
• Parents' evenings
• Parent council meetings
• Activities of the Schwanenkinder nursery support association
   

Overview

Children who are registered as having their primary residence in the municipality of Schwanewede at the time of care are generally entitled to a place in childcare.

Children are accepted from the age of one until they start school.

• Nursery: from the 1st birthday until the age of 3

• Kindergarten: from the 3rd birthday until starting school

You can specify up to three daycare centres as your preferred facilities. These preferences will be taken into account within the limits of available capacity. Please note, however, that there is no entitlement to a place in a specific daycare centre or to specific childcare hours.

Further information can be found in our statutes on the establishment and use of daycare centres in the municipality of Schwanewede.

Description and Stations

Our daycare centre is located not far from the town centre, diagonally opposite Schwanewede Town Hall at Damm 11. You can easily reach us on foot, by bike, by bus or by car. There are plenty of parking spaces and bike racks in front of the daycare centre. The ‘Rathaus Schwanewede’ bus stop is right outside the door. Bus lines 650 (Neuenkirchen – Osteholz Scharmbeck), 94 (Schwanewede – Blumenthal – Vegesack – Marßel) and school buses from the surrounding villages all stop here.