Caregivers at elementary schools receive certificates
There are a total of 38 elementary schools in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district and they all offer comprehensive care for students, both before and after school hours. 16 of these 38 elementary schools also participate in the state program "Pact for the Afternoon". This means that they even provide care until 5:00 p.m. and, to a certain extent, during school vacations. "With the Pact , we want to make an even greater contribution to educational equity, so that children can be better supported individually," says District Administrator Dr. Reinhard Kubat, explaining the objective. As a joint measure of the state of Hesse and the Waldeck-Frankenberg district for integrated and tailored education and care, the Pact for the Afternoon also contributes to the compatibility of family and career.
An important part of the program is training for the childcare workers, and for the staff in the Pakt für den Nachmittag (Pact for the Afternoon), even according to a template for the implementation of qualification programs that is valid throughout the state. District Administrator Dr. Kubat was pleased to be able to present the certificates to the first ten caregivers who took part in the training. The qualification series was offered to all primary school caregivers by the district's Schools and Education Department, implemented by the Protestant Fröbelseminar in Korbach. The small ceremony was supposed to take place in November 2020, but due to the pandemic it could only be held now.
The ten caregivers had to complete a thoroughly demanding program. In 88 teaching units over ten training days - on Saturdays and during the 2020 fall vacation - they dealt with pedagogical principles and their role in the "school system," with all-day schooling and the legal framework. Frequent reflections were held on the daily practice at the schools. In order to obtain the certificate, the support staff finally had to take a presentation exam in front of site director Melanie Brück of the Protestant Fröbelseminar in Korbach, subject teacher Claudia Alexi and Svenja Lotze as a representative of the subject supervision from the district's specialist service for schools and education... in all ten cases with great success.
"It is not enough to offer pure supervision of the school children within the framework of the Pact for the Afternoon - content must also be taught there," the district administrator emphasized the importance of the offer. In addition to the school social workers, the childcare workers are also important contacts for the children in the event of problems of various kinds. For this reason, the district immediately looked for a practicable way to implement the Pakt when the state of Hesse identified the special need to qualify the Pakt support staff a year and a half ago. "With the Evangelical Fröbelseminar, we have found the ideal partner," the district administrator praised the excellent qualification work.
In the meantime, numerous other Pact for the Afternoon sponsors have already contacted the Schools and Education Department to find out more about this qualification model. The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg has thus become a pioneer in the implementation of the required training for Pakt caregivers. The second qualification series, which starts in September, shows how well the training program is being received: ten caregivers have again registered to participate in the 2021/2022 school year.