Stadt Münster, Day care for children
Welcome to Münster in Westphalia
Content
Day care for children
Services for pre-school children
Children’s day care facilities are designed for children under three years of age and those aged between three and six, when children usually start school in Germany. Children aged three have a legal right to a place in or a an opportunity to attend day care facilities until they start school. Different kinds of groups and care times exist.
Parents are required to make financial contributions in return for their child's attendance at a day care facility. This contribution depends on the parents’ income, the age of the child, the form of care and the length of care provided each day. In the event that several children from a single family require different forms of care simultaneously, parents only pay fees for one child (see also costs payable in the case of the open all-day schools).
Those looking for a place in a day nursery are advised to approach the city’s Family Office as a first step. This office can help parents to find a suitable solution or contact partner to help deal with their particular care requirements. Employees can retrieve information regarding free nursery school places throughout the city via a special database. However, the care institutions themselves make the final decision regarding the children’s admission.
In the event that families require, or desire, a daily carer at home, the Family Office will be happy to contact the children’s day care advisory service.
Amt für Kinder, Jugendliche und Familien, - Familienbüro (Office for Children, Young Adults and Families, - Family Office), Junkerstraße 1
Tel. 02 51/4 92-51 08
E-mail: familienbuero@stadt-muenster.de
www.muenster.de/stadt/jugendamt
Monday to Friday from 9 am - 12 pm, Thursday afternoons from 2:30 pm - 6 pm and by arrangement
Information on children’s day care institutions can be found at:
www.muenster.de/stadt/jugendamt/kita_info.html
Services for school-children
Many schools continue to provide care for children after teaching hours. This is the case both in primary and secondary schools (junior and intermediate secondary schools and senior high schools (grammar schools)). Some schools also provide pupils with a lunch service.
The majority of primary schools are so-called “Offene Ganztagsgrundschulen” (”open all-day primary schools”). Here, the children can do their homework under supervision after the lunch break, and can then play with the other children and participate in sports, games and other activities, which range from football, volleyball and swimming to pottery, theatre and video clubs, cookery or library visits. Participation in these activities is voluntary.
Some schools, including the comprehensive school and some special schools and junior secondary schools, are “genuine” all-day schools, e.g. those where afternoon teaching is also provided. The city's school database provides parents with more detailed information:
www5.stadt-muenster.de/schulen
Parents make an income-based contribution to the costs of all-day school care. They are only obliged to pay fees for one child, even in the event that they have several children (please see the section on care in a children's day care facility). The financial contribution towards lunch is extra; this is paid directly to the school in question and amounts to between 2.30 and 3.50 euros per day and child. Low-income families can apply for an allowance from the School and Further Education Office.
www.muenster.de/stadt/jugendamt/kita_schule-kosten.html
Children attending open all-day primary schools can also be registered for an all-day holiday care service for up to six weeks during the school holidays. No additional charges are made for this service. These holiday clubs are organised by a range of institutions including the city of Münster, sports clubs and youth support associations.
- Information on in-school care:
Amt für Schule und Weiterbildung (School and Further Education Office), Annette Fehre and Regina Rostamdel
Stadthaus 1, Klemensstraße 10
Tel. 02 51/4 92-40 59 or -40 49
E-mail schulamt@stadt-muenster.de
www.muenster.de/stadt/schulamt/ganztag.html - Information on school care at the open all-day primary schools:
Amt für Kinder, Jugendliche und Familien (Office for Children, Young Adults and Families)
Hafenstraße 30
Tel.: 02 51 / 492-5884 oder –5143
E-mail Mentrup@stadt-muenster.de, SchildK@stadt-muenster.de - Information on holiday care for primary school children:
Amt für Kinder, Jugendliche und Familien (Office for Children, Young Adults and Families) Gertrud Weber-Neander
Hafenstraße 30
Tel. 02 51 / 4 92-58 64
E-mail WeberNeander@stadt-muenster.de
Services for all children
Those parents with doctor's appointments or who wish to shop in peace in the city centre can take advantage of the childcare service (available for a maximum of three hours per day) provided in the “Maxi-Turm”, which is centrally located on the Prinzipalmarkt, next to the Town Hall. There is no need to register children in advance. The "Maxi-Turm“ is designed for children aged between five and ten years of age, and is open from Mondays to Fridays from 2 pm to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm. In summer, a sandy play area is set up on the Syndikatplatz in the city centre for families with young children.
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