Bridge Project 2020
In 2020, the playgroup for refugee children was successfully carried out at the Dortmund and Witten locations. The project was aimed at children aged 3 to 6 years and had the goal of teaching the children the German language and preparing them for attending kindergarten. The groups were made up of up to 20 children, whereby the gender distribution and the age structure (under 3 and over 3) could vary due to annual fluctuations.
In a year shaped by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was carried out with the utmost flexibility and adaptability. The care times were from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each day. Taking into account the safety and hygiene rules, the activities took place in the easily accessible and spacious premises in Dortmund and Witten.
The playgroups in both cities offered the children a safe environment in which they could experience affection and security. The focus was on fostering the children's language skills through age-appropriate language games, songs and creative activities. In this year it was especially important to accompany the children on their path to independence and to strengthen their social skills, so that they could successfully manage their first steps into society and kindergarten.
Another important component was the close cooperation between parents and carers in order to meet the individual needs of the children. Despite the pandemic-related restrictions, the team was able to ensure a successful settling-in period and support through regular communication with the parents. The aim was to provide the children with good preparation for attending kindergarten, so that they could enter their next educational phase strengthened both linguistically and socially.
