Introduction/specifics

Language helps to open up the world, express oneself and make contact with the environment. We are a language kindergarten and employ an additional language specialist. Everyday integrated language development - for both German-speaking and non-German-speaking children - is a priority for us. 

Participation: The children are allowed to participate in all decisions that affect them according to their age and abilities.

We are subsidised by a European social fund, which enables us to finance additional staff hours.

The centre is run by the Catholic Church and is attended by children from different religious backgrounds; we are guided by the church's annual cycle and the associated festivals and teach our Christian values. 

Rooms

The kindergarten accommodates three groups of children on two levels. The rooms for the additional pre-school group are located in the neighbouring community centre. Each group room has a small adjoining room. The children enjoy playing in the gym and in the large entrance hall, which also houses the children's library. The children eat all their meals in the kitchen bistro.

The kindergarten has a garden with play equipment, lots of nooks and crannies and a large tree population.

Outdoor Facilities

We have a garden behind the house, which encourages the children to get plenty of exercise.  We spend as much time outdoors as possible. The children love the harvest time with apple and plum trees, hazel bushes and in the raised bed. Once or twice a year, staff, parents and children get together to work in the garden.

There are many playgrounds in the neighbourhood that we enjoy visiting.

Daily Schedule

We work according to a closed group concept. In the morning, all children meet in a collective group. From here, the children then divide into their regular groups.

Breakfast is served from 8 a.m. onwards on a rolling basis for all children in the kitchen bistro.

In the morning, there are various activities in the regular groups. The children do crafts, read, play, sing, paint, do gymnastics, etc. The garden and gym are open to children from all groups.

The morning also includes music lessons from the Hof Music School, the “SafetyKids” program from the Schutzhöhle, and our German courses.

After lunch (served on a rolling basis in the kitchen bistro), our youngest children take a nap. Afterwards, the children from all groups get together to play, and we offer our own projects.

Food

The children bring food from home for snacks in the morning and afternoon.

Lunch is delivered to us by Kultur-Catering. The food is flavoured to suit the children and is very tasty.

The children are provided with fruit, vegetables and yoghurt every day as part of the European school fruit and vegetable programme.

As part of the Kulinarix project, we are currently focussing intensively on the topic of ‘healthy eating’.

Breakfast and lunch are served at flexible times in the kitchen bistro.

Basics

-Language helps to open up the world, express oneself and make contact with the environment. We are a language kindergarten and have undergone extensive further training in this area of education. In everyday life, we make sure to create many language-stimulating situations. To this end, we have employed a language specialist who supports the team and offers regular German courses with the children before they start school. Additional German courses are offered by a teacher from the Sprengelschule and by colleagues from the daycare centre. Our children's library is always accessible to all parents and children.

- Participation: The children are allowed to participate in all decisions that affect them according to their age and abilities. We practise democratic co-operation. Every year, group representatives are elected in democratic elections (voting stones), who regularly consult and exchange ideas with the centre staff.

- We are a Catholic centre that is attended by many children from different religious backgrounds. We orientate ourselves on the church's annual cycle with the associated festivals and communicate our Christian values. Many of these values apply to all religions. We want to teach the children that there are different ways of living these values and that diversity is a very positive thing.

We are a “house of little researchers”. The children have a strong curiosity about things that happen around them. We tap into this curiosity and try to impart knowledge in the STEM fields through simple experiments and observations of plants and animals. Our garden offers great conditions for this.

All information at www.stpius-kindergarten-hof.de

Employee

The facility is well staffed, as we receive additional funding for staff hours from a European social fund and are able to employ an additional language specialist. Our team consists of 13 employees in total. We also receive help from our dedicated kitchen staff and a caretaker. We are a diverse group in terms of age, gender, and religion, and we speak German, English, Turkish, Hungarian, Polish, and a little Russian. and a little Russian :)

We are a training facility and are regularly visited by interns as part of their childcare and educator training.

In 2024, the team underwent further training as part of the Pedagogical Quality Development program. As part of this program, we redesigned the daily routine to better respond to the individual needs of the children.

In 2025, we participated in the “kita-digital” project to support children and their parents in using digital media.

Now, in 2026, we are participating in the Erasmus project of the State Institute for Early Childhood Education, which enables us to observe other European countries on the topic of “integration.”

As a language kindergarten, we receive regular training on the topics of everyday language support, inclusion, and cooperation with families.

Teamwork with school

We work closely with our local school (Krötenbruck Elementary School). A teacher regularly offers German courses at the kindergarten.

We consult with each other on the content of preschool education.

In the year before they start school, the children are allowed to try out the learning workshops, attend a lesson, and watch a play.

We also have a good exchange with many other schools.

Teamwork with parents

- We see our cooperation with parents as an educational partnership.

- We try to organise joint events in such a way that as many families as possible can take part

- We regularly discuss the development of the children at scheduled meetings. It is important to us to always take a positive view.

- The parents' advisory council supports and advises us

News

Our new slide tower is finished! During the gardenafternoon, lots of volunteers then tidied up the garden.

Now we can enjoy the summer :)

Projects

The kindergarten receives financial support from its support group. Sharing is important to us, which is why the association's money is always used to support a project in developing countries.

Our support group has already helped us expand the large children's library, enabled excursions for all children, and provided all groups with Kapla blocks as a “St. Nicholas Day gift.”

Overview

We accept children from the age of two.