At the Beginning of April, an educationally supervised Parent-Child Group opened at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

With this new family support service, the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is responding to the steadily growing proportion of students and employees with family responsibilities as well as the proportion of young families in the surrounding neighbourhoods. The university and the parent-child group work together as a local contact point with specialised educational support to help families with their tasks, problem-solving and everyday hurdles. In the pedagogically supported parent-child group, families can feel recognised in their diversity and be accepted into a low-threshold community of interest. The programme is funded by the state capital of Potsdam.

In order to expand childcare for Potsdam university members as part of a family-friendly university of applied sciences, the FHP held talks with the youth welfare office of the state capital of Potsdam and later with Kinderwelt. After discussing different models that could combine the necessary flexibility with a fixed structure, the parent-child group was opened on the 1^st of April 2022.

The tasks and goals of the parent-child group are based on the family situation of the families. The group is based on parents who usually look after their children at home accompanying them to the group, thus creating a social support system. The parents organise and determine the various activities and the daily routine with the help of the educational staff. In cooperation with the FAMteam at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and the Bachelor's degree programme "Early Childhood Education", low-threshold offers are being developed, such as a family café or themed impulses (workshops). There are also plans to involve students from the social and educational science degree programmes in short and long-term internships.

The direct affiliation to the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam makes it possible, in particular for students of the university, to return to their studies even without a regular place in a daycare centre or in a childcare facility, or to complete their studies without interruption within the standard period of study. A meeting place is also created for employees on parental leave or in a transitional phase to childcare. This childcare model makes it easier for newly appointed professors to get started at the FH Potsdam, as childcare places are rarely available immediately.

The FAMteam is an integral part of the family-friendly university. With counselling services, family locations spread across the campus, flexible childcare and holiday workshops, it helps to ensure that family responsibilities can be reconciled with study and work commitments.

Parent-child group on campus

The spacious family room at the University of Applied Sciences and an adjoining bedroom and quiet room are available for the new programme. The rooms are located in House 5 on the campus of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam in Kiepenheuerallee in the north of Potsdam. The Department of Education and Social Sciences is based there, as well as a day care centre, the family centre and the FAMteam as a representative of the family-friendly university. The parent-child group is therefore embedded in an early childhood environment, conveniently located in the centre of the Bornstedt development area. The service can be used directly by families as a contact point.

The rooms offer a variety of uses and are designed with the needs of the children and their parents in mind. The parent-child group takes place Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm by appointment and is aimed at parents with children between the ages of zero and six. The offer is based on the legal entitlement to childcare and a childcare contract is concluded. The already established flexible childcare programme at the FH Potsdam will be continued in parallel to the parent-child group and made possible as a family support measure.

If you are interested, please contact Diana Zill, Family Officer at the FH Potsdam: famteam@fh-potsdam.de