Education newsletter

Since the summer, families have received a welcome card when registering their place of residence at the Citizens' Office. It is intended to facilitate access to educational institutions. New arrivals are directed to a municipal website via a QR code/link. There they will find information on daycare centers and schools, which they can have translated into ten languages, e.g. Ukrainian, Bosnian and Romanian. In addition, a form allows them to automatically search for the relevant elementary school. The information cards are also available at the Immigration Office and are handed out by the integration guides.

Further questions can be answered by the OF Education Office, e-mail: bildung@offenbach.de, Tel. 069 8065-3838. The website with educational information for newcomers can be found by clicking on the image or the heading.

The program for the upcoming autumn vacations is varied and colourful. There is also a preview of the Christmas vacations. The OF Education Office compiles the offers for each school vacation in a brochure. They are presented according to date, time and age group. Color coding makes orientation easier and shows whether it is an all-day, weekly or daily offer, a vacation camp or an open offer. Information is also provided on catering, costs and contact details for registration. You can find the vacation program by clicking on the picture or the heading.

What is the OF Education Office? Just have a look at www.offenbach.de/bildungsbuero!

On 19.07.2022, the third phase of the implementation of the Municipal Action Plan on Inclusion (KAI) started at the Ostpol. City representatives and the heads of the six thematic KAI working groups (including education) presented the current status and their further work program. Above all, they were encouraged to join the working groups in the fourth quarter of 2022. The working groups will review the remaining measures in their field of action to ensure they are up to date and select further measures for implementation in the third season. On average, around three meetings are estimated, depending on the field of action and the number of measures remaining for selection. Anyone interested in participating in working groups can contact the working group leaders directly. It is also possible and sensible to join after the first meeting has already taken place.

Contact details of the working group leaders are available by e-mail: inklusion@offenbach.de.

Further information on the status of implementation of the KAI can be found by clicking on the image or the heading.

BAföG enables adolescents and young adults to complete an education that matches their aptitude and inclination - even if their parents are unable to finance this education. A BAföG reform came into force at the end of July. In addition to an increase in the maximum funding rates and allowances, the age limit for receiving BAföG was also raised. Now people who are not older than 45 at the start of their education can also receive funding.

For more information, click on the image or the headline.

Offenbach has over 60 daycare centers with kindergarten groups and 17 public and three private elementary school. Many children attend a daycare center that is far away from their future elementary school. For professionals who accompany children and their families during this transition, it is important to maintain an overview. The overview of dates on the municipal website aims to provide more transparency here. It contains important dates from school registration and preparatory courses to play and observation days.

The file is constantly updated and can be downloaded by clicking on the image or the heading.

In 2021, the federal-state program "Catching up after Corona" was adopted and funds were made available to the municipalities. In Offenbach, the youth welfare office decided not to spend these funds on many small projects, but to install a large and sustainable project that would benefit as many children and young people as possible. The result is the "Miteinander im Team" (MiT) project at the children's and youth farm, in which all Offenbach school classes in years 5 to 7 can participate. In addition to team building, the implementation concept focuses on training awareness, increasing frustration tolerance, communication within the school class and building trust. Experienced specialists in the field of adventure and experiential education divide the classes into small groups and work on skills agreed in advance with the respective teacher. From the team wall and the case of trust to the spider's web and various cooperative group games, there is a large and balanced repertoire of possibilities.

The offer has already been very well received, but there are still a few dates available: For more information and to book, call 0177-6461270 or email mit@kinderfarm-of.de directly.

For more information, click on the picture or the headline.

The "Jugend hackt Lab" is a place for young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who are creative and interested in technology. The lab is a place where they can meet like-minded people and realize their ideas. The Makerspace at the city library provides the space to try out new things and give free rein to creativity. The lab focuses on coding, gaming and making.

From September 24, workshops or free meetings will take place twice a month on Saturdays between 2 and 5 pm to work together on projects. Participation is free of charge. You can find all workshops and the registration form by clicking on the image or the heading.

School childcare staff are expected not "only" to look after children and supervise their homework, but also to provide high-quality learning opportunities. Cooperation with the school staff also plays an important role. With increasing enrolment numbers and increasingly complex processes due to closer integration with classroom activities, this requires in-depth specialist knowledge as well as a range of social, methodological and personal skills. This certificate course offers employees without pedagogical training the opportunity to systematically acquire specialist knowledge and skills in the areas of pedagogy, communication, legal principles and child protection. The training course has a modular structure and is accompanied by two practical reflections. After successful participation, including a final presentation, participants receive a certificate.

For more information, click on the image or the heading.

In the "document bazaar", letters are translated together, translation programs are shown, setting up and using an e-mail account is practiced, folders are created, Internet research is explained and much more. The offer takes place on Thursdays, 10-11.30 am. Registration is not necessary.

Free "Sprachtreffs" take place on Tuesdays from 5-6.30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10-11.30 a.m. at Domstraße 81. Everyday German is spoken and practiced here. Anyone interested is welcome, regardless of their language skills. Individual help with exam preparation is also possible. Registration is not necessary.

Every last Friday of the month there is an "application café" at 4.30 pm. Help with writing a CV or cover letter and tips on job hunting are the topics covered here. The next date is 28.10.2022.

Regardless of this, anyone seeking help can contact the integration guides at FzOF by phone on 0176-71172990 or by email at info@fzof.de If there are language barriers, they will try to offer advice in the language of origin.

For more information on the integration guides, click on the picture or the heading.

The edu-cloud.org website is a growing collection of digital educational services for various stages of education, from nursery and elementary school to vocational school. Pupils, teachers and parents can find useful learning and communication platforms, portals, apps and programs for the classroom and at home. The website is the follow-up project to homeschooling-corona.com, a website that was created during the coronavirus crisis to support pupils, parents and professionals. Verena Pausder, co-initiator of #wirfürschule, has further developed the website with the association Digitale Bildung für Alle e.V. into the educational platform edu-cloud.org.

You can find the education platform by clicking on the image or the headline.

Teachers can use the open educational media library MUNDO to place their own materials to support colleagues in lessons throughout the country. The educational media can be created in watch lists, organized and shared with others. All common video, image and text formats as well as H5P are possible. The range of media for teaching and learning is also available to parents, guardians and pupils. Users can use a filter function to find the right offer. For this purpose, the media freely available on the Internet are viewed and checked against the educational standards. The data is freely available and secure under licensing law.

MUNDO is being implemented as part of the SODIX project by the FWU (Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education), the media institute of the 16 federal states. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the DigitalPakt Schule.

You can find the MUNDU educational media library by clicking on the image or the heading.

The city of Offenbach was selected for funding from the state program "Growing up successfully, living children's rights - prevention chains in Hesse". The central aim of the project is to strengthen the participation opportunities of disadvantaged children and children affected by poverty in particular and to contribute to the successful upbringing of all Offenbach children through a sustainable network of coordinated support services. The structural anchoring of children's rights and the participation of children and their families play an important role in this. The broad-based process under the leadership of the Youth Welfare Office will start in 2023 and will initially be funded by the Auridis Foundation and the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs until the end of 2027.

For more information on the project, click on the image or the headline.

At the end of June 2022, the "Jugend Stärken im Quartier" project, which was successfully implemented by the youth education center of the youth welfare office for more than three years, came to an end. At the beginning of the year, the Youth Welfare Office therefore applied for the follow-up project "Jugend Stärken: Bridges to Independence". The core of the application is to support young people on their path to independence and, in particular, the target groups of so-called NEETs, i.e. young people who are neither in school nor in training or employment, as well as "care leavers", i.e. young people who fall out of (youth) support services due to their age. For the implementation of the project, the Youth Welfare Office's application envisages close cross-legal cooperation with MainArbeit (SGB II) and the Employment Agency (SGB III). The application was approved by the funding provider and the project was launched in August 2022. After the first few weeks, there was already a great need. The project will run until the end of 2027 and has a total funding amount of over 2 million euros.

For more information on the project, click on the image or the headline.

With funding from the ESF-Plus program "ElternChanceN", parental support in the transition to elementary school will initially be expanded in the Nordend district. Coordinated by the youth welfare office, EKO-Kitas, Goetheschule and parent mentors from the German Red Cross will test new services in the social area. On the one hand, stakeholders and services in the social area will be more closely networked, and on the other, parents will be informed about school in Germany, children's school skills will be promoted and families in need of support will receive individual support. The funding will initially run until mid-2025 with funds from the European Social Fund Plus and the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs.

The project will begin in Nordend and with the involvement of the EKO daycare centers - the EKO is providing part of the co-financing for the project implementation. The aim is to involve all daycare centers in Nordend and to gradually expand the tried and tested services and structures to other social areas.

For more information on the project, click on the picture or the headline.

SPERLE stands for structural change through personalized learning with digital media. The project supports further educators, teaching and training staff as well as specialists in using the potential of digital media in a didactically clever way and integrating it into everyday education. To this end, SPERLE offers various further education formats in a blended learning scenario. SPERLE consists of three partners: INBAS Institut für berufliche Bildung, Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik GmbH in Offenbach (network coordination), BWHW Bildungswerk der hessischen Wirtschaft e.V. in Bad Nauheim and Weiterbildung Hessen e.V. in Frankfurt/Main. Scientific support is provided by the Technical University of Darmstadt. The client and sponsor of the project as part of the "InnoVET" innovation competition is the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

For more information on the project and its services, click on the image or the headline.

With the "Schulperle" award, the Stifterverband aims to recognize school projects that promote living and learning at school in a way that is fair, forward-looking and contemporary. We are looking for projects that strengthen curiosity, encourage a desire to learn and inspire imitation. These are each awarded €500 and the Stifterverband supports them through its public relations work. In addition, the winners are invited to an annual network meeting. This year, the search is on for school pearls on the topic of "Learning from the pandemic". Projects and initiatives that have been developed from within the school for the school - by pupils, teachers, parents or support associations - can take part.

Further information and the online application can be found by clicking on the image or the headline.

The Stifterverband is a joint initiative of companies and foundations that advises, networks and promotes in the fields of education, science and innovation. The patron of the Stifterverband is Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Thursday, October 20, 2022
09:00 to 16:00
Ostpol, Gründercampus, Hermann-Steinhäuser-Str. 43, 63065 Offenbach
Free of charge

Right-wing extremists and Islamists are very different in their appearance. However, there are some ideological overlaps and there are often parallels in their radicalization biographies. What can we draw from these parallels and specifics of both phenomena for prevention work? What scientific findings can be derived? The workshop, which is being organized by the city's Department for the Prevention of Extremism in cooperation with the Universities of Marburg and Frankfurt, the Violence Prevention Network and Rote Linie Marburg, the educational department for right-wing extremism, will address these questions.

Further information and registration by e-mail to: julia.bechtluft@offenbach.de

17.10.2022 Episode 2: Early education
24.10.2022 Episode 3: School
08.11.2022 Episode 4: Vocational training
14.11.2022 Episode 5: Teacher training
21.11.2022 Episode 6: University
each 13:30 - 14:30
Online
Free of charge

The Standing Scientific Commission (SWK) is an independent scientific advisory body of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. The SWK advises the federal states on education policy issues and published the report "Digitalization in the education system" in September 2022. It contains recommendations for concrete steps and measures from early education to higher education: How can subject-specific content be developed and provided using digital media? What role should computer science play in early education and at school? How can the training and further education of teaching staff be successful?

With the publication of the report, the SWK is launching the digital event series "SWK Talks". In each episode, members of the SWK discuss with representatives from politics and practice. Interested parties can take part in the discussion via chat and ask questions.

You will receive the dial-in details a few days before the event, the link remains the same for all episodes.

Further information, including registration, can be found by clicking on the image or the title.

Media use in the family

19:00 - 20:30
Online via ZOOM
Free of charge

The next dates and topics:
12.10.2022: Smartphones in children's hands - tips and tricks for mobile devices
20.10.2022: Beauty in the age of social media - role models in social networks
03.11.2022: Media addiction - problematic media consumption since corona
09.11.2022: When it gets too much - dealing with excessive media use
17.11.2022: Help, my child is sending nude photos! - All about nudes and sexting
24.11.2022: Social networks and messengers - what are they actually doing to my child?
01.12.2022: All-rounder or time waster - the curse and blessing of YouTube

The digital family talk starts with a short clip. After a short introduction and welcome, the project partners are introduced. This is followed by a specialist input on the respective main topic. Parents then have the opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas and discuss. The "Digital Family Talk" is offered by the Institute for Media Education and Communication Hessen (MuK Hessen) and Blickwechsel e.V. - Association for Media and Cultural Education on behalf of the Media Authority Hessen.

Further information and access links to the online event can be found by clicking on the image or the headline.

On the one hand, there has been a slight increase in the number of new vocational trainees and newly concluded training contracts. On the other hand, the number of companies providing training is declining - especially among the smallest companies. Matching supply and demand remains a challenge. These are some of the findings of the latest Vocational Training Report, which is published annually by the Federal Ministry of Education.

You can download the report free of charge (barrier-free/low-barrier) by clicking on the image or the headline.

How do trainees rate career guidance offers and access to training? This question is the focus of the current training report, published regularly by the DGB. Almost 15,000 trainees from the 25 most common training occupations took part in the representative survey. According to the report, satisfaction with dual training depends on the sector, occupation and company size, among other things: "The larger the company, the higher the satisfaction of the trainees." A result that is regularly confirmed. Vocational preparation by the employment agency and general education schools is rated critically. Almost three quarters of those surveyed are satisfied or very satisfied with their training.

The training report can be downloaded free of charge by clicking on the image or the headline.

"Despite countless unfilled training places, statistics show that more than a third of people between the ages of 20 and 34 with a secondary school leaving certificate remain without training. Of those without a school-leaving certificate, the figure is almost two thirds." For this publication, the German Children and Youth Foundation and the Bertelsmann Stiftung interviewed over 100 experts. The results are sobering: It is becoming increasingly difficult for young people with a low level of education to enter the world of work. Increasing qualification requirements on the one hand and declining job prospects for unskilled workers on the other are exacerbating this trend. Those surveyed see opportunities to counteract this in career guidance and individual support.

The 40-page publication can be downloaded by clicking on the image or the title.

After four years, Offenbach professionals from daycare centers and elementary school met again for an exchange in the city council meeting room of the town hall. Due to the pandemic, cooperation at the transition from nursery to elementary school was neglected. At the 4th transition conference, the city's advisory board for nurseries and elementary school and the vhs education coordination and advice center promoted more cooperation in the social space and strong networks for families at the transition from nursery to elementary school. In five workshops, the participants discussed experiences, needs and new perspectives for shaping this transition in their social environment. The overarching results: A new start to cooperation activities is needed. Above all, this requires transparency. But in many places, there is currently a lack of human resources to establish sustainable cooperation structures. Measures are now being derived and prioritized from the results by the advisory board for nursery and elementary school and the vhs department for educational coordination and advice.

The documentation of the 4th transition conference can be downloaded by clicking on the image or the title.

The OF Bildungsbüro of the vhs Offenbach provides lay interpreters to translate conversations with parents at educational institutions. In order to support the volunteers, the Education Office, in cooperation with the Offenbach Volunteer Center, carried out a training course in June and July in which seven lay interpreters took part. As their main area of work is Offenbach schools, the qualification sharpened their focus on the school as an institution. The participants also received assistance in dealing with emotionally difficult situations and learned what role they have as lay interpreters in the conversations.

There are currently over 50 volunteer lay interpreters (ELDO) in the Education Office's pool. They provide support as language and cultural mediators during discussions with parents in educational institutions. Their commitment promotes cohesion, integration and cultural life in Offenbach schools. It also strengthens and inspires people to get involved in the education office as ELDOs. There is also an expense allowance.

Would you like to volunteer as an ELDO? The Education Office is currently looking for lay interpreters for Bulgarian, Italian, Greek, Polish, Somali and other languages. If you are interested, please contact Jasmin Hambach on 069 8065-3838 or by e-mail at bildung@offenbach.de

For more information, click on the picture or the headline.

Become part of the team!

With 1,600 events for 12,000 participants every year, the Volkshochschule Offenbach is the largest further education institution in the area. The central basis for this is the successful services provided by the vhs in the areas of service and administration. The vhs is currently looking for:

Clerk (m/f/d) full-time/part-time

For more information, click on the picture or the headline.