Although LIS Hort has many things in common with an after-school programme it is certainly much more. If we talk about LIS Hort we need to talk about a Before-In-Between-and-After- School-Programme or a co-curricular programme. Besides the core tasks of Hort to provide care, education and upbringing before and after school as well during the break times and the school holidays, LIS Hort educators support Primary school students and teachers as “Educator in Class” every day. Moreover, LIS Hort coordinates and runs several other Primary school wide programmes such as After School Activities (ASA), All-Day-Offers (GTA), Peer Mediators, Playground Buddies, and Volunteer and Intern Mentoring.
The position of Hort in the German and Saxon education system
The German term ‘Hort’ means hoard, treasure, shelter or refuge. During the last decades of the 19th century it was increasingly used to describe institutions that were concerned with the welfare of children and youth after school. They aimed to support families that were not able to take care of their children.
For over a hundred years, Hort was developed as a social institution independent from school.
And still today it falls under the legal framework of the Social Security Code VIII – Child and Youth Welfare (Achtes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch – Kinder- und Jugendhilfe) and accordingly also under a different state supervision than schools in Germany. While Hort employs educators and social workers, school employs teachers. Hence, Hort is not necessarily considered a part of the school system. Moreover, the assumption, school stands for knowledge transfer in the morning and Hort for fun and leisure time in the afternoon, still persists.
With the transition to the 21st century a paradigm shift took place. With the increasing importance of social skills and emotional mastery a new understanding of education prevailed, one that encompasses curricular content as well as social and emotional development.
In Saxony, the Hort belongs to the group of day care institutions including Nursery and Kindergarten, designed to complement and assist the education and upbringing in the family. They have an independent, age and development specific threefold mandate of education (Bildung), upbringing (Erziehung), and care (Betreuung) that serves two main goals:
- the acquisition and promotion of social skills such as independence, willingness to take responsibility and the ability to socialize, tolerance and acceptance of other people, cultures and ways of life as well as of disabled people and
- the development of mental and physical abilities and skills, especially for the acquisition of knowledge and skills, including the shaping of learning processes.
“The Saxon Education Plan (Sächsischer Bildungsplan) is the basis for the design of the educational work in day-care institutions. The educational concept underlying this curriculum is oriented toward the idea of self-education. Education is considered to be a holistic, comprehensive process which relates to the overall development of a person with his or her different ways of perceiving, thinking, and responding. According to this, education is more than learning.” In this new understanding, day care institutions constitute the lowest, pre-school level of the wider education system. While nursery and kindergarten focus on the early years education for children from 0-6 years, Hort targets the age group of the 6-10 years old, that are already on the next level, the Primary education level. The fact that Primary School and Hort work with the same students offers a great potential for cooperation, synergy effects and supplementing each other. Consequently, a closer cooperation between Hort and school is required. In Saxony this was put in the simple formula: Primary school + Hort = full-time education
The Hort at LIS
Atypical for Saxony, LIS Hort was established as a fully integrated Hort, i.e. a Hort that is a part of the Primary school and not run by an independently operated agency. The Hort staff is part of the wider Primary school team, educators are members of grade level or specialist teams, and the Hort Leader is part of the Primary School Management Team. Educators and teachers work hand in hand inside and outside the class room. They supplement each other in the supervision of students throughout the day. The Hort has its own rooms, storage facilities and an office in the school. All students are entitled to use LIS Hort during the opening hours. We are convinced that an integrated Hort is in the best interest of our students and their parents.
