Childcare at HU
HU offers a range of childcare services for students and staff with children: from regular day care at the HU nursery ‘Die Lupe’ and the student-run childcare centre ‘Die Humbolde’ to childcare during events, as well as emergency and out-of-hours care. These services are provided in collaboration with internal and external partners and are outlined below.
Overview: Childcare facilities at HU
Since 2015, HU has had its own nursery, ‘Die Lupe’. The nursery, which is run by studierendenWERK Berlin, is located in the Hedwig-Dohm-Haus at Ziegelstraße 5–9.
Around 15 nursery staff look after approximately 90 children aged between eight weeks and school age. Just under half of the places are reserved for children under the age of three. The facility is primarily intended for the children of HU students and staff.
The services and opening hours of the nursery are tailored to the needs of students and staff, thereby making a significant contribution to the goal of balancing family life, studies and work.
Places at the Humboldt Daycare Centre “Die Lupe” are allocated directly by the centre’s management.
The student-run nursery “Die Humbolde” was established in 1995 on the initiative of student parents and is a small nursery for the children of HU students. The nursery operates both as a standard nursery and, with a small number of flexible places, as a supplementary childcare option to municipal nurseries. Thanks to its extended opening hours, the nursery enables student parents to attend lectures, language courses and so on, even outside the usual opening hours of municipal nurseries.
Up to 15 children aged between one year and pre-school age are looked after in a mixed-age group by a team of eight qualified childcare professionals. The Kinderladen is run by the HU Student Council, acting through the ‘Studying with Children’ department.
For regular children who attend the nursery daily, there is a monthly contribution of 50 euros.
Parents of occasional users (for example, if the regular nursery is closed for a few days or to enable late-night care during a lecture) pay 4 euros per day, up to a maximum of 50 euros per month.
Places are allocated directly by the RefRat or the Kinderladen itself.
Childcare in Berlin
The State of Berlin offers a range of childcare and educational services for children aged 0 to 6. From their first birthday, children in Germany have a legal right to childcare in a nursery or a childminding centre. Childcare in Berlin is free of charge for parents. A financial contribution is only required for lunch. Some centres also charge additional fees for special services such as foreign language lessons, sports classes or a special lunch menu.
A so-called ‘Kita voucher’ is required for admission to a childcare facility. This must be applied for in advance at the Youth Welfare Office in the child’s district of residence. All facilities operate in accordance with the Berlin Education Programme.
The allocation of childcare places is not centrally regulated. This means that parents must contact all suitable facilities themselves and make their own arrangements to secure a place for their child. This also presents an opportunity, as parents, children and childcare centres get to know one another directly at an early stage and can better decide whether their family and the childcare centre are a good fit.
An settling-in period is always provided for the first few days to weeks at the childcare centre. This means that a parent accompanies their child to the centre until the child feels secure there and can stay at the centre on their own. The separation takes place step by step. The length of the settling-in period depends, among other things, on the child’s age and personality. Parents should therefore allow up to four weeks, particularly for very young children.
Types of care
Day-care centres provide care for children from a minimum age of eight weeks until they start school, although individual centres set their own minimum admission age. Day-care centres are full-day facilities where children are looked after from morning until late afternoon in groups of the same age or mixed-age groups.
The Senate Administration’s website offers the ‘Kita-Navigator’, a comprehensive overview of Berlin’s childcare centres, which allows for a targeted search for facilities near your home and currently available places. Detailed descriptions of the childcare centres are usually available on the websites of the facilities themselves or their sponsoring organisations.
Children’s centres are smaller facilities where children are usually looked after in a single mixed-age group of 15 to 20 children. Many children’s centres rely on parental involvement, for example in the form of cooking, cleaning or childcare duties. In some cases, parents also pay additional fees, for example for organic food or extra educational activities.
Contact
Family Support
The Family Support Office serves as the central point of contact and coordination for all matters and enquiries relating to balancing work, study and family life. Key areas of our work include family-friendly study, family-friendly work, bringing children to campus, caring for relatives and childcare.
