The town of Rodgau continues to place a strong emphasis on training its own skilled staff in the care sector. To mark the start of the new training year, the Deputy Mayor and the relevant departments warmly welcomed a total of 26 new recruits in the fields of social care assistance, the recognition year and the first year of the practice-integrated paid training scheme (PiVA). The new colleagues came together for the official induction day to lay the foundations for their future careers in the town’s nursery schools. Alongside representatives from the administration, two nursery managers also played an active role in organising this year’s kick-off event: Kerstin Heck (Nursery 5) and Marion Menkel-Bodelle (Nursery 7) presented the municipal facilities on their behalf. They gave the trainees valuable insights into educational practice, their own motivation for the profession and the professional approach required in day-to-day nursery life. The induction day offered the prospective childcare workers a varied programme designed to foster team spirit right from the start. Following some playful ice-breaker activities, the participants reflected on their first impressions of the centres. There was a particular focus on personal goal-setting: with the help of symbolic ‘creeping animals’, the trainees visualised their current ‘present self’ as well as their ‘future self’ upon successful completion of the course. They set out their wishes and development goals in a letter to themselves. These letters are kept by the specialist advisory service and presented to the graduates at the end of their training as a memento and a measure of their progress. The trainees demonstrated their ability to work in a team during the creative ‘Tower Building’ challenge. The task of constructing a stable tower from just ten sheets of paper and a pair of scissors – one that could support a pen for at least ten seconds – was mastered by the groups with flying colours; the winning tower reached a remarkable height of 1.01 metres. A specialist session on team roles and the stages of team development rounded off the programme. At the end of the intensive day, the participants, working in small groups, gave a consistently positive assessment. During the joint feedback session, the individual strengths were once again highlighted, which each and every participant will now be able to apply to their day-to-day work at the nursery. The town of Rodgau is delighted to welcome its dedicated new staff members and wishes all trainees a successful start and an inspiring training period.
