Job description: Social pedagogical assistance

The tasks of the SPAs

The social pedagogical assistants (SPAs) in our daycare centers accompany the children in the crèche or elementary area throughout the day. They support the teachers in their daily work. As second staff members, they are right in the middle of the lively events with the children and take on all the tasks that are part of raising and caring for children. They help with meals, paint, do handicrafts, sing, play with the children, guide them in projects and accompany them on excursions.

Here, no day is guaranteed to be like the other, because the work is geared to the needs of the children. The children shape the day – in line with our open pedagogy of mindfulness.

Turning a hobby into a profession – the focus of the SPAs

Like all pedagogical professionals in our facilities, the SPAs also choose an individual focus. Depending on their interests and previous knowledge, this could be, for example, music, movement, creative design, nature and the environment. In this “special area” and the associated functional space, they encourage the children to discover their talents and interests in a self-determined and independent manner.

In addition, the SPAs work closely with their colleagues in the team. They discuss developments and observations from their work with the children.

Your workplace as a SPA at WABE

We operate daycare centers in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hessen. Each of our daycare centers is different and so is each of our workplaces. This is because our employees are actively involved in shaping the daycare centers within the framework of the concept of Open Mindfulness Education and the daycare center concept.

In order to further specialize their focus in the educational areas or also for their own professional development, our SPAs are supported by further education and training. It is all the better (but not necessary) if they have already gained experience in a focus area after training as a socio-educational assistant or a comparable degree.

The salary of the SPAs is based on the collective agreement for the public service of the federal states (TVL) with 30 vacation days per year. Working hours are based on the daycare center’s opening hours (Monday – Friday) and can be flexibly arranged within this framework and within the team. Supplementary benefits are chosen by our SPAs flexibly and independently according to their needs. We offer them, for example, subsidies for accommodating their own children in the daycare center or cost coverage for health services from A to Z (from international health insurance to naturopathic treatments to dentures).