How we work

BCN-Kinder is a non-profit parents’ association that is exclusively funded by the parents’ financial contributions. As such, BCN-Kinder depends entirely on the participation of parents and teachers.

Parents become members of our association and they form the board. Furthermore, they take on other voluntary tasks (maintenance, online presence, everyday shopping, event planning, etc.) that are fundamental for the proper functioning and development of our project. The members elect the Managing Board, which runs the project together with the director, and they can also take part in all decision-making processes at the annual meetings.

One special feature of BCN-Kinder is that it is part of a culturally rich environment. We are located at the very heart of Barcelona, a place where many different cultures come together. Although the German language and culture logically play a very important role in our project, our families are mainly mixed, that is one parent born here and one parent from elsewhere in the world. The children that take part in our project not only maintain their cultural identity but also learn to respect and tolerate other cultures. The linguistic diversity of each and every child grows with us, just like the rest of his/her abilities.

A further feature of BCN-Kinder is that we have mixed age groups. Groups are mixed in order to carry out joint activities and to promote the relationship between the younger and the older ones. This experience is overwhelmingly positive for both of them: the younger ones learn from the older ones, and the latter learn to treat the younger ones carefully and responsibly.

Our morning groups for older children (from 18 months to 5 years) have a child care ratio of one care-giver for eight children, and our morning Baby Group (from 10 to 18 months) has a child care ratio of one care-giver for six children. Additionally, each group has the support of an intern or volunteer.

Compared to most nursery schools in the city, our project offers flexible opening hours. For instance, each group has one-hour slot to arrive at the nursery school in the morning and one-hour pick-up time slot in the afternoon (depending on the group).

Our childcare hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. for Groups A & B and from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for our Baby Group.

Furthermore, parents have the possibility to extend the child care times:

• Children in our Baby Group: until 3 p.m. (they take a nap)
• Children older than 18 months: until 5:00 p.m. (they take a nap and have an afternoon snack) and until 5.45 p.m.

We also offer flexible arrival times in the morning: from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

At BCN-Kinder we know that each adaptation process is different. It is entirely tailored to the child’s needs in a very flexible way in order to make the separation of parents and child as easy as possible. Parents (or guardians) are allowed to accompany their children while at the nursery during their adaptation period. The aim is to gradually reduce the time that the child spends at BCN-Kinder without his/her parents.

We provide nutritious, locally sourced and seasonal food to the children, which is cooked and delivered every day by El Coco Kitchen. All food intolerances and allergies are obviously taken into account – our menu is adapted to each particular case.

Another feature of BCN-Kinder is the way it interacts and experiences its surroundings. Whether it is nature or the neighbourhood, we always promote the contact with the environment. To stay true to this purpose, children spend two full mornings per week at the “Ludoteca” playground in Parc de la Ciutadella. In addition, we organise regular outings to other parks and playgrounds as well as to the forest, the museum, the beach…