Romping and playing in the great outdoors, learning in the protection of the forest: this offer will also be available to the kindergarten children in iphofen, on a sunny plateau above the wertholzplatz in the direction of birklingen. On monday evening, under gentle pressure from the parents, the city council decided to introduce the "forest pedagogy" to be included in the city’s childcare program – individual forest days are planned, as well as a permanent forest group. "It can’t hurt to expose children to nature and the environment", explained mayor josef mend in the presence of a handful of parents in the meeting room in the town hall. And: "we should muster the courage to start now with the offer."
There had been some resistance among the council members because of the 130,000 euro protective shelter planned for the edge of the forest. There was no sign of this defensiveness in the most recent meeting, especially since mend promised a demand of up to 90,000 euros for the project and spoke of a "new signal" the kindergarten carrier reported. According to the report, the catholic church foundation st. Veit "in principle ready to take over a forest group, if the city on the other side compensates for a possible deficit. Depending on the utilization of the group, the mayor expects an annual shortfall of a few thousand euros at most.
From the parents’ side there are 16 binding registrations
According to the administration, 16 parents from iphofen have expressed their "binding interest" in a forest group, some however only for the years 2020 or 2021. There may still be potential for this from the city districts or neighboring communities. The offer is aimed at children from three years of age. City council members jorg schanow and hans brummer asked whether the kindergarten had enough staff for forest education. According to mend this is the case. Peggy knauer recommended that a "reasonable number of forest children" be enrolled in a forest group to pay attention.
In the end, the city council voted unanimously in favor of the proposal submitted by mend, at the "earliest possible date" to install a forest group. This will "not immediately become the 1. September be the case". First the building must be erected. A water connection for the hut, as initially planned, will probably not be available. The distance to the nearest drinking water network is too far, the investment costs for the city were too high.