Parent participation

• Active participation by parents is an indispensable part of our Montessori school.
• All the work, starting with the creation of Montessori learning material, the design of classrooms and common rooms, through to the design and maintenance of the garden and playground, school events and celebrations, is not feasible and cannot be financed without the support of the parents! Paying an external body for this work would only be affordable through an increased school fee.
• The parents get to know each other better and enjoy common projects.

• In order to be able to better plan and assign the work with parents, there are so-called working groups (AGs), which we will present to you in detail later.
• All parents are basically members of the Putz-AG. Furthermore, parents can register in one of the three working groups (AGs) at the beginning of the school year, but they do not have to. There is also the possibility of taking parental lessons through projects that are announced in the current school year on the club’s website.
• If you would like to change to a different work group during the school year, please contact your working group leader or the board of directors.

• 10 parenting hours per parent in one school year
• Parents who are single parents work 10 hours per school year. If you are not sure whether they fall under the regulation, it is advisable to have your case clarified in an informal letter to the board of directors. In principle, all parents who have custody must work hours! If one parent cannot take the parental hours, the alternative of the compensation payment comes into force, unless the other parent also works the hours
• For lateral entrants, the hours are calculated proportionally. Please note the exact starting date.
• The number of hours worked is not multiplied by the number of children. This means that families who have two or more children at the school at the same time only have to work the required number of annual working hours once.
• This year it is new that of the 10 hours / per parent, 4 hours are mandatory in the cleaning group. If these 4 hours are not completed, they will be billed regardless of the total number of hours! We want to ensure that our children and teachers can learn in a clean environment!

• Since the 2009/2010 school year, every hour worked has been equivalent to a monetary value of 25 euros.
• The parents are fundamentally responsible for their working hours themselves and can find out more about upcoming projects on parenting from the responsible working group manager and via the club’s website!
• Parents are obliged to inform their working group / project manager of the hours worked immediately by e-mail, who manages the hours online in a time recording system.
• The working group leaders / project leaders also store the e-mails sent by the parents in an archive.
• Important: keep copies of your submitted lessons (e-mails)!
• Project managers receive work from the board of directors or the teaching team, which is released to all parents via the club’s website. Everyone can respond to these work orders individually, according to their interests and availability.
• The hours to be performed are billed on the last day of school before the Whitsun holidays, the working group leaders and project managers transmit the hours worked to the board, hours submitted too late can no longer be taken into account after this date!
• Hours not worked must be compensated with 25 euros each. The corresponding amount will be debited from the account after recording the reported hours (beginning of July)
• Compensation payments are an option instead of parental work; this financial contribution only benefits the school!

Exemption from documentation
In principle, all acting board members and the 4 working group heads of the large working groups are exempt from documentation..

Exceptions and cases of hardship
If due to special circumstances (which are not covered here) you are not able to participate for the full number of required hours or for any hours at all, a (partial) exemption must be applied for in writing to the governing board immediately after these circumstances become known. There is no legal claim to exemption.

• Any activity within a working group assigned by the AG leader.
• Cleaning the shelves and materials in the classrooms and group rooms (compulsory for each family once per school year).
• Taking on class internal assignments, i.e., the assignments must come from the teachers.
• Work that is done on action days at school.
• Assistance with the various events (e.g., summer party, open day)
• Activity within the framework of a “parent project”.
• Design of the “workshop” hours.
• 4 hours may be written down for being on the parents’ council.

• Time for the preparation of cakes and food donations
• Accompany a school class e.g., when ice skating or on excursions
• The taking of minutes or the writing of protocols
• Work that takes less than 15 minutes (this is considered a commitment to the school!)
• Travel time
• The washing of towels
• Exam preparation with your own children, undertaken privately and without consultation with the teachers