Germany

Placement locations

Germany is a country full of storybook landscapes, moody forests, romantic river valleys and vast vineyards. Germany offers great scenery, a spirit-lifting culture, big cosmopolitan cities and gothic architecture. Placements in Germany are located in Esslingen or the small town of Dahlenburg. If you decide to volunteer in Germany you will get the best of both worlds living close to rural landscapes, as well as vibrant cities.

Roles explained

Schools Assistant – Nursery School

You will be working as an assistant in a nursery school of around 20 children between the ages of 0-3 years. We are currently only offering one placement in Germany, which gives volunteers the opportunity to fully integrate themselves with other members of staff and the wider community.

Schools Assistant – Boarding School

Working in a boarding school you will be involved in many day to day activities contributing to the running of the school and ensuring the happiness and safety of the resident children. Duties may include assisting teachers in classrooms, aiding with extracurricular activities such as sports, music or drama and also assisting in the teaching of conversational English. There may also be some administrative or maintenance work involved. Our hosts are keen for volunteers to help out and be involved in as many ways possible!

Programme details

Nursery School

As a nursery assistant in Germany you will be kept busy with a range of duties and responsibilities. Working 39 hours per week, you will assist permanent teachers in the daily running of the nursery, which will include spending time with the children, preparing breakfast and helping with feeding times. You will also help to organise and lead activities for the children such as: walking, playing, singing and going for picnics.

As an English speaker, you will be encouraged to bring your language skills to the role as much as possible. Although the children you will be working with will be relatively young, simple games which introduce them to basic English vocabulary and phrases will help to kick-start an understanding and appreciation for the language in later years. Imagination and enthusiasm are crucial to this role, as you will be seeking to keep children interested and engaged through the use of interactive activities and fun games. Our hosts are also keen for you to bring your own skills and interests to the role. Arts and crafts are particularly popular with nursery children, and volunteers are also advised to come prepared with a good repertoire of English nursery rhymes!

Boarding school

Working as a volunteer with our boarding school host in Germany is a varied and rewarding experience. Our host is keen to get the most out of volunteers and so you will certainly be busy! The school will utilise your strengths, whether that is sports, music or drama or anything else which can contribute towards clubs and the running of other activities. Volunteers will also be expected to help with conversational English and run sessions in order to help pupils; this may be as part of a lesson or in smaller groups.

Life at the school is busy and so volunteers duties will reflect this, however there is ample opportunity to be involved with a range of activities and the school are very supportive of volunteers’ interests and will encourage volunteers to get involved in as many areas of school life as possible. On top of day to day activities volunteers will also be expected to help on boarding duties and activities outside of school hours for the benefit of the boarding pupils.

Accommodation and food

Nursery School

Food and accommodation will be provided by your hosts. You will live in an en-suite room in a flat shared with other young people, around a 10 minute walk away from the nursery. Breakfast, lunch and an afternoon meal will be eaten with the children in the nursery, but an allowance of around 300 euros per month will be provided for additional living costs.

Boarding School

Food and accommodation will be provided by the school. The accommodation will be on-site in the form of a teachers / student flat or similar. It will be basic but comfortable. Food will be provided by the school in the canteen.*

*Please note, this placement is new and these details are subject to change as details from host are updated

Is it for me?

If working independently and in a varied setting is something you thrive on then a placement in Germany could be for you! As we only offer one placement in Germany you will need to be aware that you are the only Lattitude Global Volunteering volunteer there and therefore it is vital that you are happy to integrate yourself in the local community. The placements offer a huge amount of variety and an opportunity to share and perfect skills and interests you already have.

Need to know

• Pre departure briefing - all volunteers are invited to a group briefing prior to departure
• On arrival - volunteers travel straight to their placement for an onsite orientation run by their host

Free time and travel

Germany is a treat for any discerning traveller. During your holidays you must take advantage of being on the continent to visit the likes of Berlin and Munich, as well as neighbouring countries such as France, Belgium and Switzerland (which are actually closer to Esslingen than the capital itself!). Foodies can also follow their nose around the country, sampling the likes of bratwurst, sauerkraut and the authentic pretzel. In Esslingen you will also be close enough to the Black Forest to spend a day trip or weekend trying the region’s world-renowned gateau, and perhaps climb a mountain or two to burn off the calories afterwards!

If at our nursery placement you might spend an evening wandering Esslingen’s beautifully quaint streets, sampling some hearty, fresh produce at the local farmers market and admire buildings that date as far back as the 1200s. In autumn you could visit a nearby vineyard, while in December be sure to grab some Speculoos and Glüwein at the Christmas market in the centre of town. At the weekend, hop on some public transport and in 15 minutes find yourself in Stuttgart, home of Mercedes Benz and the Porsche. If cars don’t float your boat, there are plenty of other things to see. Take a bath in one of the city’s mineral springs, soak up the atmosphere at a VfB Stuttgart football match or wander through the city’s numerous parks and gardens. Also, although most of your colleagues will have a good level of English, it is a good idea to dedicate some of your spare time to learning German. Our boarding school placement, is located about 85km south-east of Hamburg on the northern edge of the Lüneburg Heath. The campus includes 200 acres of woodland, a pond, pastures, barns, school and dormitory buildings. Although the school began in a traditional manor house and its accompanying buildings, today’s campus combines traditional and modern architectural elements. It has an air of openness and cosiness at the same time and the different functions of the buildings – dormitories, instructional facilities, maintenance buildings, cafeteria – are intentionally interwoven. Close by is the River Elbe, a popular local recreation area. Marienau is a part of the joint community of Dahlenburg, a town located halfway between Lüneburg and Dannenberg. The old Hanseatic League city of Lüneburg with its historic city centre, cinemas, theatres, university, museums, and restaurants is worth a visit. The area also offers opportunities for horseback riding and golf. Luhmühlen is famous for its international riding competitions.

Costs

Lattitude Global Volunteering fee:
All departures: £2,500

As part of the placement the following is provided:

What’s included?

• Accommodation & food (provided by hosts)
• Pocket money
• In-country support
• Debrief
• 24/7 support
• In depth matching process to align your skills and interests with a placement that really suits you
• Assigned Volunteer Coordinator to help with all pre-departure support and offer guidance
• Pre-departure briefing

Please note this fee does not include the cost of getting to Germany or extras such as insurance or any inoculations you may need. For an estimated break down of all costs you may have to budget for please click here

Fundraising

As a charity we always recommend our volunteers fundraise to help meet the costs involved in volunteering overseas. In many ways it is part of the whole experience. For more information and fundraising ideas please click here

Planning your trip

*Application deadline refers to the time by which your application must have been accepted and the £25 interview deposit paid.

Please note that the deadline is the last possible time allowed to get an application form in that allows us enough time to match volunteers and begin sorting out visas.

We always recommend applying as early as possible in order to secure your place.

We are currently accepting applications for departures in 2016 and 2017.

Volunteer in Germany apply: now>>