(hier gehts zur Deutschen Version)
Dear parents,
The Hort in Gockhausen facilitates the organization of extracurricular care for many working parents. It is open from Monday to Friday during school weeks, and an increasing number of children who visit the Hort proves the importance of this service.
Currently, the Hort in Gockhausen remains closed during school holidays. Two Horts in Dübendorf are open during school holiday from Monday to Friday (in German: “Ferienhort”). These serve all Hort children in the community of Dübendorf. For various reasons, the Ferienhort in Duebendorf is hardly used by the parents from Gockhausen. We assume that if a Ferienhort would be available in Gockhausen itself, more families would be using its services.
Two years ago, the Elternzirkel Gockhausen (EZ) had an exchange with the city of Dübendorf regarding the possibility of opening a Ferienhort in Gockhausen. A survey was run by the EZ among all parents in order to find out how many people would be interested in it. The results were discussed with Mr. Marcel Ruegg, head of the extracurricular services in Dübendorf. Unfortunately, although our survey showed that about 20-30 children would potentially register to Ferienhort in Gockhausen, Mr. Ruegg has turned down our request. The main arguments against a Ferienhort in Gockhausen were:
1. The actual number of registrations of children from Gockhausen to the Ferienhort in Dübendorf was (unsurprisingly) too low
2. The overall number of registrations to the two Ferienhorts in Dübendorf did not reach the maximum for justifying the opening of another Ferienhort.
Since this last attempt, more families have moved to Gockhausen, and the number is expected to further increase. We believe that the number of people who are interested in a Ferienhort here has increased as well. We would therefore like to resume the Ferienhort project.
First, we would like to get an updated view on how many people would be interested in a Ferienhort in Gockhausen. We need information that is as precise as possible. Next, we will discuss the issue again with the Mr. Ruegg. There are further points we would like to raise this time. For example, we believe that one of the reasons parents are not using the Ferienhort at Duebendorf is that it is not in walking distance, and that getting there – either by public transportation or by car – is a hassle for working parents.
Please note that this survey is intended at ALL parents with children in KG-6th grade – not only parents of children who already visit Hort during school weeks.
Importantly, the regulations allow only children who attend the regular Hort to register to Ferienhort. We realize some of you would be happy to have their children go only to Ferienhort, but we doubt that this rule can be changed by our initiative. Nonetheless, we assume that having an option of a Ferienhort in Gockhausen may encourage some parents to register to regular Hort times. Therefore, anyone who may be interested in a Ferienhort in Gockhausen is encouraged to answer the survey.
Please also note that there is no Ferienhort on legal and local holidays, the middle three summer vacation weeks, and the days between Christmas and New Year.
Your cooperation is very important! The more responses we get, the better the chances to convince the city that there is a real demand for a Ferienhort in Gockhausen, or at the least suggest a reasonable solution. We would appreciate if you could take a few minutes to participate in this short survey.
If you have questions, please reach us at: ferienhort@elternzirkel-gockhausen.ch.
Many thanks and best regards,
Elternzirkel Gockhausen