Svenja has been part of the Villa Luna team in Aachen since 2017. She initially came as an intern to complete her degree in social education and then just stayed. Svenja works as a teacher in a class named after falling stars, the “Sternenschnuppen” class. She and her colleagues are important caregivers for 12 children ranging from 4 months to 3 years of age.

She structures their day at the day-care centre, which requires an abundance of creative ideas and also a warm and loving heart. “Everyone here is treated so warmly and affectionately. Of course, this applies to the children, but we also get along extremely well with the parents.” Svenja, with her education degree, has an open mind and quickly became familiar with the personalities and individual talents of her charges. This allows her to individually tailor the activities she offers.

Svenja also enjoys working with Lisa, a native speaker of English. “What I really like is the bilingual and international flair that Villa Luna has.” Be it parents and their children living in the nearby cities where Germany borders on Belgium and the Netherlands, or be it Lisa, who comes from Canada: the international atmosphere makes working at Villa Luna very special, according to Svenja.

For the afternoon, she has planned several games for in the gym. But first, the children start their day preparing freshly cut tulips to decorate the classrooms. After that, everyone sits down together for lunch. Svenja is a conscientious teacher. For her, regularly taking the time for smaller groups of children and building options into the activities on offer are two key pillars of high-quality educational work.

The Montessori approach to education has always fascinated her. She likes to use her knowledge of it during her daily work with the children and would love to learn more in further training. Her managers give her a lot of leeway in this matter. “Our head office wants to encourage and nurture the children at the day-care centre. At the same time, it also wants to help us employees pursue our interests.”

Something else that makes Svenja’s work more pleasant: Villa Luna developed and recently introduced tree diagrams to chart and document the children’s development.

Svenja likes spending her breaks in the staff lounge, an oasis of calm far away from the lively to and fro at the day-care centre. Usually, she takes a quick look at her Instagram account, but there’s always something to chat about. “We are more than just people who happen to work together. Sometimes, we even do group activities as a team,” she says with a happy smile.

 “Obviously, being a teacher has its challenges, but there is always time for a joke or some laughter at our Villa Luna!” says Svenja. That is why she enjoys coming to work every day despite also looking forward to getting off work (but who doesn’t?).