Learning support in the Warendorf district

Lived practice: with the school, in the school

Text last updated: 2025-05-05

Working together for more equal opportunities

Many municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia have already established solutions to increase the take-up of benefits under the education and participation package. The common goal is to break down barriers to take-up in order to promote and support children and young people from low-income families in particular.

Learning support at school: The "BuT model learning location"

The project "BuT-Modell-Lernstandort" in the district of Warendorf uses the possibilities of the education and participation package in the area of learning support through an overall municipal concept in which various stakeholders work together. This has made it possible to measurably reduce the proportion of young people without a school-leaving certificate.

Needs-based learning support

The district anchors learning support (tutoring) "with the school, in the school". This means that the school controls the content of the learning support and sets the framework. Consultation between the various stakeholders enables individualized learning support.

For this purpose, learning assistants from the community (e.g. older pupils, students, paid teachers, OGS employees) are trained via the VHS. They are deployed at the school. They work continuously with the children and are in regular contact with the teachers.

The teachers coordinate the support based on the individual needs of the children and the relevant learning material. Support and encouragement are therefore targeted rather than generalized.

Approval of learning support

A learning disability is first identified by the school management or teacher. The beneficiaries then submit an application for learning support to the Jobcenter (school social workers provide support if required). The job center decides on the application for benefits and settles accounts with the learning support staff on a monthly basis.

The learning support takes place at the school. The school is responsible for organizational matters (e.g. room planning).

Achievements

About half of the approximately 100 schools in the district are now taking part in the program. This is scientifically monitored and the effects are proven:

Based on the SGB II rate of 49.2%, the proportion of school leavers in the district of Warendorf without a secondary school leaving certificate would be expected to be 6.43%. The use of learning support of 10.8% corrects this expectation statistically to 5.59%. The actual figure in the district of Warendorf is significantly lower at 4.19% of school leavers without a secondary general school certificate.

The exceptionally good performance of the district is explained by the special implementation of learning support.

Further information The "BuT model learning location" project

Project name:
BuT model learning location

Theme/focus:
Education and participation package - learning support

Age:
6-18 years

Location/district:
Kreis Warendorf

Contact:
Contact partners can be reached by telephone on 02581 53 5940 or by email at [email protected].

The implementation concept for the "BuT model learning location" of the district of Warendorf can be found here:

In NRW, around 25% of all children and young people under the age of 18 are at risk of poverty. The education and participation package was introduced to create a material basis for equal opportunities. Read here why it is important to promote education and participation.

What are the reasons why families do not make use of the BuT benefits to which they are entitled? The Familienportal.NRW presents studies and tools that address the issue of take-up, present the challenges faced by local authorities and discuss possible solutions to increase the use of BuT benefits.

For parents and families, the Familienportal.NRW has compiled lots of helpful and up-to-date information on the education and participation package.