Planning an outing with the after-school club (Hort): what applies in Berlin

In the Hort, an outing is legally called an outing. In Berlin it belongs to supplementary support and care (ergänzende Förderung und Betreuung, eFöB) and has its own rules, which differ from a class Wandertag. Here is what the regulations say, who pays and what belongs in your planning.

What a Hort outing is

The Berlin regulation on school events assigns outings to extracurricular or supplementary support and care. They usually last a few hours, participation is voluntary, and they may also take place during the school holidays. That sets the Hort outing apart from the Wandertag and the excursion, where attendance is compulsory.

Who leads and who supervises

Leadership and supervision lie with a social education worker. Further educational staff of the school can join; other suitable people only when the school management asks them to.

The supervision regulation counts supplementary support and care among school events, so its rules also apply in the Hort. It names no fixed number of accompanying adults: how many you need depends on the age, maturity and size of the group and on the activity. The principle is active supervision, where the children feel supervised even if not every child is in view all the time. For bathing, bike tours and other riskier activities, the regulation generally requires at least two supervisors per group.

Parental consent

Because participation is voluntary, a note to parents with a reply slip is worthwhile. For walking routes off the school grounds without an adult, the regulation is clear: in years 1 to 3 children need written parental consent, and from year 4 the school decides case by case. Photos and videos of the children also need parental consent, and publishing them needs separate consent.

Who pays

Parents or guardians bear the cost of one-day events, and the regulation points to the education and participation package (BuT). In 2023 the Berlin Senate confirmed in answer to a parliamentary question that this also applies to the Hort: it covers events of the school and of supplementary support and care, including in the holidays. Families with a berlinpass-BuT therefore do not pay for the outing themselves; for day trips they show the berlinpass-BuT at the school. How the billing works in detail is in our article on the education package. Whether there is an extra budget for outings is best checked with your provider or the school management.

Outings in the holidays

The holidays leave time for longer outings in the Hort. The next Berlin school holidays are the winter holidays from 1 to 6 February 2027 and the Easter holidays from 22 March to 2 April 2027. In February it gets dark early, so a morning start gives you enough room.

What belongs in your planning

The note to parents should cover meeting point and times, food, weatherproof clothing and what the children should bring. On the day itself, a list of who is in which small group helps, plus emergency numbers with every member of staff. Check the route once beforehand: where are places to take a break, where are toilets, where does it get narrow along a road?

As a destination for a Hort outing: Localnauts is a GPS scavenger hunt for children aged 8 to 12 through the Bohemian Village in Rixdorf. The children play in teams of 3 to 5, one device per team, and all teams can start at the same time. Whether the teams walk on their own is decided by the school under its supervision rules and with the parents' consent. The route runs over cobblestones and is not suitable for wheelchairs.