The Day Care Unit of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is an education and research unit for preschool-aged children (2.5 to 6 years old). The Unit provides children of the members of the academic community, including children of undergraduate and postgraduate students, with education, and offers theoretical and practical training to students of the School of Early Childhood Education.

The Day Care Unit is open Monday to Friday from 7.00am to 19.00pm, from September 1st to June 30th. If the number of children is sufficient, the Unit operates in the summer as well. The Unit is also open during Christmas and Easter vacation periods, but only for a few days.

The Day Care Unit is housed in a building next to the Hydraulics Building of the School of Civil Engineering and behind the Ahepa University General Hospital of Thessaloniki. The Unit is administered by a five-member Administrative Board, composed of faculty members of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. It is supervised by a three-member Scientific Committee, which is composed of faculty members of the School of Early Childhood Education. The Director of the Unit, preschool teachers and nursery teachers, as well as assistants and administrative personnel also offer their services to the Unit.

The Education Programme is based on the Cross Thematic Curriculum Framework for Compulsory Education (known in Greek by the acronym DEPPS) and supervised by the Scientific Committee. It focuses on the emotional, mental, physical and social development of children, applying contemporary teaching approaches. Classes start daily at 8.30am and finish at 16.00pm. The programme includes “flexible zone” activities, games in the schoolyard and/or in multi-purpose rooms, art and physical education activities. There is also a creative activities programme addressed to children who attend classes at the Unit in the afternoon (from 16.00pm onwards).

Registration is held in May each year, and the children of all members of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki are entitled to register. The required documents include:

• A certificate from the school or service of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where at least one of the parent works,
• A marital status certificate and a birth certificate from the relevant Municipality,
• The child’s personal health record booklet, which contains all vital health information about the child’s medical history, including the prescriptions recorded.