Over the next three years, IVN Noord, Stichting Kunst & Cultuur and SportDrenthe will be responsible for the 30 schoolyards. Agnes Bakker of IVN Noord has been appointed project leader by the three organisations. In Dagblad van het Noorden, she says she is pleased that the province wants to invest in school environments: “Our ambition is great; ideally, we would tackle all the schoolyards in Drenthe. We notice that there is a great deal of interest from schools, and we want every child and every teacher to have such a pleasant school environment.”
Three of the selected schools are located in the municipality of Borger-Odoorn: Montessorischool Borger, OBS De Meander and CKC de Borgh. Together, they are housed in one multifunctional accommodation. The other five selected schools are RKBS St. Willibordus from Coevorden, CBS De Arendsvleugel from the municipality of De Wolden, KC Anne Frank from the municipality of Meppel, Dalton KC De Wingerd from the municipality of Midden-Drenthe and OBS Schuilingsoord from the municipality of Tynaarlo.
Schools that wish to participate must meet a number of conditions when designing the schoolyard:
- The school must submit a plan.
- The school must arrange co-financing.
- The school must make the schoolyard publicly accessible.
- After school hours, the schoolyard must be available for use by the local community. Teachers must complete training and teach outdoors more often on a structural basis.