A BioS team consists of a physical education specialist, a classroom teacher and an mbo-trained Sport and Physical Activity Professional. As a team, they handle all tasks relating to movement in and around school, including coordinating and carrying out a large part of a Dynamic School Day, as well as, for example, working with childcare professionals on physical activity for toddlers and at out-of-school care, and collaborating with neighbourhood partners to encourage active travel to school and physical activity in the neighbourhood.

The HvA and Stichting Westelijke Tuinsteden (STWT), in collaboration with ROC van Amsterdam and Team Sportservice Amsterdam, piloted the use of BioS teams in 2024 and 2025. The initial results are promising. Physical education specialists feel more strongly involved in pupils’ development because they also have responsibilities outside the gym. They also appreciate being able to exchange ideas with their BioS team colleagues.

Sport and Physical Activity Professionals satisfied

The Sport and Physical Activity Professionals say they appreciate being able to work full-time, rather than having fragmented work before and after school. There are opportunities here, says Bastiaan Plaizier, sports domain manager at ROC van Amsterdam. “Traditionally, our students are trained as sports trainers or instructors. After completing their training, they often have to combine several part-time jobs. For example, they teach sports for a few hours, work at out-of-school care or as a community sports coach. These (former) students are particularly well suited to supporting schools. They can be deployed in the playground, in the classroom, during physical education lessons or for extracurricular activities. Because they often work locally, they can also easily build connections with sports clubs.”

Classroom teachers experience less workload because their pupils are calmer in class as a result of the additional, well-organised physical activity breaks. The deployment of the BioS team also creates more scope for different timetabling arrangements, allowing a classroom teacher, for example, to provide targeted instruction to half the class while the other half is supervised during physical activity.

Example from Nieuw-West

A concrete example comes from Burgemeester de Vlugtschool in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Here, physical education specialist Marlissa Schouten works with sports and games instructor Alex van der Beek. Schouten saw how the school playground often led to conflicts: children who did not play outside after school wanted to let off steam but did not know how. This made breaks unsettled and placed an additional burden on teachers.

With Van der Beek’s support, the playground was redesigned. Zones with clear rules for play were introduced, allowing every child to participate at their own level. Activities were announced on a board in the corridor, and the rules applied both in the classroom and in the playground. This restored calm and enjoyment. Thanks to Van der Beek’s regular involvement, physical education specialist Schouten had more room for coordination and organisational tasks, such as applying for a new playground and sports cage. The use of play equipment and after-school activities was also better organised.

Learning and growing together

Over the course of the school year, the BioS team expanded its activities to include movement breaks. Classroom teachers received support in carrying these out. Van der Beek helped in different classes for a week and demonstrated how movement breaks could easily be integrated. The result: pupils got to work with more energy and focus, while teachers gained new ideas.

According to Schouten, working in a BioS team offers significant added value. “At the ALO, I learned how to teach physical education, but I know less about activities in the playground. Alex sees every day what works. In addition, his activities connect with what we do in the gym. He contributes ideas, creates calm and reduces our workload.”

Van der Beek also considers the collaboration valuable: “During my training, I learned a lot about sport and physical activity, but not so much about pedagogy. By working with teachers, I am learning how they interact with children. At the same time, I can use my expertise to get the school moving.”

Lessons for the future

The experience shows that structural collaboration is crucial. In the initial phase, sports and physical activity professionals were deployed on an ad hoc basis, but this resulted in too little coherence. Only once the division of responsibilities, coordination and policy had been properly formalised did a sustainable effect emerge.

Important lessons for other schools and municipalities are clear:

  • ​​​​Ensure permanent collaboration between classroom teachers, specialist teachers and mbo professionals.
  • Integrate physical activity into policy and the timetable so that it becomes a natural part of the school day.
  • Choose an employment arrangement that guarantees continuity and commitment, for example through salaried employment.

This article also appeared in the Dynamic School Day magazine, which was presented on 24 September 2025 in honour of the annual Dynamic School Day event. More information about the Dynamic School Day can be found on their website.