Workshop Healthy Secondary Education in Motion for PE teachers
During KVLO Limburg’s Spring Event on Wednesday 11 June, Maastricht Sport will give a workshop on Healthy Secondary Education in Motion for PE teachers and other interested parties.
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Towards an integrated approach to gambling in education
A relatively large number of young adults aged 18 to 23 gamble. This is despite the fact that young adults are at greater risk of experiencing negative consequences from gambling. Additional protection for this group is therefore needed. Daphne Visser, a scientific researcher focusing on youth at the Trimbos Institute, explains in this blog what the first steps are. She discusses the new professional development training offered by the Helder op School prevention programme, which teaches education professionals to identify and discuss gambling problems among their pupils or students and to support them.
Social safety in the State of Education 2025
“More than ever, an additional focus on citizenship education is needed,” says Alida Oppers, Inspector General of Education, in the State of Education 2025. “Many schools are still struggling with this important task. Teachers, school leaders and administrators deserve support in the challenging task of ensuring calm, tolerance and respectful dialogue.” School & Safety responds to the State of Education regarding citizenship and social safety in education.
Masterclass on a Safe, Activity-Friendly School Environment
Kenniscentrum Sport & Bewegen, JOGG, Fietsersbond and Wandelnet are organising a two-part masterclass on a Safe, Activity-Friendly School Environment on 13 May and 16 June.
Praktijkschool De Faam in Zaandam makes broad use of school meals budget
At Praktijkschool De Faam in Zaandam, the school meals budget is used broadly so that as many pupils as possible can benefit from it. From a daily sandwich buffet during breaks and fruit in the cafeteria, to grocery bags with products for home and treats on holidays: the offering is varied and thoughtfully designed.
Number of outdoor lessons in primary education increasing
The number of outdoor lessons in primary education has increased over the past ten years, from fourteen times a year in 2016 to twenty times a year in 2025. This is evident from research among DUO teachers commissioned by IVN. The teachers cite increased physical activity among children, providing a pleasant change, the health benefits of fresh air, and the fact that children learn more through play as the main reasons for giving outdoor lessons.
Food education in childcare centers and schools matters
Food education in childcare centers and schools matters. That was the conclusion of the project ‘Assessment of the Effects of Food Education for Young People’, carried out by Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, the Louis Bolk Institute and Maastricht University. The researchers focused on food education in the broadest sense: lessons, experiential learning, food provision and nutrition policies for children and young people (aged 0–18) in childcare centers, primary schools and secondary schools.
Parents: large classes are not good for children
Parents are concerned about the quality of education, safety and atmosphere in large classes, as shown by the annual State of the Parent 2025 report. In classes with more than 26 pupils, parents’ confidence in the quality and safety at school declines sharply. Parents with children in a large class also see that their children go to school less happily than children in a smaller class.
NCJ is looking for schools for a project on alcohol and substance prevention among young children
Are you a teacher of Year 6 and/or 7? And do you think it is important that these children are well prepared for future temptations? Then the Netherlands Centre for Youth Health (NCJ) is looking for you!
Media use among young children is declining, but remains higher than the official recommendation
Children aged 0–6 spend less time on digital media than last year. But at an average of almost an hour and a half per day, this is still more time than recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is shown by the Iene Miene Media monitor conducted by Netwerk Mediawijsheid as part of Media Ukkie Days. In 2025, Media Ukkie Days took place from 4 to 11 April.
Royal Couple officially opens King's Games in Roosendaal
With a twist, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima officially opened the thirteenth edition of the King's Games on Thursday, 17 April. The national opening took place at KPO De Vlindertuin in Roosendaal, where nearly 300 pupils enjoyed a healthy breakfast, a performance by Kinderen voor Kinderen featuring ‘Baila bailalaa’ and all kinds of sporting activities in the presence of the Royal Couple.
Dealing with poverty at school
You may notice that pupils are growing up in poverty. For example, because they do not bring lunch to school or wear shoes that are too small. What can you do as a teacher if you are concerned about this? The Netherlands Youth Institute has listed it for you.
Five more municipalities get to work on Healthy Schoolyards
Once again, five municipalities in our country are getting to work transforming their schoolyards into healthy living environments. Alkmaar, Alphen aan den Rijn, Enschede, Midden-Groningen and Purmerend were selected from the many applications for the Healthy Schoolyards project run by IVN Nature Education and Jantje Beton.
Rutgers, Atria and COC join forces to combat the manosphere and sexual misconduct
Nearly half of Dutch girls experience sexually transgressive behavior. With the growing popularity of misogynistic influencers from the manosphere, such as Andrew Tate, it is more essential than ever that society leave no room for sexually transgressive behavior. That is why Rutgers, Atria and COC are launching the new campaign ‘Small !@#%?-things become big !@#%?-things’ to address sexual misconduct at its source. The organizations are encouraging young people, specifically boys, not to participate in sexist remarks, thereby establishing a new social norm. The campaign is also relevant for schools.
First school garden created according to the IVN School Garden Approach
On 22 March, the Oosterwoldschool Sofia in Almere got their hands in the soil. Together with parents and teachers, work began on creating a school garden. It is the first school garden to be created according to the new IVN School Garden Approach. This approach helps not only with creating a school garden, but also with its management and educational use. To ensure that the programme meets the needs and working methods of primary schools, the approach is being tested at several schools during this school garden season. And the first test garden is now a reality.
Webinar ‘Citizenship Education and Student Participation’
Citizenship plays a crucial role both inside and outside the school. It is the task of schools to guide their students in this. But how do you put this into practice? This will be addressed in the webinar ‘Citizenship Education and Student Participation’ organized by the Netherlands Youth Institute on 15 May from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m.
From grey to green: register your school!
Following the success of the first edition, Praxis and Jantje Beton are joining forces once again to make schoolyards greener. Last year, hundreds of primary school pupils let their creativity run free by drawing and submitting their ideal green schoolyard. Three winning schools were selected, and the schoolyards have since been made greener together with the children, parents and staff. This year, three more primary schools will have the opportunity to transform their grey schoolyard into a green oasis. Registration is open until and including 16 May 2025.
Plan to reintroduce compulsory school swimming scrapped
The plan to reintroduce compulsory school swimming has been scrapped. On Friday, 4 April 2025, State Secretary Vincent Karremans concluded that it would be too expensive and too burdensome for schools, which, in his view, should focus primarily on basic skills such as language and arithmetic. This decision followed the report Making a Splash for Swimming Safety by SEO Economic Research, which examined the costs and benefits of reintroducing the programme.
Wageningen University & Research can continue with Taste Lessons for another four years
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) works with 17 companies in the Food Education Platform (VEP) to make children more aware of healthy and sustainable food choices. With the Taste Lessons programme, VEP now reaches 80 percent of primary schools. Over the next four years, the platform will continue to develop up-to-date food education, thanks to new funding under the Top Sector Policy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).
Recap of the conference Young People in the (Future) Food Environment
On Thursday, 20 March, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre organised the conference Young People in the (Future) Food Environment in the heart of Food Valley. It was a unique, free symposium where the education sector and municipalities met and learned from one another.
Healthy Child Centre in Motion measures children’s physical activity with activity monitors
Since 2019, Maastricht Sport has been collecting data to monitor and further develop the ‘Healthy Child Centre in Motion’ (GKB) programme. Maastricht Sport does this through annual MQ (motor skills) and LQ (lifestyle) scans at all participating schools. In recent years, Maastricht Sport, in collaboration with Fontys Sport & Exercise, has made additional investments in extensive monitoring of children’s physical activity using activity monitors.
Lunch webinar on Wellbeing at School: working towards equal opportunities
The Wellbeing at School programme of Pharos and the Trimbos Institute is organising a lunchtime webinar on 15 April. In this lunchtime webinar, you will learn how taking a whole-school and integrated approach to wellbeing contributes to equal opportunities for pupils and students, and why this is so important.
‘Getting started’ from Healthy School for special education
For schools working according to the Healthy School approach, there is a new, useful digital tool on Your Healthy School: ‘Getting started’. The tool was already available for primary schools, secondary schools and vocational education and training (VET), but schools in specialized education now also have access.
A look behind the scenes at the Healthy Primary School of the Future in Limburg
Have you noticed that healthy snacks, school lunches and more physical activity at primary schools are topics of discussion within your municipality? Are you considering the possibilities of introducing the healthy nutrition and physical activity elements of the Healthy Primary School of the Future (GBT) at schools in your municipality? And would you like to see how other schools have done this? Then come and take a look in Landgraaf on 19 or 27 May.
Province of Utrecht provides vouchers for green schoolyards at primary schools
Primary schools in the province of Utrecht that want to transform a paved schoolyard into a greener, more nature-rich play and learning environment can apply to the province of Utrecht for a voucher of €15,000 and sometimes €20,000 until 30 November 2025.
Discover Healthy School activities during the Online Wellbeing Activities Fair
Would you like to know which Healthy School activities best suit your school? Then register for the online Wellbeing Activities Fair on 20 or 27 May. These events offer you the opportunity to gain inspiration and learn more about the activities available relating to the health theme of Wellbeing.
Vegetable boxes launched at childcare centres in Maastricht
Children at several childcare locations in Maastricht have recently started being offered vegetables every day. This is part of the Groenteboxjes programme, an initiative by JOGG Maastricht, MIK & Spelenderwijs, Maastricht Sport and supermarket ALDI. The goal? To get children used to eating vegetables from an early age and thus lay a healthy foundation for the future.
Green daycare center
There is nothing more fun than venturing out into nature with children. Especially now that spring is almost here again. Put on boots, clothes that can get dirty and withstand a knock or two, and go exploring. Everything is interesting, from a flower to a little beetle and from a large puddle to a pile of branches. You can go out into nature, but you can also bring nature closer. And did you know that research shows that children at a green daycare center sleep better and that the child’s well-being improves? Time to get started.
Week of Inclusive Education
From 10 through 14 March, ‘Naar Inclusiever Onderwijs’ is organizing the Week of Inclusive Education. During this week, schools and collaborative partnerships throughout the country in primary and secondary education will draw attention to the importance of inclusive schools: schools where all students are welcome, learn together at school, grow up together and enjoy a good education.
Step-by-step plan: dealing with online incidents
The ‘Step-by-step plan: dealing with online incidents’ by the School & Safety Foundation is a clear framework for action for schools. The plan shows step by step how a school can deal with an online incident between students—and learn from it for preventive policy. This is necessary because of the major role of social media in our society, meaning that incidents involving social media can also affect the safety and well-being of a school community.