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Dutch School Attendance Congress 2025 seeks contributions

Dutch School Attendance Congress 2025 seeks contributions

Every student deserves a positive, valuable educational experience. School attendance is fundamental to this. That is why Ingrado, the Netherlands Youth Institute and the Appropriate Education Support Centre are organising the Dutch School Attendance Congress on 25 and 26 September 2025. The organisers are still looking for session leaders with thought-provoking contributions that offer new insights, promote collaboration and encourage concrete action.

Greening schoolyards and implementing food education in primary schools: can these be combined?

Greening schoolyards and implementing food education in primary schools: can these be combined?

More and more schools are providing food education or greening their schoolyards. A study by the Louis Bolk Institute, in collaboration with Jong Leren Eten, IVN and JOGG, examined how primary schools view combining food education with greening the schoolyard, for example by creating a vegetable garden. Successful implementation appears to depend on vision, support and integration into the curriculum.

Experiment into the effects of plants in the classroom

Experiment into the effects of plants in the classroom

Bloemenbureau Holland, together with GreenBee Foundation, an organization committed to bringing more greenery into classrooms, is launching an experiment into the effect of plants in the classroom on pupils’ well-being and development. During the experiment, primary school classes throughout the Netherlands will receive a lesson on plants and plant care. Each child will receive their own plant and learn how to care for it themselves.

Food Forest Garden Seeks Zwolle Schoolyard

Food Forest Garden Seeks Zwolle Schoolyard

Would you like to teach children how food grows in a challenging and innovative way? And could your schoolyard use a little more greenery? Then an IVN Food Forest Garden could be just right for your school. Children discover edible plants using all their senses. From snacking on fresh blackberries to enjoying the fresh scent of mint. This school year, the Municipality of Zwolle and IVN Overijssel are offering one primary school a free Food Forest Garden.

Movement-friendly school environment

Movement-friendly school environment

Fietsersbond and Wandelnet are joining forces. Together with JOGG and the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Exercise, they are working on a movement-friendly school environment. JOGG coordinators, community sports coaches, policy officers, schools and others involved in this work can find everything they need on the website beweegvriendelijkeschoolomgeving.nl: useful tools, inspiring success stories and extensive information. This enables them to quickly take the first steps together towards a safe and movement-friendly school environment.

RIVM awards National School Breakfast ‘Well Described’ recognition’

RIVM awards National School Breakfast ‘Well Described’ recognition’

The National School Breakfast has received the ‘Well Described’ recognition from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). This recognition highlights the quality and accessibility of the initiative, which is committed to promoting healthy breakfast habits among primary school children. The independent assessment by practical assessors from various health organisations underlines the importance of the intervention and its contribution to the health of young children.

Students avoid dirty and noisy school toilets

Students avoid dirty and noisy school toilets

Half of primary and secondary school students (almost) never defecate in school toilets. They would rather hold it in because they find the toilets too dirty or lack the necessary privacy. Nearly half of school students experience complaints as a result of this ‘withholding behavior’ (43%). For one in six of these students, the complaints are so severe that they have to visit a doctor. This is shown by research conducted by the Maag Lever Darm Stichting (MLDS).

Webinar ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ for education professionals on child abuse

Webinar ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ for education professionals on child abuse

On Monday, 18 November, the Week Against Child Abuse begins. Education professionals play an important role in recognising and supporting children in an unsafe home situation. They can establish contact and stay in contact with the child. But how do you do this in practice? The webinar ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ on 20 November explores this in greater depth and is intended for education professionals in primary education and the lower years of secondary education.

CBS de Lichtboei in Oostwold, Groningen, organised Food Festival for its pupils

CBS de Lichtboei in Oostwold, Groningen, organised Food Festival for its pupils

A visit to an educational farm, a guest lesson about a healthy lunch, a visit to the market: the pupils of Christian Primary School de Lichtboei in Oostwold, Groningen, became acquainted with healthy food in all kinds of ways. To conclude these thematic weeks, a Food Festival was organised. Several parents helped the teachers organise it. What exactly was done and what went on behind the scenes? Jong Leren Eten has put it all together.

Wise lessons from a vegetable garden coach

Wise lessons from a vegetable garden coach

The fact that creating and maintaining a school garden is not something you can simply do on the side is something Charlotte Verhoeve, owner of De Moestuin Juf and Tuinzaam, knows better than anyone. In her nine-year career as a vegetable garden coach in the Zeist and Utrecht area, she regularly saw things go wrong in school gardens. On the Alliantie Schooltuinen website, Charlotte shares the lessons she and schools have learned, so that you can take a different approach.

Infographic on physical activity recommendations for 0–4-year-olds updated: more practical tips

Infographic on physical activity recommendations for 0–4-year-olds updated: more practical tips

Do you work with young children and want to know how much physical activity they need for good health? The infographic from the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity with physical activity recommendations for 0–4-year-olds can help you get started. This infographic was recently updated and now better reflects the needs of professionals in practice. Read about what has changed in this article.

Teacher Ilva explains the benefits of learning through movement

Teacher Ilva explains the benefits of learning through movement

Whether you are being taught about a sum, a word or a letter, every child knows the feeling: after sitting still and listening at their school desks all day, you often remember only half of it. Fortunately, there is a better way to process information: through movement. In fact, learning while moving has countless benefits. Ilva Kuijpers, a teacher of grades 1 and 2 at SpringWijs Primary School in Delft, explains more about it in a blog.

Healthy lunches and exercise at school improve children's math performance

Healthy lunches and exercise at school improve children's math performance

Schoolchildren perform better particularly in mathematics when they eat healthy lunches and engage in varied physical activities at school. This is shown by new research based on data from the Healthy Primary School of the Future (GBT) project. During that project, reading and mathematics tests were administered twice a year. After scientists had previously demonstrated that GBT indeed has highly positive effects on children's health and behavior, they have now also examined its influence on children's academic performance. Particularly in mathematics, the researchers observed that the results continued to improve over a period of four years.

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