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During School Garden Week (8–12 April 2024), the School Gardens Handbook was published. On 11 April, the first copy was presented to Piet Adema, outgoing Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries, by Annerie Rutenfrans of Beleef en Weet Consultancy on behalf of all the authors. The School Gardens Handbook is a publication of the School Gardens Alliance.
Jantje Beton and children's channel Nickelodeon are organizing the seventeenth edition of National Outdoor Play Day on Wednesday, June 12. On this day, the whole of the Netherlands will be turned into one big playground. Jantje Beton and Nickelodeon are calling on parents, neighborhoods, playgrounds, schools, after-school care centers, youth clubs, companies, and municipalities to organize an outdoor play activity especially on this day. There are already 262 activities taking place throughout the Netherlands.
Discrimination is one of the reasons why children and young people are bullied. They are bullied because of certain characteristics, such as their background, sexual orientation, skin colour or disability. The Netherlands Youth Institute has created a special page about discrimination and bullying, and what you can do about it. The information is also relevant for education professionals.
The JOGG Approach contributes to a healthier living environment for children and young people. But this has not yet been achieved everywhere. To increase its impact, it is particularly important to better engage parties for whom a healthy lifestyle is not part of their ambitions. This is shown by scientific research conducted by the Mulier Institute, Amsterdam UMC and Erasmus MC.
On Wednesday, 17 April 2024, the Met Alle Respect! education conference, organised annually by Stichting School & Veiligheid, took place for the ninth time. The conference was well attended both on location (Gooiland, Hilversum) and online. In a brief report, School & Veiligheid looks back particularly on the plenary (morning) session.
What information do you need to involve parents in developing a healthy nutrition policy? What do you expect from the Healthy School advisor? What barriers do you experience when getting started with improving students’ health? Share your thoughts and give your opinion on the Healthy School panel! The answers to these kinds of questions help the Healthy School programme ensure that its products and services align even better with everyday practice.
In its approach to subversive juvenile crime, the municipality of Arnhem launched the VIOS project: Safe In and Around School. A partnership for school safety between education, youth work, the police and other parties. The Netherlands Youth Institute spoke with Mette van Duijn, who is involved in this project as its initiator.
In addition to the Dutch Inspectorate of Education, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) also visits schools and educational institutions. Among other things, this inspectorate monitors the smoking ban, the safety of playground equipment and food safety in canteens. The NVWA usually visits without prior notice.
The Huidfonds is organizing the Sunshine Week for childcare locations for the sixth time. This year, the week will take place from 27 to 31 May.
Last Friday, 26 April, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima gave the starting signal for the King’s Games in Hoofddorp. The Royal Couple joined the King’s Breakfast, opened the sporty Orange celebration with children from primary schools KBS Klippeholm and CBS Vesterhavet, and discovered all kinds of sports. They did so during their tour of the sporting programme, as the twelfth edition of the King’s Games was themed ‘Discover!’.
This year, the nineteenth edition of Spring Fever Week took place from 4 to 8 March 2024. Rutgers would like to know how schools experienced Spring Fever Week this year. Rutgers is therefore calling on schools to complete the survey about it.
On Tuesday, 4 June, the Getting a Grip on Sound congress will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Yuoinity Utrecht. During the congress, the findings and recommendations from the Getting a Grip on Sound research will be presented. The congress is aimed at policymakers, school boards, municipalities, researchers, physical education teachers and other interested parties.
Healthy nutrition, sufficient exercise, and cultural and talent development are beneficial to the development of every child. With the Healthy Primary School of the Future concept, these become a regular part of the primary school day. JOGG, Healthy School, the Healthy Primary School of the Future Foundation, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, Maastricht University, the Youth Sports & Culture Fund, and the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity are working together to provide the best possible support to schools and municipalities that want to work with the Healthy Primary School of the Future. The new online platform for the Healthy Primary School of the Future will help them do so.
Special Heroes has noticed that there is a growing need among the centres that collaborate with Special Heroes to pay more attention to the lifestyle of children and young people. That is why Special Heroes is organising a symposium on 28 June that will be of interest to professionals in rehabilitation centres (rehabilitation physicians and therapists), day-care centres for children (physicians for the intellectually disabled, therapists and support staff) and special education (directors and teachers).
Do you work as a professional in primary, special or secondary education, and is your team struggling to know how to act when it comes to the cultural and religious diversity of your pupils? Many education professionals have indicated to Gezonde School that they would like to learn more about this diversity and how best to address it within relationship and sexuality education. That is why Gezonde School is organising the webinar ‘Addressing cultural and religious diversity’ on 29 May from 15:00 to 16:00.
On Tuesday, April 9, National Outdoor Lesson Day was celebrated at many schools. At De Bonckert primary school in Boxmeer, the day was extra special. They learned that, thanks to teacher Veronique’s registration, they had won the outdoor lesson with forest ranger Tim. On Wednesday, April 10, forest ranger Tim visited De Bonckert.
LGBTQIA+ people are bullied, discriminated against and excluded twice as often as heterosexual people*. They also feel less safe at school and are bullied more often. What can you do to make school a more pleasant place for these students? And in doing so, increase social safety for everyone?
The Amsterdam Family School approach broadens students’ horizons and improves their wellbeing. It also succeeds in increasing parental involvement and tackling poverty in a targeted way. This is evident from research by the University of Amsterdam, the Kohnstamm Institute and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Groningen is the winner of the 2024 Golden Carrot. The municipality received this award on Friday, 12 April, during School Garden Week, in recognition of its years of support for school gardening. The municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland received an honorable mention.
This week is School Garden Week. On Tuesday, April 9, National Outdoor Learning Day took place at numerous primary schools across the Netherlands, featuring the Big Potato Lesson. At De 4 Heemskinderen primary school in Etten-Leur, the day was made extra festive because the new neighborhood school garden was also opened.
The school day offers many opportunities to encourage children to exercise more. For example, during break time or in the classroom. But how do you do this as a school? And which elements are important to make this a structural part of the school day? Marthe Westerbroek, Sofie Vreeswijk, Robin Rauws and Amika Singh of the Mulier Institute investigated this by visiting four primary schools that are actively working on this.
On Tuesday, 9 April 2024, the award ceremony for the ‘Most Sporty Primary School in the Netherlands’ took place in Zwolle. An expert jury selected CBS De Waterhof from Delft as the winner. The KVLO (Royal Association for Physical Education) and the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Exercise organised this festive final day in cooperation with Windesheim University of Applied Sciences.
Food education for every child. That is Skillz2Grow's mission. Because exercise is also important in learning a healthy lifestyle, Skillz2Grow combines the two in the ENERGIE intervention. Professionals teach through active learning, and students learn important knowledge about topics including the Wheel of Five through fun and interactive movement games.
On 3 April, Jantje Beton sounded the alarm at Natuurspeeltuin De Hoef in Utrecht with the Outdoor Play Alarm. New research figures show that fewer and fewer children are playing outside. Not playing outdoors causes serious physical and mental health problems among children, such as obesity, poor eyesight, depression and insomnia. If this continues, we will lose an entire generation to ‘staying indoors’. The Outdoor Play Alarm is also important for professionals in education and childcare.
When it comes to media education, professionals in education, childcare and other fields often feel insufficiently competent to advise parents. But professionals already have the necessary knowledge, emphasizes Nick van Hummel, an adviser at the Netherlands Youth Institute. “Media education largely requires the same from parents as the rest of parenting. Compare media education with learning to ride a bicycle. That makes it easier for parents to understand the importance of media education. After that, it is your role as a professional to encourage that media education. Without judgment, and from a position of interest.”
In 2023, eleven schools in Zuid-Holland received a provincial subsidy to make their paved schoolyards greener. This also creates a green space for the neighbourhood. They are De Vrije School and De Blijberg in Rotterdam, Nutsschool Woonstede, SBO Merlijn and the Tamaraschool in The Hague, Mozaiëk in Delft, Pieter Bas in Capelle aan den IJssel, Cascade in Leidschendam–Voorburg, De Wereldwijzer in Vlaardingen, Haanstra in Leiden and De Regenboog in Ooltgensplaat.
Do you consider sustainability important? Do you have the solution to make your school greener? Or do you dream of a school where everyone can contribute to a sustainable future? Then take part in the Sustainability in Education Challenge, an initiative of the Ministries of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W), and Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK). Submissions can be made until 5:00 p.m. on 19 April.
From 5 to 12 April, the Media Ukkie Days 2024 will take place. During the Media Ukkie Days, extra attention is devoted to media education for children aged 0 to 6. The Media Ukkie Days are also important for professionals in childcare and primary education.
In 2024, ten Utrecht primary schools will receive support from the Municipality of Utrecht to promote healthy lifestyles among pupils. Through the Healthy Weight at School programme, the Municipality of Utrecht, together with the schools, encourages healthy eating and sufficient physical activity through education, reaching approximately 2,200 children in 2024. The initiative is an important part of the new Healthy Weight Utrecht Youth 2024–2027 implementation programme.
Last week, the nominated schools were visited by athletic YouTubers, top athletes, and leading coaches. They worked with the pupils on freerunning, breakdancing, skateboarding, gymnastics, and acrobatics. During the opening on April 9, the pupils from the nominated schools will compete against each other in an athletic way, during what is known as an informal battle. Margarethaschool from Arnhem and CBS De Waterhof from Delft have been nominated for the title of Most Athletic Primary School in the Netherlands. The jury visited the schools earlier.