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On 9 June 2022, the first nationwide Peuter4daagse was officially launched. In 2023, JOGG and the Royal Dutch Walking Association (KWbN) are once again inviting all toddlers in the Netherlands to walk for fifteen minutes a day for four days at a time of their choosing during the year, around their childcare location.
Peuterbeweging has released the Professions folder. The contents of the folder consist of: a general introduction, instructions for each story, 10 storyboards about Builder Simon Bull, 10 storyboards about Firefighter Olga Elephant, 10 storyboards about Doctor Aagje Monkey and 10 storyboards about Hairdresser Lex Hermit Crab, and 4 cheat sheets (one for each story) to support the implementation of the activity.
Nearly one in three fifth-grade primary school pupils faces stressful situations at home, caused, for example, by financial worries. This is according to research by SEO Economic Research, commissioned by the ABN AMRO Foundation and the Youth Education Fund.
In 2022, during Healthy Youth Week 2022 (7–11 June), the ‘It’s your birthday, let’s celebrate’ campaign was launched for primary schools. During Healthy Youth Week 2023 (12–17 June), the campaign is being expanded to daycare centers and after-school care. They too are being called upon to switch from a policy of treats to a policy of celebration.
Most children feel safe at school and know who they can turn to if there are problems. But many parents do not know what the school does when their child is absent. Almost half of parents even say that the school takes no action when their child is absent from school for a longer period. This is shown by research conducted by Ouders & Onderwijs among 956 parents on the National Parent Panel.
As an education professional, you have intensive contact with the pupils in your class. Besides being concerned about their wellbeing at school, you are also alert to how they feel outside the school walls. Children spend a very large part of their formative years at school. If things are not going well or are even unsafe at home, you are often one of the first people to notice. As an education professional, you can play an important role in helping to create a pleasant home situation. The Netherlands Youth Institute has listed the key points.
On 14 June, education professionals can attend the webinar Attention to relationships and sexuality: where to begin? The webinar is aimed at professionals in primary education, special education, secondary education and vocational education. Participants will receive tips on shaping the theme of Relationships and sexuality using the Healthy School approach.
On Wednesday, 14 June, the sixteenth edition of National Outdoor Play Day will take place. In the run-up to the event, Jantje Beton has written an urgent letter to the mayors of the Netherlands, calling on them to engage in dialogue with children, who have firsthand experience of playing. This is necessary, according to Jantje Beton, because research shows that one in six children never plays outside.
In the 2021–2022 school year, 567 schools participated in the Healthy Relationships & Sexuality incentive scheme of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Among other things, this scheme offers substantive advice, teaching materials, guest lessons and training for teachers. An evaluation by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows that, after the scheme came into effect, 23% of these schools experienced fewer incidents. These included transgressive behaviour and gender discrimination.
To promote equal opportunities in foundational education (primary and secondary education), the voluntary parental contribution in primary education must be abolished, and laptops and tablets for school use in foundational education must be made available free of charge to all students. This is what parent, student and education organisations write in a letter to the House of Representatives.
As part of its approach to subversive juvenile crime, the municipality of Arnhem launched the VIOS project: Safe In and Around School. It is a partnership for school safety involving education, youth work, the police and other parties. Mette van Duijn is involved in this project as its initiator; she set it up two years ago. She talks about it in the online magazine Juvenile Crime published by the Netherlands Youth Institute.
Hundreds of thousands of children in the Netherlands currently spend their break time day in, day out on a bare, paved schoolyard. In warm weather, it is often too hot to play outside, and during heavy rainfall the yard is flooded. Around 60% of primary schools have such an unimaginative, tiled schoolyard. It is time to put an end to that! IVN believes that substantial investment is needed in nature-rich schoolyards, where children can move and play to their heart’s content in the green. That is why IVN has launched a petition.
On 23 May – during European Mental Health Week – the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, sor and Tabitha launched the song ‘It’s Okay’. This marked the start of the new youth campaign ‘Hey, It’s Okay’. With the song, they want to give young people the confidence to talk when they feel, for example, down or stressed.
There is a great need for free school meals. Barely two months after the launch at the end of March 2023, 1,302 primary and secondary schools have already signed up for the School Meals programme. Schools are eligible for the programme if at least 30 percent of their pupils come from a relatively low-income household.
Breda is the winner of the 2023 Golden Carrot. The municipality received this award on Wednesday, 24 May, during School Garden Week, in recognition of its support for school gardening. Eight schools in Breda have recently opened a school garden, and more will be added soon.
From 25 to 29 September 2023, the School & Safety Foundation is organising the Week Against Bullying. This year’s theme is ‘Good for one another!’.
The government is calling on schools to pay attention to mental health during European Mental Health Week, which runs from 22 to 28 May. The call is one of the actions included in the government’s approach, ‘Mental health: all of us’.
On Wednesday 14 June, Jantje Beton and children's channel Nickelodeon are organising the sixteenth edition of National Outdoor Play Day. On this day, the whole of the Netherlands is turned into one big playground. There are already 517 activities taking place throughout the Netherlands.
Every student has the right to a positive, high-quality experience in education. School attendance and participating in education are crucial to this. The ‘Dutch School Attendance Conference: Inspired to Take Action!’ will be held on 16 and 17 November at the Pullman Hotel Eindhoven. Would you like to contribute to the success of the conference? Then send us your idea for a contribution to the programme by Friday 16 June at the latest.
School gardens are hot! Nearly 50,000 pupils from around 500 primary schools in the Netherlands are taking part in the second edition of the Week of the School Garden, which takes place from 22 to 26 May. That is more than double the number from last year, when around 20,000 children encountered the school vegetable garden during this special week.
Corona is over, and remote education seems to be as well. Yet it must remain available for a large group of children who are confined to their homes. For example, children with vulnerable health, including long COVID, but also children who cannot physically attend school for another reason or who are at risk of becoming unable to attend school. Marieke Boon-Mens, special-needs education policy adviser at Ouders & Onderwijs, talks about this in OOMagazine.
A socially safe learning environment should be a self-evident foundation in education. Alida Oppers, Inspector General of Education, said this during the presentation of the State of Education 2023. In this report, the Dutch Inspectorate of Education provides an annual overview of the most important findings in education. Below, Stichting School & Veiligheid highlights a number of topics relating to social safety.
More and more schools are paying attention to sustainability. After all, taking sustainable food choices into account and preventing food waste help reduce the environmental impact of our food. These three tips from the Netherlands Nutrition Centre will help you get started with organising a more sustainable school breakfast and lunch.
How do you organize care for children with intensive care needs in education? The Netherlands Youth Institute, the Association of Disability Care Providers, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, and the GO Sector Council are organizing a Solutions Lab on June 6. The Solutions Lab focuses on the story behind the figures and identifies success factors and bottlenecks.
From 22 to 26 May, the Week of the School Garden will take place. This year, the Week of the School Garden – an initiative of the School Garden Alliance and Jong Leren Eten – is all about sowing together, harvesting together! Almost 500 schools and school garden supporters are taking part with more than 44,000 pupils. They will get to work on fun vegetable garden activities. This way, even more children can experience how enjoyable and educational it is to sow, care for, harvest and taste their own vegetables and fruit.
There used to be many incidents in the schoolyard of De Kans special primary education school in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Now that fewer pupils play outside at the same time, safety has improved and the schoolyard can be used more effectively for exercise and relaxation.
It is spring and summer is on its way. It is wonderful to spend as much time outdoors as possible with the children in your daycare, playing, discovering things and gaining new experiences. Use the daily routine cards from Healthy Childcare for inspiration for all kinds of fun activities you can do with your group (aged 1.5 to 4 years). For example, take a look at the daily routine card ‘outdoor movement’ for all kinds of spring and summer movement games.
Special Heroes Netherlands Foundation trains guest instructors who provide basic lessons on the theme of healthy lifestyles. To this end, they are looking for enthusiastic guest instructors to strengthen the guest instructor team.
As an education policymaker, you want all students to feel safe and enjoy going to school. Bullying does not contribute to a safe climate. What can the school do to prevent and reduce bullying? The Netherlands Youth Institute has listed the options.
Healthy School is looking for new members for the Healthy School Panel. Are you a teacher, mentor, director, care coordinator, internal supervisor or another education professional in primary, special, secondary or senior secondary vocational education (MBO)? And would you like to share your experiences and knowledge about Healthy School approximately three times a year via an online questionnaire? Sign up now.