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Primary school De Wouter in America, Limburg, has created a picking garden as part of its school grounds. Here, green-fingered pupils can indulge their passion, while the other children can enjoy it too, thanks to the edible greenery growing there (strawberries and raspberries). How does this picking garden tie in with the lessons taught by the teachers at primary school De Wouter?
How do you respond to students’ questions about sex? What do you do if you hear a pupil or student using the word ‘gay’ as a swear word? How do you have a conversation in class about a nude photo that has been shared without permission? The interactive videos How do you handle it? address these dilemmas and how you, as a teacher, can deal with them.
Do you work in or with special education? For the development of teaching materials about healthy and sustainable eating, the Louis Bolk Institute is looking for education professionals who would like to contribute ideas or test teaching materials. The teaching materials are intended for pupils in clusters 3 and 4 of special education and secondary special education.
When Anton Hermans came to Saba in 2014, schools were not yet very aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. On Saba, the Public Entity works with JOGG to create a healthy environment. Together with the Public Health Department and the schools, efforts are being made to create a healthier school environment. In the meantime, significant steps have already been taken in the right direction. One of the most important is the growing awareness of why this is important.
At the beginning of the school year, in September, Stichting School & Veiligheid once again organised Anti-Bullying Week, this year with the theme ‘Just Kidding! Surely That’s Allowed?!’ During that one week, an enormous number of schools watched the opening video and carried out lessons. But what actually remains afterwards? Shouldn’t we remain actively committed to preventing bullying every year, throughout the entire year?
On Monday, 7 November, Youth Day 2022 took place at the Westergas venue in Amsterdam. A day filled with non-stop inspiring stories, informative sessions and talk shows. The full programme is now available online. You can watch 55 sessions about inspiring, in-depth and innovative topics concerning young people. These include several sessions about schools and childcare. Part 3 focuses on the two sessions in the Machinegebouw room and the first two sessions in the Ketelhuis room.
On Wednesday, 14 December, the Standing Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport of the House of Representatives debated lifestyle and prevention. A ban on marketing aimed at children was high on the agenda. And not without reason. New research by research agency Ruigrok, commissioned by JOGG, shows that unhealthy advertising on social media influences young people.
The number of reports of sexually transgressive behaviour in education is increasing. It is important for school board members and school leaders to know what they can do about it. That is why a broad alliance has published ‘As small as possible, as large as necessary; dealing with ’.
On Monday, 7 November, For the Youth Day 2022 took place at the Westergas venue in Amsterdam. A day filled with non-stop inspiring stories, substantive sessions and talk shows. The full programme is now available online. You can watch 55 sessions about inspiring, in-depth and innovative youth-related topics. These include several sessions about schools and childcare. Part 2 focuses on the session in the WesterLiefde room and the two sessions in the Amsterdam Flavours room.
On 9 December, a record number of nearly three thousand schools will take part in Purple Friday. Hundreds of thousands of pupils, students and teachers across the Netherlands will wear purple and organise activities to celebrate that everyone is allowed to be themselves. Purple Friday is an initiative of COC Netherlands.
Over the coming years, the MIND Us Foundation will undertake activities to improve young people’s mental health. The activities are set out in the action plan It’s about you!, which was presented on 6 December. MIND Us’s action plan focuses on three areas of life that are important to young people: the neighbourhood and leisure activities, education and the online world.
Teenagers often experience sexual violence and are also more likely than primary school-aged children to become victims of an offence again. This is shown by the new Monitor on Victims of Sexual Violence against Children 2017–2021. According to National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children Conny Rijken, more effective prevention and appropriate assistance for victims are needed. There is also still much to be gained for schools.
That is why, from 7 to 10 November, together with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Association of Sports and Municipalities, NOC*NSF, the Mulier Institute, KVLO, Community Sports Coaches and the Lecturers Platform, we organised the Week of Motor Skills, with the theme: ‘learned young, practised for life’. A digital magazine about the week has now been published. In it, you can rewatch all the webinars, read additional interviews and find golden tips.
Municipalities will be given the legal authority to prohibit the establishment of new fast-food restaurants or snack bars near a school. State Secretary Van Ooijen wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives. The measure is part of the government’s efforts to combat obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.
On Friday, 25 November 2022, the annual UN campaign Orange the World began. During this campaign, the fight against, among other things, sexual violence is central. More than 90 countries are taking part in Orange the World. The campaign runs until 10 December – International Human Rights Day. One of the places where the taboo surrounding sexuality can be broken is at school.
On Wednesday 14 December, Gezonde School is organising the networking event Joining forces for a healthy youth. Are you a board member, director, manager, project leader or otherwise involved at an administrative level in promoting a healthy lifestyle for pupils and students in primary education, special education, secondary education or secondary vocational education? Sign up and gain inspiration for strengthening and embedding local administrative cooperation. You can register up to and including 9 December.
Children need to move; the playground is more than stones and a climbing frame, education is more than a classroom, playing outside is more than a break, and designing and developing a school is about more than square metres. It has to be different, and it has to happen now! That is what Product Market Manager Children & Nature at IVN Nature Education Vincent van der Veen and Playful Learning programme leader at Jantje Beton Marlies Bouman assert. “A child has less outdoor space at school than a free-range chicken.”
Stichting School & Veiligheid endorses Minister Dennis Wiersma’s message that schools must actively and continuously continue working on a socially safe school climate. On 18 November, he wrote to the House of Representatives about this in the parliamentary letter ‘Free and safe education’.
On Wednesday, 16 November 2022, Healthy School Day took place. An inspiration tour celebrated the fact that one third of all Dutch schools in primary education, secondary education and secondary vocational education now work structurally and sustainably on a healthy lifestyle according to the Healthy School approach. On Healthy School Day, Healthy School coordinators could take a look at other schools for inspiration. There were separate ‘school trips’ for primary, secondary and vocational education.
On Wednesday, 16 November 2022, Minister Van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) planted the first tree during the 65th National Celebration of Tree Celebration Day. This took place at the tree-growing business park, Business Centre Treeport (BCT), in the municipality of Zundert. The minister also took part in a panel discussion on how governments, businesses and other parties in the province of North Brabant can make the Netherlands greener. They discussed how to actively involve children and young people so that they can make their own living environment greener.
Ensure that the free school meals, which will be introduced next year at the initiative of the House of Representatives, do not merely fill stomachs, but also provide nutritious food in line with the Wheel of Five. This is the appeal made to the House of Representatives by JOGG, the Alliance for Nutrition for a Healthy Generation, the Healthy Primary School of the Future Implementation Foundation, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Wageningen University & Research, the Alliance against Child Poverty, and the JOGG municipalities of Hoeksche Waard, Utrecht, Rheden, Overbetuwe, Wageningen, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Ede, Dordrecht and Venlo.
It could not be more appropriate on the eve of December: in the new folder of the Toddler Movement method, ‘Celebration’ is the central theme. Naturally, attention is paid to the two important December celebrations, St Nicholas and Christmas. In addition, there are two more celebrations: Easter and Birthday.
Free school meals with healthy products are a good idea for more than one reason. Why? Expert Iris Groenenberg, an expert in nutrition and health at the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, explains in the blog below.
On Monday, 7 November, the 20th edition of the National School Breakfast was opened by Paralympic tennis champion Esther Vergeer at Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem. During this week, 400,000 children from approximately 2,000 schools across the Netherlands are having breakfast at school to learn more about the importance of a healthy breakfast as a good start to the day. And this is urgently needed, as child poverty is rising in the Netherlands, along with the risk that more children will go to school without breakfast. To ensure that all primary school children in the Netherlands start the day with a healthy breakfast at school, the National School Breakfast, in cooperation with its product partners, wants to scale up the event and offer breakfast to children who need it throughout the year. The National School Breakfast is discussing this with the Child Poverty Alliance, JOGG and other partners.
On 9 December, it will be Purple Friday again. The major campaign day of the GSA Network (Gender & Sexuality Alliance), a student group committed to promoting respect for sexual and gender diversity. Will your school be turning purple too?
Until a few years ago, the Mayors’ Breakfast, at which primary school pupils joined the mayor for breakfast at city hall, was a regular part of the National School Breakfast in November. This year, the organisers turned it into two events in order to create extra attention for the importance of a healthy breakfast for children: the Mayors’ Breakfast took place from 3 to 7 October, while the National School Breakfast is being held this week, from 7 to 11 November. Both the Mayors’ Breakfast and the National School Breakfast are organised by the Dutch Bakery Centre.
As of October 31, the helpdesk of the School & Safety Foundation has a new name: Advice Point School & Safety. The work of the Advice Point remains the same: supporting education professionals with questions about social safety with advice and practical assistance. The new name makes the service clearer, namely: providing education professionals with advice on social safety issues.
Tuesday is a day of celebration at De Vlieger primary school in Hoensbroek (Limburg), because that is when the Kitchen Garden Man comes by. “Hey, do you know the Kitchen Garden Man?” Simon Eurlings’s nephews sang when they enthusiastically watched him, now working as the Kitchen Garden Man, growing his own vegetables.
Many young people, as well as an increasing number of young children, experience the daily problems of poor sleep and stress. Worrying about school and/or the situation at home, as well as smartphone use, are cited by children in various studies as the culprits. At school, this can manifest itself in concentration or behavioral problems and poorer academic performance. As a teacher, this can be quite challenging. That is why GGD ZHZ, JOGG ZHZ, GGD Haaglanden and HAGG, in collaboration with JOGG nationwide and Glos Educatief, are launching the website www.uitgerustindeklas.nl. The website contains information and lesson suggestions for teachers to address the topic with parents and at school, and to organize a theme week. Slaapoefentherapie Nederland provided videos with relaxation exercises that can be done at school and at home. Over the coming year, the lesson suggestions and ideas will continue to be expanded.
De Helix public primary school in Heerhugowaard works with Healthy School on Well-being. Among other things, they do this with PBS (Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support). They have been working with this approach for quite a few years, and it contributes to a positive and safe atmosphere at the school. Teachers Marjolein Jonker and Nadine de Haan explain why it works at their school.