New policy vision on sexual health
More concrete core objectives should help education improve young people’s sexual education. The core objectives are part of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport’s new policy vision on sexual health.
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Healthy School and eating at school
There is currently a great deal of attention being paid to breakfast and lunch at school. This raises all kinds of questions. Why, for example, should you offer school lunches? And what should you pay attention to? Healthy School answers some of these questions.
JOGG managing director Marjon Bachra: Free school lunches must be healthy too
During the third national edition of NLvitaal, held on Saturday 8 October, JOGG managing director Marjon Bachra called for healthy food not to be forgotten in plans for free school lunches in vulnerable neighbourhoods.
‘How can you make school days more dynamic?’
From 7 to 10 November inclusive, the third edition of the Week of Motor Skills will take place. This year’s theme is ‘Learned young is practised for life’. On 8 November, from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m., there will be a session of interest to primary education professionals: ‘How can you make school days more dynamic?’
Active school day high on the agenda for physical education teachers
For most physical education teachers, implementing an active school day is high on the agenda. They are thinking of activities such as active learning, exercise breaks at school and outdoor play. This is shown by research conducted by Sofie Vrieswijk, Suzan Nouwens and Maxine de Jonge of the Mulier Institute among physical education teachers.
Healthy School Day on Wednesday, 16 November
On Wednesday, 16 November, Healthy School Day will take place. Is your school a Healthy School? And are you a Healthy School coordinator? Then you can register for a ‘school trip’ on this day. You will visit colleagues from other Healthy Schools to gain inspiration. This will give you ideas for the next step in promoting a healthy lifestyle at your school.
Primary schools get to work with soil life
Would you like to explore soil life with your class? You can! IVN Nature Education has developed the w-onderwereld teaching package especially for the lower, middle, and upper grades of primary education, to help children become more aware of soil life.
‘Starting young with exercise: how do you approach it?’
From 7 through 10 November, the third edition of the Week of Motor Skills will take place. This time, the theme is ‘What is learned young is done old’. On 9 November, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., there will be a session of interest to professionals in childcare and education: ‘Starting young with exercise: how do you approach it?’
Sex education in schools needs to be much better
Sex education in schools needs to be much better. This is the view not only of young people, who give the sex education they receive at school a mediocre 5.8. Teachers, educational organisations and centres of expertise agree with them. That is why the Rutgers knowledge centre has drawn up a Manifesto for better sex education, supported by 37 organisations. The manifesto calls on the government to take the lead. On Monday 3 October, the manifesto was presented to Education Minister Dennis Wiersma and the government commissioner for sexually transgressive behaviour, Mariëtte Hamer.
How do you, as a teacher, foster resilience?
“If you are restless as a teacher, so is a pupil,” says a primary school teacher. The well-being of teachers is of great importance—for themselves, their performance, and the well-being of pupils. How do you, as a teacher, maintain balance and resilience? Aniek de Lange, Youth Project Officer at the Trimbos Institute, wrote a blog about it.
Week Against Bullying has started
On Monday, 26 September, Week Against Bullying started, an initiative of the School & Safety Foundation. The week lasts until Friday, 30 September. This year's slogan is: Just a joke! Surely that's allowed?! Below are some frequently asked questions about Week Against Bullying.
State Secretary Van Ooijen visits Healthy School Christelijk Lyceum Veenendaal
State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of VWS (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport) paid a working visit to Healthy School on 19 September. The working visit took place at Christelijk Lyceum Veenendaal (CLV) and consisted of a tour and a roundtable discussion. “The challenges involved in bringing the healthy generation one step closer every time are significant,” said the State Secretary. “Together, we must continue to find ways to address these challenges. The determination with which CLV and other schools in the area are making progress towards a healthier future for students is an inspiring example for us all.”
Report on Study Trip: Dynamic School Day in Denmark
From 25 to 29 September, we travelled to Denmark on a study trip with the KVLO and 45 participants. In this blog, we reported daily on what we saw and experienced there.
King’s Games and National Sports Week highlight the importance of sport and exercise in a fun way
Events such as the King’s Games and National Sports Week are excellent hooks for bringing the topic of sport and exercise to people’s attention in a fun and positive way. They also provide an opportunity to connect with children together with partners who can play a role in such events. In addition, these events can provide a platform for sports providers to promote their offerings. This is according to Annemarie Buitenhuis, JOGG coordinator in Delft.
OCW makes additional funding available for education
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is making additional funding available for education. This is stated in the Education Budget presented on Prinsjesdag. The funding is intended, among other things, to increase equal opportunities for pupils and students and to improve basic skills.
Primary School Oud Zandbergen in Huis ter Heide wins ANWB Traffic Square in Utrecht
The winner of the ‘an ANWB Traffic Square for a school playground’ campaign in the province of Utrecht is Primary School Oud Zandbergen in Huis ter Heide. On Wednesday, 21 September, the ANWB Traffic Square was officially opened in the presence of all the pupils and Marga de Jager, Chair of the ANWB Executive Board. Between now and 5 October, ANWB will also announce the winners in the other eleven provinces.
Do you think someone else would like that?
The Queen Juliana School in Culemborg is a Christian school for specialized primary education. The entire school works with De Vreedzame School. This creates clarity and provides an even safer environment. Mia de Weijer, a teacher in grades 4–5 and a member of the De Vreedzame School working group, explains.
Further deterioration in girls’ mental health
Among girls in the Netherlands, an unprecedented decline in mental health occurred between 2017 and 2021. This is reported by researchers in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) report. The report examines well-being and health among a nationally representative group of pupils in the final year of primary school and in secondary education, aged 11 to 16. The findings also show that the percentage of pupils experiencing pressure from schoolwork has increased considerably.
Cabinet considers school breakfasts for poor pupils
The cabinet is considering providing breakfast at school for poor children. Minister for Poverty Policy Carola Schouten announced this during Question Time on Tuesday, 13 September. She is discussing the matter with the Youth Education Fund. According to Schouten, there is “some idea of which schools are involved”.
Collaboration between schools and healthcare professionals important for children's healthy lifestyles
To encourage a healthy and active lifestyle among children (with overweight), collaboration between primary schools and (healthcare) professionals is very important. Without this collaboration, not all children are reached. This is shown by research conducted by the Mulier Institute among (healthcare) professionals, representatives of primary schools and children in the Reeshof neighbourhood of Tilburg.
Subsidy available for enriched school day
Schools in primary education and secondary (special) education can apply for a subsidy for an enriched school day until 30 September. The subsidy is available through the School & Environment programme, which is intended to strengthen equal opportunities in education and the surrounding environment. This year, €34 million is available through the programme.
Movement interventions can help gifted and twice-exceptional children
Gifted and twice-exceptional children often have very strong skills, but their executive functions sometimes seem to be less well developed. Movement interventions can contribute to training these functions. This is evident from a literature review by the Mulier Institute.
Anne Appelo and Groenteman Gijs open the fifteenth year of EU School Fruit
Anne Appelo, known from NPO Zapp, and Groenteman Gijs opened the fifteenth year of EU School Fruit on Wednesday, 7 September, at the Christian Groen van Prinsterer Primary School in Hilversum. Students from Groen van Prinsterer received the first crate of school fruit. <p>Groenteman Gijs sang three songs about what is a vegetable and what is a fruit, about the crooked cucumber and about the strawberry. All the children sang along. With the cap-on/cap-off quiz, the children showed that they already knew quite a lot about vegetables and fruit.</p> <p>Bianca Leemkuil from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality played the ‘feeling box’ game together with a student from Year 7 and answered the question of why the students receive school fruit in the first place.</p> <p>A life-size pineapple and tomato welcomed the students in the hall and handed out pears afterwards.</p> <p>It was a successful morning that could be watched via livestream at all schools participating in the EU School Fruit programme.</p> <p>The livestream can be viewed in the video below (<strong>from 17:21</strong>):</p> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MVU_6kYkl2U" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><p><strong>Fifteenth edition</strong></p> <p>More than 2,400 schools are taking part in the fifteenth edition of the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Programme. Over the next twenty weeks, all participating schools will receive free fruit and vegetables three days a week. During these twenty weeks, schools can also use <a href="https://www.smaaklessen.nl/nl/smaaklessen/Lesportaal-Chef.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the online Chef! lesson portal</a> Here, teachers can find an introductory lesson and other short lesson activities about fruit and vegetables for each year group. Teachers who want to do more with education about healthy eating can also find the additional Taste Lessons and Taste Lesson activities here.</p> <img src="https://imagedelivery.net/dq68UPP1kjncpivC-coi2A/ecf566ce-587c-4551-1fe0-1f403d25a500/hero" alt="" /><p><em>Photo credit for opening photo: Maurits van Hout.</em></p>
Enlist a ‘Green Hand’ for help with a green schoolyard or vegetable garden!
Are you, as a teacher or school, dreaming of a green schoolyard or a wonderful school vegetable garden? The Green Hands scheme may be of interest to you! Jong Leren Eten Gelderland (JLE) offers schools in Gelderland a number of free advisory programmes to make the schoolyard greener or to start gardening at school. The scheme is intended for primary, secondary and vocational education. Childcare locations can also make use of this free advisory programme.
Learning through movement: frequently asked questions answered
What is learning through movement? Why should you use it? And how can you do it effectively? Maxine de Jonge and Amika Singh of the Mulier Institute answer these questions in a new information sheet about learning through movement in primary education.
Lunchbox contents far from healthy
Research conducted by researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Wageningen University & Research shows that the contents of primary school children's lunchboxes are far from healthy. The JOGG region of Zuid-Holland Zuid therefore launched the regional ‘Lunchbox Without Junk’ campaign in 2021. This year, several other JOGG regions are taking up the campaign.
Gaining inspiration to make the school day more dynamic
Children sit on a chair all day, with the fifteen-minute outdoor break and physical education lesson being the only outlets for physical activity. There is still plenty of inspiration to be gained in terms of software – active learning, energizers or brain breaks – and hardware – the design of buildings and schoolyards – so that we can offer children a more dynamic school day that challenges them to move and learn. For Oscar Scipio of the KVLO, this is an important motivation for organizing the Dynamic School Day Denmark Study Trip together with GLOS and Arko Sports Media.
SafetyNL wants annual hearing damage checks in primary and secondary education
“It makes sense to systematically check children’s hearing with an annual test in the upper years of primary school or the lower years of secondary school.” This is what Saskia Kloet, programme manager at SafetyNL, said on 30 August in an article in AD.
Six ideas for a healthy start to the school year
When everyone returns from the summer holidays with renewed energy, this creates opportunities for a healthy or healthier lifestyle at school. Healthy School gives you six ideas for starting the school year in a healthy way.
Corona in education: out of sight but not out of mind
After a period of lockdowns, schools were largely able and allowed to provide in-person education again over the past year. Even in the event of a new wave of coronavirus infections, this is the approach of everyone involved. Nevertheless, the impact of coronavirus remains noticeable among students and staff. We are seeing more restlessness in students’ behaviour, more conflicts, continued turbulence in group dynamics, and social conventions no longer seem clear. School & Safety provides an overview of what you can do as a school board member, team leader or education professional in general to restore and maintain a pleasant atmosphere.