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Tablets, smartphones and TVs have a strong appeal for the youngest children. With just one click, they find themselves in another world. Children get a lot of enjoyment from this, and it occasionally gives parents a moment to themselves. But toddlers and preschoolers are still too young to handle these devices wisely, and guidance from parents and carers is necessary.
Before Public Primary School It Tredde Sté in the Frisian village of Jirnsum obtained the Healthy School certificate for Relationships and Sexuality, Well-being was already in place. Director Margreet van der Laan considers this only logical: “That should always be number one.”
Images, opinions and feelings about the war in Ukraine enter the classroom. Children and young people bring their emotions with them. What they see and hear on the youth news and social media elicits reactions. This calls for alertness, dialogue, empathy, and time and space in daily teaching. The Netherlands Youth Institute has listed a number of points.
Would you like to get started with a healthy lifestyle at your school and receive tailored support and advice? For example, with implementing activities focused on healthy nutrition in order to make healthier and more sustainable choices? To encourage primary, special primary, secondary and vocational schools to work on a healthy lifestyle, there are three incentive schemes. From 7 March through 19 April, your school (location) can express its interest in one or more schemes.
On 15 March, Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) will launch ‘VVN Minecraft Traffic Education’ in the year of its 90th anniversary. This will take place together with Minister of Transport Mark Harbers and Minister of Education Dennis Wiersma. Hundreds of primary schools and more than 10,000 pupils across the country will take part live.
Because every student should be able to feel free and safe at school, there will be a reporting centre for students and parents, a duty for schools to report serious incidents, and the Inspectorate will intervene earlier and more forcefully. This is necessary because tens of thousands of students are still bullied and harassed. This is what Dennis Wiersma, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, wrote to the House of Representatives on 4 March in a letter about Safe and Free Education.
On average, there are two children in every class who are growing up in poverty. Sport and physical activity can mean a great deal to them, offering health benefits and improved performance, as well as greater self-confidence and social contacts. Because they have fewer opportunities at home in this area, a school can make a significant difference to them. In an article for Alles over sport, Laura Butselaar and Jamilla Vervoort provide a number of tips.
Learning healthy habits at a young age is easier than unlearning bad habits later in life. That is why the Healthy Childcare programme exists. Healthy Childcare works closely with JOGG because both programmes focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle among young people. Training coaches who promote a healthy lifestyle within childcare organisations is an important part of this.
Time to let a spontaneous conversation arise with a student about a hobby, something that happened at home… This is not a side issue in education, but its very core. Making a student feel seen is the foundation of a socially safe school. What do you spend your time on? On ensuring that your students achieve good grades, or on paying attention to how they are feeling? Lynn Louwe, adviser on social safety policy and project leader of the emergency response team at Stichting School & Veiligheid, wrote a blog about it.
In JOGG municipalities, more ’Healthy Childcare’ coaches get to work than in municipalities that are not affiliated. The JOGG municipality of Tilburg also makes extensive use of childcare coaches to promote a healthy lifestyle within childcare organisations. To achieve this, Tilburg’s largest childcare organisation and the local JOGG network are joining forces.
School leaders prefer specialist physical education teachers over qualified classroom teachers in several respects. This is shown by research conducted by the Mulier Institute.
Regular physical activity and avoiding prolonged sedentary behaviour are important for the health and proper development of young children. It was already known that more physical activity can improve health, but there are not yet any specific physical activity guidelines for young children. The Health Council advises the Minister for Long-Term Care and Sport to make use of the physical activity recommendations for young children drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO), in addition to the existing physical activity guidelines, which apply from the age of 4. This advice is also relevant to childcare organisations.
The 950th healthy school cafeteria is a fact. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre reports this. This ambition was included in the National Prevention Agreement. Since 2018, 950 schools have achieved one or more School Canteen Scales. This means that 50% of all school cafeterias are healthy.
What are the proven effective principles for improving motor skills in young children? That was the central question in research conducted by Pim Koolwijk, lecturer and researcher at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and fellow researchers. They examined scientific research that is verifiable and focused on preschoolers undergoing normal development. This resulted in four tips.
Walking to and from school takes children an average of 16 minutes per day, while cycling takes an average of 13 minutes. Encouraging children to walk or cycle to and from school can therefore provide them with an extra fifteen minutes of exercise per day. This is shown by research conducted by the Mulier Institute and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Due to its great success, even more primary schools in Rotterdam can make their schoolyards green and climate-friendly. From 9 February, subsidies will once again be available to transform schoolyards into green-blue spaces. Under the 2022 green-blue schoolyards scheme, at least five more schoolyards can receive a subsidy to renovate their grounds. Applications can be submitted until 1 April 2022 at the latest.
Special education wants to support the promotion of healthy eating behaviour among pupils, but the current range of food education does not meet this need. The ideal outcome would be for teaching methods to be developed or adapted to the pupils’ level and world of experience, in the form of practical activities that are an integral part of school life. Teachers and staff indicated this during a needs assessment and expert meeting on food education conducted by the Louis Bolk Institute, in collaboration with Special Heroes Nederland, JOGG and Jong Leren Eten. What feasible areas for improvement and opportunities do the participants see?
The way young people who have been bullied interact with others may play a role in the development of depressive symptoms. This is shown by research on which Minita Franzen received her PhD at the University of Groningen on 10 February.
In 2021, the School Sports Association reached a record number of 3,190 children from Rotterdam (in 2020, this number was 2,760). Through the project, they became members of a sports club or moved on to a permanent location of the sports provider. School Sports Association is the name of Rotterdam Sportsupport’s project, namely the partnership between the (Lekker Fit!) schools, sports clubs and Rotterdam Sportsupport.
On 22 April 2022, the King's Games will take place for the tenth time. The KoningsspelenPakket by Geke Versprille and Linda Thuijs is also celebrating its tenth anniversary. To mark this festive occasion, a number of extra downloads will be made available in the weeks leading up to the King's Games.
According to virtually all teachers, mathematics is the most suitable subject for physically active learning. Four out of five teachers also consider spelling and language suitable subjects for applying physically active learning. This is evident from questionnaire research conducted by the Mulier Institute among mainly classroom teachers. The authors are Amika Singh and Sofie Vrieswijk.
With the motto ‘Get outdoors!’, schools in primary education, secondary education and secondary vocational education can apply for funding to get started with activities related to food education. These may include gardening, cooking, or food-related excursions and guest lessons.
Following a successful pilot of the Icelandic prevention model from 2018 to 2021 in six Dutch municipalities, a new group of ten municipalities will also begin working with this preventive approach. The six pilot municipalities will continue working according to the Icelandic approach as well. They will do so under a new name: ‘Growing Up in a Promising Environment’ (OKO).
The allegations of misconduct and sexually inappropriate behaviour surrounding the TV programme ‘The Voice’ will not have escaped the attention of pupils and students. They see and hear about it in the (social) media, from peers, their parents and at school. Some of them have also had unpleasant experiences with sexual boundary violations themselves. At school, all this can raise emotions, questions and uncertainties, and lead to conversations among pupils, students and colleagues. According to School & Veiligheid, however, this sad situation also offers an opportunity to talk with pupils, students and colleagues about how we treat one another.
Many children and young people in the Netherlands and abroad exercised less and ate less healthily during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, causing them to gain weight. They also more often experienced complaints such as depression, anxiety and loneliness. This is shown by a literature review conducted by the RIVM and Nivel.
In restaurants, a children’s menu often consists of fries with a frikandel or croquette, or a pancake. But it can also be healthier! The province of Drenthe, Jong Leren Eten and Drenthe Gezond therefore challenged all primary schools, childcare centres and parents to take part in the fourth edition of the ‘Children’s Menu 2.0’ recipe competition together with the children.
KVLO, KCSB, Mulier Institute, Jantje Beton, JOGG, Wij Buurtsportcoaches, BuurtspeelcoachIn and IVN have created a fact sheet about the benefits and opportunities of using the schoolyard as a space for physical activity and learning, and the factors that promote playing, physical activity and learning. Not only in terms of its design, but also its use and organization.
How is the quality of childcare supervised? What does the GGD inspect and when? What is the role of the municipality? And above all: at which points in the supervision and enforcement process can the parent committee play an important role?
The NJi is looking for education professionals who want to strengthen collaboration with parents. Children grow up at home, in the schoolyard and in the classroom. One setting cannot be viewed separately from the others. To support children’s development as effectively as possible, it is important for schools and parents to work well together. The ‘Together for the child’ toolkit was developed for this purpose. This spring, schools can take part in a meeting about using the toolkit.
On 8 February, during Safer Internet Day, Netwerk Mediawijsheid, in collaboration with Helpwanted and Bureau Jeugd & Media, is organizing the online session ‘Online shaming – Getting started with prevention’.