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As of 1 August, all schools in the Netherlands must be smoke-free. To support schools in this effort, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis and comedian, presenter and former vocational education teacher Edson da Graça introduced the special team ‘The Edsons’ on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport at Nova Campus Hoofddorp on Monday 24 August.
A great deal has been said and written recently about the lessons we can learn from distance learning, including when it comes to social safety and its importance. School & Veiligheid has prepared a summary for you: Connecting for safety.
With the motto ‘Let’s go outside!’, all schools in primary education, secondary education and secondary vocational education can apply for a subsidy from 1 September for three activities: gardening, cooking, or an excursion or guest lesson on nutrition.
On 17 August, the new school year began for some of the children in the Netherlands. There had been no school for six weeks. That means plenty of time to play! Building forts, playing badminton, camping, cycling, and, with this warm weather, of course lots of water games. Enjoying themselves! For some children, the start of the new school year is therefore a bit bittersweet: at school, you finally get to see your classmates again, and moving up a grade is fun too, but you also have to do all sorts of things again. Back to the classroom, in other words: lots of sitting.
A National Coordination Team for Ventilation in Schools (LCVS) that must ensure safe ventilation in every school, and an expansion of the website weeropschool.nl so that there is one central point where schools can find all information about ventilation in schools and where they can ask questions if they are unsure whether the ventilation in their buildings meets the requirements. This is how Education Minister Arie Slob intends to tackle the ventilation problem in schools, he writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Primary education teachers who act non-conformistically and demand autonomy over their own lessons are less likely to suffer burnout. This is shown by research conducted by Bas Kodden, Ramon van Ingen and Stijn Langeweg of Nyenrode Business University.
A nutrition policy provides clarity for pupils, parents and school staff. Below, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre provides guidance in three steps to help you create your own nutrition policy. This way, you can work together to make your school healthier.
Greening schoolyards has a positive influence on the well-being and behavior of primary school children. This is shown by the doctoral research ‘Greening Schoolyards. Impact on Children’s Well-Being and Behavior, Parental Support, and use for Outdoor Learning’ by Janke van Dijk, for which she conducted research at nine schools over a period of three years, five of which had greened their schoolyards. Van Dijk received her PhD on 6 July at VU Amsterdam.
The website www.gezondekinderopvang.nl is conducting user research to make the website even better suited to practice. The website is part of the national Gezonde Kinderopvang programme, through which the government has been encouraging and supporting work on the healthy lifestyles of young children in childcare since 2017. The results will be used to make the website even better suited to practice.
Glos Educatief will deliver the educational programme of House of Esports. To this end, Wim Noordzij, director of House of Esports, and Tilly de Jong, director of Glos Educatief, signed a partnership agreement on Monday, 10 August, during the summer programme in Rotterdam Feyenoord.
Self-regulation is an important skill that can be encouraged from an early age and is essential for success at school. Ruth Heuvelman, educational psychologist and specialist in education and learning for young children at the Het Jonge Kind Expertise Centre of the CED Group, wrote the blog below about this for the Early Years Blog. It includes three tips for improving self-regulation at home and at school.
What happens when you turn a board game into a life-size version? During the National Education Exhibition, Marion Siemonsma from Pen en Pion put it to the test with The Mask of Amon Ra. Below, she shares her findings.
Since 1 August 2020, schools have been required to have smoke-free grounds. This applies to primary education, secondary education, secondary vocational education and higher education. Due to COVID-19, it was decided that enforcement by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority would begin on 1 January 2021 instead of 1 August 2020.
Area developer Ballast Nedam Development and Jongeren Op Gezond Gewicht (JOGG) are joining forces to make the physical living environment of children and young people healthier. This is a unique partnership, as Ballast Nedam Development is the first area developer in the Netherlands to take up this challenge together with JOGG. The partnership will initially be put into practice through a number of measures in the extensive Berckelbosch area development in Eindhoven.
The RIVM has recognized Stoere Traktaties, an initiative of the Aartsen Kids Foundation (AKF), as a Healthy School activity. This means that primary schools can use the project to create a healthy school environment and to obtain the Healthy School quality mark.
Fifteen municipalities have agreed on the goal of getting more children safely to school by bicycle. Through various pilots, they aim to encourage children to cycle to school and improve road safety around schools. The participating municipalities are doing this under the banner of the Tour de Force and are joining forces with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The ANWB, the Dutch Cyclists’ Union, TeamAlert and Veilig Verkeer Nederland are also participating as partners.
The (Sch)ouders Experience Knowledge Centre has launched a knowledge base. (Sch)ouders is an umbrella foundation that serves as a platform for parents of children with care needs (children with a physical disability, intellectual disability, chronic illness and/or developmental disorder).
In Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Food4Smiles is researching the challenges parents face and what can help them provide their children with a healthy lifestyle during the first 1,000 days—from conception to their second birthday.
Half of young people in the Netherlands sometimes feel lonely. This is shown by recent research by De Kindertelefoon based on chats and forum topics. The recent coronavirus period has led to a new group of children who feel lonely.
The research agency Labyrinth Onderzoek & Advies, commissioned by the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity, will investigate why young people growing up in poverty do not take part in sports and physical activities. The ‘Can I participate?’ Sport and physical activity for every young person’ study should, among other things, provide greater insight into why these young people do not make use of municipal schemes to take part in judo, basketball or street dance, for example.
What is social safety? And “how do you do that?” In this blog, Marijke van der Zalm – project manager of Anti-Bullying Week 2020 – introduces you to solution-focused work, a method that helps you create a safe and pleasant classroom.
Many schools have already started implementing the Healthy Relationships & Sexuality Incentive Scheme. And this is generating inspiring initiatives. That is why Gezonde School is organizing a number of webinars in September and October for schools and stakeholders from the municipal public health services (GGDs). Separate webinars are being held for primary education, secondary education, special secondary education and senior secondary vocational education.
The second magazine of the Equal Opportunities Alliance (GKA) has been published, with ‘Health’ as its theme. This edition focuses on the ‘Healthy Primary School of the Future’. You can read all about this approach, which involves so much more than just healthy eating and exercise. Take a look at the magazine for inspiration on promoting equal opportunities through the concept of the ‘Healthy Primary School of the Future’, which is currently being implemented in South Limburg.
The Health Council of the Netherlands has officially installed the members of the committee on physical activity advice for 0–4-year-olds. The committee is tasked with developing physical activity advice for 0–4-year-olds. This advice is expected in mid-2021.
How can youth care and education professionals, neighbourhood teams, municipal employees, scientists, parents and young people work together to provide the best support for psychologically vulnerable young people? The magazine Working together for psychologically healthy young people explores this question through examples from the work of the Knowledge Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The Trimbos Institute and the Netherlands Youth Institute have prepared an interim evaluation of the policy-forming learning programme for addressing substance use among young people according to the Icelandic prevention model. In this interim evaluation, the organisations describe discussions held with (national) organisations, municipalities participating in the learning programme and participating schools.
Children aged 0–18 are moving less and less well nowadays. That is why the Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity has compiled the white paper Skilled in movement from an early age. The white paper is aimed at professionals who want to increase the quality of and enjoyment in sport and physical activity among children and young people aged 0–18.
On Wednesday, 23 September 2020, the Dutch drinking water companies are jointly organising National Tap Water Day. They invite all primary schools and out-of-school care centres to focus attention on tap water as a sustainable and healthy thirst quencher on this day.
It is good that 44 professors, board chairs and medical professionals are calling for a healthier lifestyle and prevention to be embedded in education, but the focus should not be too much on lessons. That is what Paul van der Velpen, Director of Public Health for Gelderland-Midden, says in a response. According to him, a healthy school environment should also—and above all—be provided.
From school and sports club to home: for young people, it is important that they feel protected from violence, intimidation, exclusion and other forms of transgressive behavior. The publication by the Netherlands Youth Institute, ‘Social safety is everyone’s responsibility. Cooperation on safety issues between schools and municipal partners’, addresses this protection.