Together we grow stronger. On this news page we share the latest updates, inspiring ideas and innovative solutions to make your journey even better. From new courses to real-life examples: discover everything you need here.
Do you have a great story or a golden tip yourself? Let us know!
It looks like it will be a warm summer, and swimming is allowed again. Every year, dozens of people drown in the Netherlands. Among teenagers with a non-Western background, the mortality rate from drowning is more than seven times higher than among teenagers with a Dutch background. That is why Pharos, together with GGD GHOR Nederland, VeiligheidNL, Nationale Raad Zwemveiligheid and COA, is once again drawing attention to water safety.
The number of children with severe obesity that cannot be attributed to an unhealthy lifestyle is considerably higher than previously thought. That is the conclusion reached by medical specialists affiliated with the Centre for a Healthy Weight, based on research among 282 children aged 0 to 18.
The government is making €244 million available to the entire education sector to give pupils and students who need it extra attention after weeks of home schooling. Schools will assess for themselves how many of their pupils would benefit from such support and how to provide it.
Primary schools have reopened, but school cafeterias will remain closed for the time being. In the meantime, many people are preparing for a reopening. The Healthy School Cafeteria initiative of the Netherlands Nutrition Centre has compiled a number of initiatives.
As of 1 August 2020, all school grounds must be smoke-free. Due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on education, the NVWA will not begin enforcing this until 1 January 2021. State Secretary Paul Blokhuis (Health, Welfare and Sport) informed the House of Representatives of this on 11 May. School administrators received an email from the State Secretary about this.
Forty-two percent of parents estimate that their child is less physically active in spring 2020 than usual in spring. A quarter of parents estimate that their child is more physically active (25%), while a third estimate that their child is equally active (33%). In general, according to parents, children who are normally very physically active in spring continued to be so during the 2020 intelligent lockdown. Children who are normally less physically active in spring remained less active during the lockdown.
On 11 May, primary and special education resumed. The national government has developed a toolkit for municipalities, transport regions and schools. They can use it to inform the traffic getting underway about the applicable measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The toolkit contains posters in various formats, spray stencils and social media posts, and is free to use.
As of 11 May, physical education in mainstream and special primary education resumed. This has led to many questions. KVLO has compiled them on a landing page. The questions are based on the guidelines and advice from KVLO, which was drawn up in cooperation with the stakeholders in physical education: the LO Platform, ALOs, FvOv, SLO, the PABO network, the Mulier Institute and physical education teachers.
The ninth edition of Mud Day will take place on 29 June. During Mud Day, children discover what mud is, how they can play with it and what their connection with the earth means to them. Due to coronavirus, the organisation has had to take a special measure: all events at public locations have been cancelled.
In preparation for the reopening of childcare from next Monday, 11 May, the sector organisations are in continuous consultation with the ministries of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) in order to answer the questions we receive from childcare organisations and parents in a timely manner. Fortunately, there is now clarity on a great many points. The Interest Association of Parents in Childcare (BOinK) lists four of the most important points below.
Would you like your pupils to keep doing physical activities at home and not lose their movement skills now that they are staying at home? Then have them design a PE game and share their game with their friends, classmates and perhaps even the whole of the Netherlands. With this brand-new teaching package, they can get started right away.
In collaboration with VeiligheidNL, Giel, Thomas and Stefan from StukTV are launching a challenge to protect young people’s hearing. As a result of the coronavirus, young people’s lives look different. More than ever before, they are therefore seeking relaxation through video and music streaming and gaming. This is not without risk to their hearing.
Since the introduction of appropriate education, there has been no overview of students with additional support needs. This is according to the Inspectorate of Education in its report, The State of Education.
From 11 May, education in primary and special education will resume on site. But what does this mean for physical education? The Protocol for reopening physical education in primary and special education is now available. The protocol was drawn up by the KVLO and the LO Platform in coordination with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, AVS, RIVM and the PO Council.
How do you ensure smoke-free school grounds, and how does this fit into the broader movement toward a smoke-free generation? In the RIVM web talk show ‘Smoke-free’ on 20 April, experts with first-hand experience from municipalities and the education sector shared their insights. Around 90 professionals working for municipalities, municipal health services and in education followed the online Q&A and had their questions answered.
HEVO, a consultancy specialising in advice and construction management, has been advising schools on accommodation for half a century. Now that schools will reopen in phases from 11 May, Pim Bressers has written a blog with three practical strategies for the 1.5-metre school.
The KNHB field hockey association wants to make clubhouses and facilities available to primary schools that are struggling with a lack of space due to the mandatory spreading out of pupils.
On 11 May, mainstream primary education, special primary education and special education will resume. Two protocols have been drawn up for this purpose, serving as guidance for reopening the schools.
The government wants all children to receive education, even in this exceptional situation. Primary schools, special education schools and special primary education schools will reopen their doors on 11 May.
The Daily Mile is a physical activity initiative for primary schools (grades 3 to 8). A class runs for fifteen minutes on at least three school days per week. JOGG, the initiator of The Daily Mile, aims to improve children's endurance through this initiative. Research by the Mulier Institute shows that a group of children (grades 5–8) who took part in The Daily Mile three or four times a week for twelve weeks improved their endurance. In a group of children who did not take part in The Daily Mile, endurance remained unchanged.
What can you do as a teacher if there is a suspicion or indication of sexual abuse? Stichting School & Veiligheid has listed the steps. The article first discusses tips for a normal school situation, some of which also apply to distance learning. The second part focuses on your options when you only have online contact, as during the coronavirus crisis. The tips are mainly written for teachers in primary and secondary education, but are also largely useful for teachers in secondary vocational education.
House of Esports is a sports and educational institution in Rotterdam, where gaming, physical education, talent development and esports come together. House of Esports organizes weekly gaming afternoons and offers educational programs focused on gaming and physical education for young people aged 10–18. This year, House of Esports is launching, among other things, a new program at primary schools called ‘Gaming in Society’ and ‘GameGym’. For this purpose, House of Esports is looking for specialist teachers and assistants immediately, for between 3 and 9 hours per week.
Since 9 April, an app called ‘reporting code for child abuse’ has been available specifically for the education sector. The app is a digital version of the protocol ‘child abuse and sexually transgressive behaviour’.
Even now that children cannot attend childcare or school, it is important to keep moving. AllesoverSport.nl has therefore compiled exercise tips, divided into categories.
Due to developments and new measures surrounding the coronavirus, many things suddenly look different. Most schools and school canteens are closed at least until the May holiday. The employees of the Healthy School Canteen programme at the Nutrition Centre are all working from home.
The coronavirus also affects the Healthy School schemes. In four cases, deadlines have been extended. The deadlines for accounting for the 2019–2020 Support Programme (30 June 2020) and for expressing interest in the Healthy School Support Programme and the Healthy Relationships & Sexuality Incentive Scheme (20 April) remain unchanged.
On Friday, April 17, the Koningsspelen would have taken place for the eighth time. Specialist teacher and education consultant Geke Verspille and internet marketer Linda Thuijs had created a free Koningsspelen Package for teachers and anyone else in need of inspiration. Because the Koningsspelen will not go ahead due to the coronavirus, they have now created a version for schoolchildren staying at home.
The #ikvlagvoorhetonderwijs campaign is not going ahead. A large group of civil society organisations wanted to thank everyone in education and childcare next Thursday for their tremendous efforts. Many responses show that this is appreciated, but many people have also indicated that they do not feel it is appropriate at this time. In particular, they do not consider the chosen means—the Dutch flag—appropriate in these times. The initiators understand that. They have therefore postponed the campaign to thank everyone until the schools and childcare facilities reopen. The flags will not be part of the campaign then.
A large number of civil society organizations are jointly calling on everyone to display the Dutch flag en masse on Thursday, April 9, to show their support for education. In doing so, they want to give everyone the opportunity to express their appreciation for the way education is dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Due to the closure of all schools, teachers, education professionals, and parents alike have had to switch to distance learning in a very short time, in order to continue providing all children with the best possible education.
According to members of the PO-Raad, almost one in five of their pupils is vulnerable. Nearly four in five PO-Raad members have organized emergency childcare at school for vulnerable pupils. These are some of the findings from the initial survey conducted among its members by the PO-Raad on Wednesday, 1 April.