Create a King's Match
On Friday, 17 April 2020, the eighth edition of the King's Games will take place. Would you, as a school, like help organising the King's Games 2020? Perhaps a sports club or sports provider near you can help.
Articles
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!
Gelukskoffer launches Happiness Guide for Grade 8
Does your primary school already offer happiness lessons? With Gelukskoffer – a social-emotional program for Grades 1 through 8 – you work on the personal development and personal influence on the happiness of your pupils in seven lessons. The result is a more positive self-image and significantly improved social safety in the classroom. Gelukskoffer is one of the Healthy School activities for primary education within the Well-being theme.
Battle for title ‘Most Media-Literate Class in the Netherlands’ begins
From 8 to 15 November, the Week of Media Literacy will be held for the tenth time. The ninth edition of MediaMasters will also take place during the same week: an exciting serious game about the opportunities and dangers of (digital) media, specially designed for years 7 and 8. More than 200,000 pupils from across the country are ready to play the game both in class and at home, discovering the world of media literacy. The class that scores the most points may call itself the ‘Most Media-Literate Class in the Netherlands’ for an entire year.
Valuascollege from Venlo wins Healthy School Inspiration Award 2019
Valuascollege from Venlo won the Healthy School Inspiration Award 2019 during Healthy School Day on 31 October 2019. The award is for the school with the most inspiring idea for working on a healthy lifestyle at school. Valuascollege’s Golden Tip focuses on giving extra attention to the students’ mental well-being through positive psychology, mindfulness and yoga.
Report on the Healthy School Study Trip to Iceland
From 22 to 27 September, the Healthy School Study Trip to Iceland took place. Participants went in search of the secret behind the success of the Icelandic approach. A report on the trip, written by Goof Buijs and Tilly de Jong, is now available. Below is the summary.
Almost one in ten girls has at some point not had enough money for sanitary pads or tampons
Almost nine percent of girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 25 in the Netherlands say that they have sometimes not had enough money for sanitary pads or tampons, and more than half say that menstrual products are too expensive. More than nine percent have had to ask a female friend or acquaintance for a sanitary pad or tampon because they themselves did not have enough money for one. This is shown by the ‘Bloedserieus’ study by development organisation Plan International.
National School Breakfast begins at the Royal Concertgebouw
On Monday morning, Year 8 pupils from De Rivieren primary school in Amsterdam kicked off the National School Breakfast with breakfast in the Main Hall of the Royal Concertgebouw: the week during which more than half a million children eat a healthy breakfast at 2,750 primary schools and in 250 town halls. The 17th edition of the National School Breakfast has the theme ‘Take time for your breakfast!’.
Symposium ‘Sleep in Primary Care’
To ensure that children and young people grow up healthy, a healthy lifestyle is of great importance. And getting enough sleep is part of that too. If you want to learn everything about this, you can attend the ‘Sleep in Primary Care’ symposium, which will take place on 17 April 2021 at InnStyle in Maarssen.
€5 million extra for pupils with severe multiple disabilities
From 2020, the government will make an additional €5 million available for care and support at school for children with severe multiple disabilities. Minister Hugo de Jonge (Health, Welfare and Sport) and Minister Arie Slob (Primary and Secondary Education and Media) wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Primary school De Wiene receives certificate for outdoor lessons
This week, Primary School De Wiene in Ambt Delden, Overijssel, became the first school in the Netherlands to receive the BuitenWijzer certificate. The certificate indicates that the school provides at least half an hour of outdoor lessons every day.
Effects on physical activity and dietary behavior: at GBT schools mainly at home or at school?
An article about The Healthy Primary School of the Future recently appeared in the scientific journal 'Nutrients'. In this study, researcher Nina Bartelink examined whether the previously identified beneficial effects on physical activity and dietary behavior occur mainly at home or at school.
Children are bullied less
Children are being bullied less both in primary and secondary education. This is shown by the 2018 Social Safety Monitor. In primary education, the figure fell from 14% in 2014 via 11% in 2016 to 10% in 2014. In secondary education, it fell from 11% in 2014 via 8% in 2016 to 5% in 2018.
Blokhuis takes action against the taboo surrounding young people’s sexual orientation
State Secretary Paul Blokhuis is taking action in two ways to break the taboo among young people around talking about their sexual orientation. Young people who feel that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary or transgender think about suicide four to five times more often than their heterosexual peers.
The Healthy School and Substances has existed for 30 years
For 30 years, every new generation of pupils, students and parents has been offered a contemporary prevention programme on alcohol, tobacco, drugs and gaming in education through the Healthy School and Substances programme (DGSG). To celebrate this, a festive afternoon will be held on Thursday 21 November from 12:15 to 16:30 at Kanaal30 in Utrecht.
Meetings on the reporting code for child abuse
In the Netherlands, an estimated 120,000 cases of child abuse occur every year. To address this more effectively, the Improved Reporting Code came into force on 1 January 2019. To inform professionals about this and help them apply it, the municipality of Amsterdam, together with Veilig Thuis and the Parents’ Association in Childcare (BOinK), is organising the meetings ‘The Improved Reporting Code in Practice’ on 14 and 20 November.
Apply for the ‘Lekker naar Buiten’ subsidy!
Make a delicious sandwich spread, grow vegetables in your own vegetable garden, visit a farm. Would you like to work with the children at your day care centre or out-of-school care centre on healthy and sustainable food?
More green-blue schoolyards
The municipality of Rotterdam has awarded a total of €400,000 in grants to six primary schools. This will enable them to make their schoolyards greener and more climate-friendly. Children from the surrounding neighbourhoods will also benefit.
Healthy Relationships & Sexuality Incentive Scheme
The government is strongly committed to preventing unintended pregnancies. One of the measures is aimed at encouraging and supporting schools that want to focus on healthy relationships and sexuality. This year, 200 primary, special, secondary special, secondary and vocational education schools can make use of the new Healthy Relationships & Sexuality Incentive Scheme. Until 2 December, schools can express their interest by creating an account on Mijngezondeschool.nl. By mid-December at the latest, schools will be informed whether or not they can make use of the scheme. If there are more applications than available places, allocation criteria will apply.
New e-learning course ‘Working with refugee children and their parents in childcare’
The arrival of young refugee children and their parents presents childcare organisations and childcare professionals with challenges in their daily work. The new free e-learning course ‘Working with refugee children and their parents in childcare’ helps them deal with these challenges.
Primary schools wanted: discussing Relationships and sexuality
Is your primary school working on the topic of Relationships and sexuality? What is going well and what could potentially be improved? What do you see as the role of parents? Healthy School would like to discuss these questions with a number of primary schools. In doing so, you will provide valuable input for national policy on relationship and sexuality education.
Blog Study trip on a healthy lifestyle at school in Iceland
From 22 to 27 September, we are in Iceland with a group of 43 people from education, thematic institutes and the Municipal Health Services to learn from the Icelandic prevention model and the implementation of the Healthy School programme. Every day, we will keep you informed about our experiences and learning moments.
Day of Sustainability for Education
On Thursday, October 10, Leren voor Morgen is organizing the first Day of Sustainability for Education. During the Day of Sustainability for Education, attention will be paid to various activities, such as the Reading Aloud Campaign, Sustainable Teacher 2019, and Spark the Movement.
A healthier Netherlands for children and young people with disabilities
Following the successful first Healthy Heroes pilots in Gennep, Tegelen and Venray, Special Heroes Nederland (SHN) is further developing the programme for all special education schools.
Start (s)killed!
A consortium of 10 organisations from the sports and physical activity sector, together with another 11 organisations in the fields of research, professional practice and education, will conduct a large-scale, four-year study into the motor competence of preschool children.
The six lessons from the Healthy School Iceland study visit
The Healthy School Iceland study visit took place from 22 to 27 September. Afterwards, the participants were asked which lessons they were taking from Iceland back to the Netherlands.
Food Waste-Free Week
From 30 September through 6 October, it is Food Waste-Free Week. Food Waste-Free Week is an initiative of Milieu Centraal in cooperation with the Consumentenbond. The week is part of the ‘How #wastefree are you?’ campaign by the Samen tegen Voedselverspilling Foundation.
Fifth Tap Water Day organised nationally for the first time
<p>Wednesday 25 September marked the fifth Tap Water Day. For the first time, it was organised nationally. The launch took place at De Diamant Het Rooster Primary School in Apeldoorn, in the presence of, among others, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis.</p> <p>Vitens has been organising Tap Water Day since 2015. This year, the aim was to involve 750 classes. To achieve this, Vitens sought cooperation with other drinking water companies. Brabant Water, PWN, Oasen, WMD and Waterbedrijf Groningen share Vitens’ ambition and joined the initiative. As a result, Tap Water Day grew from 500 classes to more than 3,600 classes this year, and was organised nationally for the first time.</p> <p>On this day, children drink only tap water at school and no sweetened drinks. They also learn how healthy and sustainable tap water actually is and make their own favourite water drink with vegetables, fruit and herbs. Research conducted this spring shows that more than 67% of primary school children bring a sweetened drink to school from home. As part of the National Prevention Agreement that State Secretary Paul Blokhuis concluded with more than 70 organisations, primary schools have recently been able to apply for a grant for a water tap on the school grounds.</p> <p><strong>Water tap grant scheme</strong></p> <p>The drinking water companies also sought cooperation with Jongeren Op Gezond Gewicht (JOGG) and Gezonde School for Tap Water Day. JOGG promotes drinking tap water among schools in JOGG municipalities. With funding from State Secretary Paul Blokhuis (VWS), Gezonde School encourages the consumption of tap water through a new grant scheme for water taps. Primary schools can receive financial support for a water tap on the school grounds. Under this grant scheme, a school is reimbursed 75% of the costs, up to a maximum total amount of €2,000 per school location. The reimbursement covers the purchase, installation and maintenance of the water tap. To date, 200 schools have registered for the grant scheme. Schools can still register until 14 October via <a href="http://www.mijngezondeschool.nl/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mijngezondeschool.nl</a>.</p> <img src="https://imagedelivery.net/dq68UPP1kjncpivC-coi2A/2192fea1-0342-4012-9476-7b2b36bd2300/public" alt="" /><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Launch</strong></p> <p>The launch of Tap Water Day 2019 took place on Wednesday morning, 25 September, at De Diamant Het Rooster Primary School in Apeldoorn. At the start of the morning, the pupils were welcomed by school principal Mark ter Horst and Vitens board member Marike Bonhof. State Secretary Paul Blokhuis then gave the starting signal for the Tap Water Day lesson. It was particularly exciting for the pupils in groups 7 and 8. They had a special teacher in front of the class that morning. Willem Voogd, known from MEES KEES and the VPRO programme De Proefkeuken, took part in an interactive quiz with the pupils and made special water drinks with them.</p><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/dq68UPP1kjncpivC-coi2A/fbb32e33-4012-4017-fd71-e7cbd528d400/public" alt="" />
Car-free school street in The Hague a first for the Netherlands
As a trial, the municipality of The Hague closed Abeelstraat near the Christian Montessori School ‘De Abeel’ with a barrier to incoming motorised traffic during drop-off and pick-up times from Wednesday 18 September through Friday 27 September. The municipality of The Hague will evaluate this trial and, based on the results, consider expanding it further.
Two-day knowledge session on the Healthy Primary School of the Future
Is it possible to establish a school programme that is both appealing to children and capable of having a major impact on society? A two-day knowledge session at the Healthy Primary School of the Future, on 6 and 7 November in Landgraaf, shows that it is possible.
Win an Outdoor Lesson Bundle by participating in the Healthy Schoolyard needs assessment
Jantje Beton and IVN would like to know your views on a Healthy Schoolyard and how they could support schools in creating one. They will use the answers to these questions to tailor the support available to schools in 2020 to your needs. Among the participants in the survey, Jantje Beton will raffle 2 binders containing 31 outdoor lessons.