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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.
<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="" />
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.
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.
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.
How can you be an involved parent when your child is in primary or secondary education? The e-book by parent involvement expert Peter de Vries offers seven guidelines on what you can do as a parent for your school-age child. The book is available to download for free.
Recently, the first Specialists in Active and Healthy Schools (SSGS) graduated. This post-higher professional education programme was established by Monique van Ark, national project leader for the teacher training colleges’ ‘Specialist in Active and Healthy Schools’ programme at Leiden University of Applied Sciences. She talks about it in a Meesterwerk podcast. Daan Wassens, one of the SSGS graduates, also speaks in the same podcast.
De Kindertelefoon is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Children aged 8 to 18 can turn to it with a wide range of questions. What perhaps not everyone knows yet is that De Kindertelefoon can also visit your classroom, both in primary and secondary education.
Jantje Beton and IVN would like to know your attitude towards 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.
Over the past week, from Monday 2 through Friday 6 September, special attention was paid to the need for good sex education in schools. 3FM, in collaboration with Brandpunt, organized the #Kutvoorlichting campaign. Because… young people rate sex education with only a 5.8! Above all, they are missing information about pleasurable and desired sex and about how to express their wishes and boundaries. And they are right about that.
A refugee child in the classroom needs additional support. Wereldreizigers focuses on their social-emotional development and their connection with classmates. The teaching method can be used both in mainstream primary schools and in schools specifically for newcomer pupils. To introduce the method, Wereldreizigers offers a free trial package that you can use immediately.
VOLG MIJ, the student tracking system for physical education, has a completely renewed app with numerous new features from the start of the new school year. The user-friendliness and layout have also been improved.
Dutch children (aged 10 to 22) spend almost an hour more per day on a phone, tablet or laptop than they themselves consider responsible. The difference between the average screen time of children living at home and what parents consider responsible is even greater: almost 1.5 hours. Moreover, most children and their parents regret that children spend so little time playing outside nowadays.
What Golden Tip does your school have for working on a healthy lifestyle? Share your school’s best idea and inspire other schools. Who knows, your school might win the second edition of the Healthy School Inspiration Award. All primary, secondary and vocational education schools may participate. The Healthy School Inspiration Award 2019 will be presented during Healthy School Day on 31 October.
Southern Limburg still stands out negatively nationwide when it comes to health. This is shown by De Volkskrant’s interactive Health Map, based on data from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the 25 municipal health services (GGDs), published in 2018 in the Health Monitor. Schools in Southern Limburg are now trying to encourage children to eat vegetables and exercise.
You may have heard of it or may even have already taken it. The MHFA course, in which you learn to provide first aid to people with (incipient) mental health problems. As of this year, the MHFA Youth course is also being offered in the Netherlands.
From Sunday 22 through Friday 27 September, the Healthy School Study Tour Iceland will take place. In the run-up to the tour, you will receive information about the trip every Wednesday. In part 4, we focus on the programme.
What should you do as a parent if your child is at risk of dropping out of school or needs support to continue attending school? The Sprint Card is a useful tool for organising an alternative to multidisciplinary consultation, to prevent discussions with educational and care institutions from breaking down. The Sprint Card has three objectives: parents in charge, the child at the centre and taking real steps.
How do you motivate students to exercise more? Gijs Hosman from the website www.gymspiratie.nl has listed a number of possibilities.
On Monday, 19 August, the school year starts again for part of the Netherlands (‘South’). Did you know that after the summer holidays, almost twice as many traffic casualties occur among schoolchildren as during the rest of the year? To make sure everyone pays extra attention during this period, ‘The schools are starting again’ banners and posters from Veilig Verkeer Nederland will once again be displayed in your neighbourhood. Together with municipalities, schools and businesses, VVN is calling especially on motorists to be more considerate of schoolchildren cycling in traffic. Be extra alert yourself with these tips!
From Sunday 22 to Friday 27 September, the Iceland Healthy School Study Visit will take place. In the run-up to the visit, you will receive information about the trip every Wednesday. In part 3, we focus on the history of the Healthy School in Iceland.
On Wednesday afternoon, 9 October, the national Jong Leren Eten 2019 thematic afternoon will take place at the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem. With the theme ‘learned young, inspired for life’, the participating parties aim to draw attention to food waste from the perspectives of health and networking.
The Healthy School theme of Nutrition (primary education) also focuses on good oral health. Schools can use various Healthy School activities for this purpose. The Poetsbus has recently also been officially recognised as a Healthy School activity.
From Sunday 22 to Friday 27 September, the Healthy School Iceland Study Visit will take place. In the run-up to the visit, you will receive information about the trip every Wednesday. In part 2, we focus on the Healthy School in Iceland.
Started early means winning early! Exercise has a positive effect on children aged 0 to 5. This is evident from the literature review conducted by Amsterdam UMC on behalf of the Knowledge Centre for Sport.
Easy to organize and inexpensive—that is essentially the secret behind the success of The Daily Mile: simply running for fifteen minutes during school hours. In the Netherlands, hundreds of schools have signed up to the concept, which originated in Scotland, within three years; worldwide, nearly 9,000 schools are already taking part. Simple? A temporary hype? Thanks to the spirit of the times, the parties that wholeheartedly support it and some good marketing, The Daily Mile suddenly seems to have been brilliantly conceived and to offer unprecedented possibilities.
With desks, school uniforms and a large blackboard on board, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will join the Canal Parade during Pride Amsterdam on Saturday, 3 August, with its own education boat. Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven will sail along with dozens of pupils, students and teachers to celebrate that everyone should be able to be themselves at school.
From Sunday 22 to Friday 27 September, the Healthy School Study Trip Iceland will take place. In the run-up to the trip, you will receive information about it every Wednesday. In part 1, we focus on the country and its education system.
How can you make a school building healthy and sustainable in an affordable and efficient way? Many school boards and municipalities want to get started with their school buildings. Translating this ambition into practice is often difficult. During the regional meetings of the Fresh and Natural Gas-Free Primary Schools innovation programme, you can learn more about the topics relevant to your specific situation.
The Green Schoolyards Overijssel programme aims to green all schoolyards in Overijssel in 2025. The Province of Overijssel makes €1,000,000 available annually for this purpose. A school can receive a maximum subsidy of €10,000.