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.
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More and more young people eat little or unhealthily at school. Sometimes they skip meals and later mainly eat snacks. This can cause physical complaints, but it can also lead to problems with learning and well-being. In an interview with GGD Twente, youth doctor Rianne and Healthy School adviser Laure explain what they are seeing and what schools can do.
Together with colleagues from Erasmus MC, VeiligheidNL and UMC Utrecht, physician-researcher Willemijn van Diemen is conducting research into De HoorToren, a Healthy School activity that teaches children how their hearing works. The researchers are looking for enthusiastic schools and teachers who want to work with them to help create a generation of children who know how to keep their ears healthy.
On 4 March, a free meeting of the School Attendance Knowledge Network (KNSA), organised by the Netherlands Youth Institute, Support Centre for Appropriate Education and Ingrado, will take place at Domstad in Utrecht from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is intended for anyone who works on school attendance or would like to start doing so. The theme is dealing with differences in the classroom. How do you create a learning environment in which all students feel seen and remain engaged, even when they deviate from the norm?
The new cabinet wants free school fruit at primary and secondary schools. That is good news because several studies on EU-Schoolfruit show that it has an effect.
In 2026, municipalities can once again compete for the Golden Carrot. With this award, the School Garden Alliance and Jong Leren Eten spotlight municipalities that are committed to school gardening. For more than 100 years, school gardens have contributed to healthy eating, experiencing nature and biodiversity. Municipalities play an indispensable role in this—and that deserves recognition. The Golden Carrot will be awarded during School Garden Week (18 to 22 May 2026). It will then be announced which municipality will succeed Almere. The Golden Carrot will be awarded for the fifth time.
On Thursday 19 March from 15:00 to 16:00, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre is hosting a free webinar for primary and secondary school leaders, vocational education leaders, teachers, educators, Healthy School coordinators, municipal health service employees, JOGG coordinators, canteen staff, caterers and professionals involved in creating a healthy school environment.
From 18 to 22 May 2026, the School Gardens Alliance is organising School Garden Week. The soil will be central during this week. One of the initiatives taking place during the week is the National Digging Challenge, which connects children and adults with the soil so they can experience that getting ‘dirty’ is healthy. An online inspiration session will take place on 11 March.
Children at schools with a green schoolyard are better able to concentrate and display more social behavior. This is shown by a follow-up to the long-running Healthy Primary School of the Future project. It had already become clear that children become healthier when they eat healthy lunches at school, engage in varied physical activity and learn about healthy behavior in class. Thanks to the recent pilot study by Maastricht University and Hasselt University, it is now also clear that greening schoolyards is an efficient way to promote children’s health and well-being.
In South Holland, school gardening is receiving an extra boost. With support from the Province of South Holland, the School Gardens Alliance and Jong Leren Eten Zuid-Holland are joining forces to give even more schools access to school garden education. The ‘School Garden Boost South Holland’ project runs until the end of 2026. IVN Nature Education is the project coordinator and one of the initiators of the School Gardens Alliance.
On the International Day of Education, on 24 January, the Netherlands Youth Institute (NJi) reflects on the importance of education for the development of children and for society as a whole. School is a central place in the lives of children and young people and, together with parents and the wider environment, forms the pedagogical foundation. You can read more about this on the NJi pages on the theme Strong Foundation in and around School.
With a festive kick-off at De Pionier primary school in Maarssen, the official starting signal for Koningsspelen 2026 was given on 14 January. During this launch, registration for schools opened and the new theme was unveiled: Everyone Fun. Registration is open until 1 March 2026.
Every month, an entire class dies by suicide. On average, 26 young people, each with their own story. In the Lessons for Life campaign, the 113 Fund shares their lessons for life, in close collaboration with survivors. The 113 Fund hopes this will help other young people. By being open, the 113 Fund breaks the taboo and lowers the threshold for seeking help. The campaign started on Monday, 19 January, and is also relevant to education professionals. After all, they work with young people extensively.
The latest sugar-cube posters from the Netherlands Nutrition Centre show at a glance how much sugar is contained in popular cartons, bottles and cans. And don't be shocked: drinks can contain as many as fourteen sugar cubes. On the other hand, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre is also seeing more and more varieties with sweeteners. Nevertheless, the range of sugary drinks in colourful packaging remains overwhelming. This makes it difficult to make a healthy choice. That is why the Netherlands Nutrition Centre has put together five tips specifically for schools.
More and more closed online chat groups, such as Com groups, are emerging in which extremely violent images are shared. Children are also pressured to participate. For professionals in education and other sectors, parents and other people involved, it is important to understand what these groups are, how young people become entangled in them and what risks this entails. The Netherlands Youth Institute outlines what terms such as nihilistic and sadistic violence mean, how Com groups operate and where you can turn if you are concerned.
More than 70 Zeeland schools have received vouchers in recent years to make their schoolyards greener. The voucher offers schools a helping hand in creating their green schoolyard. This year, IVN is once again making vouchers available to schools to become greener. Registration closes on Sunday, 8 March 2026.
Where does our food come from? And what happens before a potato ends up on our plate? Many schools want students not only to learn this from books, but to experience it for themselves. New teaching materials are now available for primary schools that will visit an arable farmer starting next spring. The lesson module was developed for grades 5 through 8 and consists of three parts.
From 2 March through 13 April 2026, registration of interest for the Incentive Grant Get Outside! – round 9 will be open. Under the motto ‘Get outside!’, all schools in primary education, secondary education and secondary vocational education, as well as childcare locations, can apply for funding for three activities: Vegetable gardening; Cooking; An excursion or guest lesson related to nutrition.
The vegetable garden campaign for grades 1 through 4 is open again! This school year, you can once again apply for free vegetable garden seeds to use with the Taste Mission Vegetable Garden, because discovering and experiencing things for yourself in a vegetable garden is effective, fun and educational. Are you a teacher of grade 1, 2, 3 or 4, or do you work in Special Education? Apply for your vegetable garden package now.
The Dutch Inspectorate of Education has published its annual report on the cases received by confidential inspectors. In the 2024–2025 school year, there were a total of 2,916 cases. This is an increase of 599 cases compared with the previous school year. The increase can be seen in all sectors, with the exception of higher education.
Playing outside in winter? Absolutely! During Hartje Winter, children discover how fun and educational it is to be outdoors during the colder months too. IVN Nature Education encourages childcare and after-school care providers to make outdoor play second nature, with a series of inspiring winter activities in nature. Specially developed for children aged 2 to 12, so they can experience nature in the heart of winter.
Children in Maastricht engage in an average of 75 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, 20 minutes more than the European average. This is shown by the latest monitoring, carried out with Fontys Move to Be. In Maastricht, Maastricht Sport works with 25 child centres as part of the Healthy Child Centre in Motion programme.
Are you passionate about cooking and would you like to inspire children to handle food in a healthy and conscious way? Then the Guest Cooking Teacher in Education training course is for you! This practical training course, delivered by the Koningsacademie in ’s-Hertogenbosch in cooperation with Jong Leren Eten Brabant, prepares you to provide cooking lessons as a guest teacher in out-of-school care, primary education and secondary education. The training takes place on 15 January and 5 February 2026.
Five years after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, pupils and students are showing signs of recovery. Learning and study delays caused by the pandemic have noticeably improved. Well-being among pupils and students has also improved. This is evident from the final report of the National Education Programme (NPO). Chaja Deen of the Netherlands Youth Institute (NJi): “The school closures made it clearer than ever how important the broad role of the school is in pupils’ development.”
On Thursday, 12 March 2026, the Province of Limburg is organising the conference ‘10 years of the Healthy Primary School of the Future’. The conference offers an inspiring, full-day programme for all participants and is the perfect opportunity to look back together, reflect and look ahead.
Friday, 12 December is Purple Friday. On that day, schools focus on the fact that everyone should be able to be themselves, regardless of who you are, what your skin colour is, what you believe in or who you fall in love with. The School & Safety Foundation has created a Checklist for a safe and respectful Purple Friday at school.
Various educational institutions, including the PO-Raad, VO-raad and MBO Raad, have called on the informateur in a letter for a broad scaling up of Healthy Childcare and Healthy School, so that this structural and integrated approach becomes available to even more childcare organisations and schools throughout the Netherlands.
Sustainability and a healthy breakfast – at first glance, they seem to go together about as well as peanut butter and herring. What on earth does global warming have to do with a slice of whole-grain bread and a piece of fruit in the morning? Fleur van de Bovenkamp, project manager of the National School Breakfast, explains in the blog below why sustainability and a good breakfast have more to do with each other than we think.
Five active (special) primary schools are in the running for the Active School Award 2026, which will be presented on 18 March. The Royal Association for Physical Education (KVLO) is putting these schools in the spotlight to inspire more schools to create an active, movement-rich school and environment, thereby contributing to the health and well-being of pupils. This award highlights the importance of learning to move well and getting enough exercise and physical activity, in and around school.
On 19 November, the Heart for Healthy Relationships & Sexuality event organized by Healthy School took place at the Louis Hartlooper Complex in Utrecht. Hosted by presenter and podcast maker Annefleur Schipper, more than 100 participants from all types of education came together for an inspiring and interactive evening about the importance of relationship and sexuality education.
December is approaching again. A period when delicious treats are constantly available. Spiced gingerbread cookies, chocolate letters and Christmas wreath cookies; this period often revolves around eating (a lot of) delicious food. That is why these days are an ideal time to give extra attention to food in a festive way. Jong Leren Eten therefore collected festive and healthy recipes that are suitable for children in childcare and primary education and that children can also make themselves (with a little help).