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!
The Free and Safe Education Act is a new legislative proposal aimed at strengthening social safety in Dutch education. The Act is expected to enter into force on 1 August 2026. Schools can already prepare with the support of resources provided by Stichting School & Veiligheid. The Act focuses on three main themes: having a clear overview of safety, support and guidance, and evaluation of safety policy.
Schools in primary, secondary and special education, as well as vocational education, applied for the Healthy School Incentive Scheme 2025–2026 in recent weeks. In the coming school year, 800 schools will receive additional support to promote healthy living, learning and development among their pupils and students.
Tag, skipping rope or gym class at school. These may seem like very ordinary activities, but that is not the case for all children. For example, children with a motor skills delay are often less active than their peers. In the school playground, they are therefore more likely to stand on the sidelines watching other children play.
To give the new school year a healthy start, schools can focus on healthy lunchboxes in September with one of the lessons on healthy lunches from the Trommel zonder Rommel initiative.
In the municipality of Westland, 17 primary schools are now actively working on creating a physically active school day. This initiative, guided by Healthy School adviser Muriel Weltens and a physical activity trainer, includes active breaks, dynamic school days and inviting schoolyards. Thanks to the commitment of school boards and practical support during professional development days and workshops, this project has proven successful; all participating schools have also become Healthy Schools.
Recently, the Dutch Inspectorate of Education published a study on (social) safety in schools. The study shows that all schools/boards consider (social) safety important, but more than policy is needed to actually create a safe environment. In this article, School & Safety lists the Inspectorate’s recommendations.
On 30 June, childcare centres will once again have fun getting messy during Mud Day. Free play with the elements of water and sand is at the heart of the day. Children are given the space to make mud, feel it, smear it, throw it… and getting dirty is allowed! And getting dirty is not only fun, but healthy too, as Finnish research has shown. The number of cases of asthma and allergies there has fallen sharply because children are exposed to bacteria and fungi in nature. So is getting dirty in the mud actually dirty at all? By coming into contact with all kinds of microorganisms, which are found in nature but less so in urban environments, children are building a strong immune system. So let them get muddy!
On 17 June, State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Prevention and Sport) presented the ‘Guideline for healthy and responsible screen and social media use’. The guideline, based on research by scientists, experts and civil society organisations, is intended to provide parents and caregivers with guidance on raising their children in the use of media. The most important advice is a recommended minimum age of 15 for social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. The guideline is also of interest to education professionals.
On 11 June, it was National Outdoor Play Day. In more than 1,000 neighbourhoods, streets were closed to cars and opened for children to play. On that day, Jantje Beton also sounded the alarm: fewer and fewer children are playing outside. Not because they do not want to, but simply because there are no other children left in the streets. The fact that outdoor play is under pressure is also important for education professionals.
From 1 to 12 September 2025, primary schools, schools for special (primary) education and schools for secondary special education can register for the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Programme and/or the EU School Dairy Programme. This programme runs from 10 November 2025 to 17 April 2026.
From 10 to 14 June, the eighth edition of Healthy Youth Week will take place, an initiative of JOGG. The Week focuses on creating a healthy living environment for children and young people. Activities are organised throughout the country to encourage healthy behaviour. Healthy School has listed a few good examples from other schools.
Unfortunately, bullying is still very common in secondary schools. Research repeatedly shows that LGBTQ+ students are particularly vulnerable. They are more often bullied, excluded, or laughed at. That is why it is so important that you, as a teacher, know what you can do to prevent this. Bullying researcher Tessa Kaufman provides recommendations through Stichting School & Veiligheid on how to address this.
Should there be a ban or an age limit for social media? The Netherlands Youth Institute (NJi) thinks not. Social media are an ordinary living environment for young people, just like home, school and the street. They should therefore be designed in that way too, according to NJi.
Starting Monday, 2 June, all municipalities in the Netherlands can once again register for the Mayors' Breakfast. This breakfast takes place during Our Food Week (4 to 11 October 2025). During this week, mayors have breakfast together with a school class at the town hall. Participating municipalities receive a free breakfast box filled with healthy products, put together by the Mayors' Breakfast (part of the National School Breakfast), and fully in accordance with the Wheel of Five.
IVN Nature Education and Rooftop Revolution are launching a new teaching package for primary schools: ‘School Roof of the Future’. The teaching materials are free to download and were specifically developed for years 5 and 6. Pupils discover how the roof of their own school can become a green, sustainable place full of possibilities.
Children learn not only by being cautious, but also by taking risks. This is receiving increasing attention, both in the Netherlands and abroad. VeiligheidNL wants children to be given the opportunity to engage in risky play. Together with professionals who work with parents and children, VeiligheidNL ensures that this can happen safely. In a white paper, VeiligheidNL explains why risky play is beneficial for children's development and how it helps prevent serious injuries. The white paper is also relevant for education professionals.
During the period from 2021 to 2024, Healthy School, together with education professionals, Healthy School advisors, and knowledge and collaboration partners, worked to promote healthy lifestyles in schools. The focus was on reaching all schools, improving quality, and structurally embedding health in education. This joint effort has produced strong results and laid a solid foundation for a healthy future for pupils and students. This is shown by the Healthy School Final Evaluation 2021–2024.
On Wednesday, 9 April 2025, Stichting School & Veiligheid organised the national education conference Met Alle Respect! for the tenth time. Around 250 education professionals had travelled to Theater Gooiland in Hilversum for an inspiring day centred on social safety in education. Another 300 participants followed the conference online. A look back.
More and more parents and children support the mobile phone ban in the classroom that came into effect on January 1, 2024. A ban throughout the entire school can also count on more supporters. This is according to research by Ouders & Onderwijs among 1,143 parents. “It is not surprising that more and more children and young people support the mobile phone ban,” says Vivian den Blanken of the Netherlands Youth Institute.
Almere is the winner of the Golden Carrot 2025. The municipality received this award on Friday, 23 May, during School Garden Week for its inspiring support of school gardening. The first Audience Award was won by the municipality of Leiderdorp.
The Netherlands has achieved the Guinness World Record for a school garden lesson. No fewer than 3,768 children from across the country took part in the record attempt on Thursday morning, 22 May. This broke the previous record of 539 participants. The record attempt was an activity of School Garden Week, which took place from 19 to 23 May.
Marit Daams is working with IVN Nature Education on a short nature documentary: The Secret Life on the Schoolyard. However, one special film star is still missing: a hedgehog.
The wellbeing of students begins with the wellbeing of teachers. When they feel supported, connected and resilient, this has a direct positive impact on their pupils and students. But the hectic pace of full schedules and high workloads demands a great deal from teachers. That is precisely why the Welbevinden op School programme will focus on 3 June, during Mental Health Week (2–8 June), on the foundation of a positive school culture: the wellbeing of the school team.
From 19 May through 3 June, schools can apply for the Lekker naar Buiten! incentive grant via Gezonde School. This grant is part of the Jong Leren Eten (JLE) programme and helps children and young people learn to make conscious, healthy and sustainable choices in a practical way.
This year, Anti-Bullying Week has the theme ‘Look through a different lens; And see: your class is a team’. The campaign, organised by the School & Safety Foundation, takes place from 22 to 26 September 2025.
The school garden is flourishing. While in 2021 only 19 percent of primary school teachers made use of the school garden, four years later this percentage has risen to 27 percent. This is shown by recent research by DUO Onderwijsonderzoek commissioned by the School Garden Alliance. However, there are major differences between provinces. The absolute frontrunner in school gardening is primary education in Zeeland. At the bottom are the primary schools in the province of Flevoland.
On 12 May, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport launched the ‘No to vaping’ campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness among young people and their parents about the harmful effects of vaping. Schools can use the accompanying materials to educate students about this and initiate discussions.
The Healthy School Canteen programme run by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre has been supporting schools for more than 20 years. And the Netherlands Nutrition Centre will continue to do so. The ambition remains high: a healthy and sustainable school environment for all pupils. However, due to cuts to prevention funding, the way in which the Netherlands Nutrition Centre supports schools in this respect will change.
Many schoolyards are grey and dull. Time for a change! Jantje Beton and Praxis are calling on primary schools to take part in the second edition of From Grey to Green: a campaign to work together to make schoolyards greener.
There is a new version of the Smaaklessen programme. Just as fun and tasty as the previous version, but now with new lessons, new recipes, completely up to date and in a new look!