“I'll go home happy if we can really help children!”
A successful collaboration between school and childcare
In the Escamp district in The Hague, Suzette and Kevin work with heart and soul on a future in which every child has equal opportunities. Suzette, Unit Manager at 2Samen, and Kevin, Director at the PC Hooftschool, make an extra effort at school and in childcare to promote a healthy lifestyle and support children growing up in poverty. In various ways, they support children and parents in this. They consider the collaboration between education and childcare to be self-evident. Kevin: “Together you can do more than alone. We see that here every day!”
Healthy habits from a young age
Suzette says: “We think it is important that children learn what a healthy lifestyle is at a young age. That is why we work together with Wowijs, an initiative of Stichting Haagse Jeugd Gezond. Together we guide children towards a healthier lifestyle. We do this based on three pillars: nutrition, exercise and lifestyle. This goes a step further than the standard offer. For example, children receive toddler gymnastics, music lessons for babies and information about healthy nutrition.”
“Every month, the municipality’s information officers are in the hall to provide parents with information about healthy eating,” Suzette explains. The location has also started offering breakfast to all children. “This way, we create awareness among both children and their parents from a young age.”
Kevin: “A challenge is to make this approach more district-oriented, for example, now it is mainly focused on children from 2Samen or from the school. Although there are already more participants this school year compared to last school year.” By playfully and practically introducing children to a healthy lifestyle, Suzette and Kevin hope to lay a foundation for a future in which health is central.
Support by the Youth Education Fund
“We also work together with the Youth Education Fund,” says Suzette. 2Torentjes has applied for a subsidy from this fund together with the school. “This gives us more resources to increase the development opportunities of children who grow up in poverty. That is important, because in the Netherlands one in nine children grows up in poverty. In our neighborhood that percentage is many times higher,” she says. With the help of the fund we can support children in a targeted manner. In childcare we experience children differently than in a full classroom. That is why we can better identify who needs help in collaboration with the school.
She explains how the Youth Education Fund works: “There is money available so that all children can participate in activities and outings, for example to a museum. But we can also use the money individually; for example, if a parent cannot afford glasses for his/her child, we can do that through the JEF.” In this way, children who do not always ask for help are still reached and supported. Kevin: “The Youth Education Fund also offers opportunities to get in touch with parents. This really helps you build a stronger bond with some parents.”
The projects provide more connection with the families, Kevin notices. “Because we offer help from the Youth Education Fund, we have more contact moments with parents. It also contributes to organizing more joint activities from 2Torentjes and the school.” This is important for mutual trust and helps schools and shelters to better respond to what families actually need. However, it remains difficult to find out exactly what we can help with. Suzette explains: “You never know exactly what is going on in people’s homes, or what is and is not available.”
In addition, the shame surrounding the theme of poverty makes it difficult to reach everyone. Kevin says: “At certain moments, such as handing out Saint Nicholas presents to parents or offering free breakfast, you do notice that the shame is less. This happens especially when parents do not have to report individually with a request for help, but when it is offered via a request.” In this way, they are able to reach families who otherwise might not have dared to ask for help.
We can make this much bigger… it needs to spread like wildfire.
Subsidy for theatre, music and gymnastics
Last spring we have 2Torentjes and the PC Hooftschool joined forces in the context of the 'School & Omgeving' subsidy. Kevin: "Thanks to this subsidy, we have the opportunity to organize a hugely enriched offer for the children after school every day. This applies to all children who are connected to the PC Hooftschool and 2TorentjesWe also work closely with the Escampade community centre and the Gelderland school.”
There is a theatre school, cycling lessons, children can take technology lessons, extra music and gym lessons are organised and cooking is done.
“Because we have changed the after-school offer significantly in the overall offer, we notice that we can really offer children extra opportunities. Children have the opportunity to discover something new or to further develop their talent in a period of 10, 20 or 40 weeks, depending on the activity. Parents, children and team members are very happy with this great offer!”
Dreams for the future
Suzette and Kevin have ambitious plans for the future. For Suzette, this means initiatives such as Wowijs and the subsidy from the Youth Education Fund must be deployed more widely. “We can make this much bigger… it must spread like wildfire. Because I don’t only want this for children in the Escamp district, but also in other districts of The Hague.
I go home happy when we can really help children and offer them something extra. Or when I have a conversation with a parent who is open to me and makes themselves vulnerable. When you can help then, that is wonderful! But I also enjoy the collaboration with the school, that we have a better view of the children and families who are less well off. And that we can 'really' mean something to them. When a parent is allowed to choose a Sinterklaas present from us and then thanks me with tears in their eyes because the child gets a shoe present... that is what I do it for!”
Kevin also gets a lot of satisfaction from this way of working together: “I go home happy when we can ensure that children and employees enjoy going to school and daycare and also take steps in their development. If I can contribute to that, that is fantastic.”
He dreams of a place where everyone can develop optimally. “Every week we take new steps in the collaboration between care and education. My dream is that we can build a huge center where young people in particular, but also old people, can continuously develop and come together. From early in the morning until late at night in all sorts of different ways: a kind of mini-society in the middle of the big city. Enormously important in social times where connection in its purest form is no longer always self-evident.”