Parent advisory council on working visit at schools Rotterdam-south.

Parent advisory council on working visit at schools Rotterdam-south.

Instead of a usual meeting, members of the Parent Advisory Council of Ouders & Onderwijs recently visited two primary schools in Rotterdam-South. Both the SGP and the BBB joined from politics.

Educational disadvantages in South 

In 2011 the National Program Rotterdam South (NPRZ) started to improve living conditions in Rotterdam-South. Education also got extra help because children in Rotterdam-South scored much lower than the rest of Rotterdam. One of the initiatives was to offer 10 extra teaching hours per week for children. More and better education helps improve school results and increase the future chances of youth.

De Globe and De Sonnevanck

Martine Remijn, director of public primary school De Globe and of special primary education school De Sonnevanck, talked about both schools. It is special that good steps have already been taken towards inclusive education because regular education and special primary education are housed under one roof. The groups are separated, but they meet a lot during breaks and other school activities.

Team members also talked about what they face in contact with students and parents. The problems of local families do not stand alone and come to school too. This means the school also has an important signaling role. That is why building a good relationship with parents is very important. The team and the school’s social workers help parents where they can. A parent present also told this. She got help from the school when finding housing. Ilse Loewenthal, member of the Parent Advisory Council and active at Ouders010 says: ‘Nice to show in practice what parents and schools in Rotterdam-South face.’

Petrus Datheenschool in Rotterdam-IJsselmonde 

The Parent Advisory Council also visited the Petrus Datheenschool, a school for reformed education in Rotterdam. Parents from the neighborhood and the region consciously choose this school. The school values communication with parents very much. Only then can you work well with parents and school. The school is not big, but stands for good quality education where well-being and involvement of all students are important.

This was clear during the tour of the school. In the kindergarten classes, you could see how some children play and others do ‘little tasks’. This way, children learn early on to have an independent work attitude. In grades 7/8, students were actively working on ‘Kanjertraining’ to improve social-emotional skills. Many thanks to director Henk Schipper and his team for the warm welcome. Gerdien Lassche, member of the Parent Advisory Council and manager of the Reformed Parents Association says: ‘Such a school visit gives me a lot of energy and inspiration!’ 

Award for the most parent-friendly school in the Netherlands

Both schools have shown how important it is to build a trusting relationship with parents before you can work well together. They are good examples of how to involve parents. Do you think the school of your child is also such a good example and superparentfriendly? Then put your child’s school in the spotlight and nominate it for the award for the most parent-friendly school in the Netherlands.