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Een zorg minder Scheveningseweg 52, Den Haag Postbus 85563, 2508 CG Den Haag t +31 (0)70 3615048 f +31 (0)70 3615400 www.gmw.nl Zo International In The Hague, the international city of peace and justice, Zo also looks after non Dutch children. A growing part of the international community in The Netherlands consist of young expats, Deborah Valentine has noticed. As director of ACCESS, the organisation supporting the international community in The Hague, she is delighted about the collaboration with Zo Kinderopvang & BSO. Deborah Valentine, born in Canada and resident in The Netherlands for the past 19 years, is responsible for the daily management of ACCESS and its strategy for the future. Another part of her role is trying to identify the people who would benefit from support from ACCESS. Collaboration Zo started working with ACCESS to support expat parents as effectively as possible. ‘ACCESS gave a presentation at one of the childcare centres,’ reports Deborah Valentine enthusiastically. ‘I thought it was a wonderful example of how Zo employees take the time and effort to identify the issues for international children and their parents, and how they can improve to comply with certain needs.’ Expectations In her interaction with parents from different backgrounds Deborah has noticed that there is a difference in expectations of childcare. ‘In Latin America childcare is much more educational, almost similar to pre-school education. French parents are used to their child getting a hot meal around lunch time. Being outside a lot is important in almost every culture. But in the end every parent, irrespective of their culture, wants a childcare centre where they feel good about leaving their child and which their child enjoys attending. Zo Kinderopvang & BSO has a number of centres where international children are looked after. All educational employees working here take extra English classes to be able to communicate properly with the parents. All information is available in both Dutch and English. Q & A with Ingrid van Engelshoven Children are the future. Zo believes that every ethical investment in a child’s development is an investment in the future of a better, stronger and more sustainable Netherlands. But at the same time we realise that not every child gets the same opportunities to develop, as they do not always all have a rich variety of possibilities during their childhood. What is your wish for all children or, in other words, what opportunities do you believe are most important for children? Every effort should go into providing children with opportunities. Parents, education and environment all play an extremely important part in that. It is important that all parties involved with a growing child are in contact with each other. If you know each other, you can work together, and a child will benefit from that. A child should get every opportunity to excel, both at home and at school. And not only on an intellectual level, but also in a social and emotional sense and through sports and cultural activities. When we challenge children in all these areas, you will see where the possibilities and limitations lie. In your opinion what role could childcare play in this? Playing together means learning together. Childcare long ago ceased being just a place to bring your children to during the day. It is a wonderful opportunity to support boys and girls in their development. There is a real increase in playgroups and childcare actively helping children with their language development, which will prevent problems in primary school. As well as being a place for development, childcare is also a Isa (3,5): ‘When can I go to day care and my friends again?’ Olivier (8): ‘Mum, can I go to the holiday care? We are going to spray graffiti!’ Blazen! Buren van Velzen Guelen feliciteert Zo, Corona en alle medewerkers met 20 jaar blije kinderen. www.bvvg.nl Alderman responsible for Education and Welfare in The Hague means of supporting the employment market. By providing childcare, parents can both work and develop themselves in the way they want. Do you as a working mother have any advice for working parents? What applies to children applies to parents as well: continue your self-development. Giving yourself the space and time to do so, does not automatically mean you are neglecting your child. A child only benefits from a parent who has had an enjoyable day at work. The moments you spend as a family might be less frequent, but because of that will be more intense. Any thoughts on Zo’s anniversary? To start a childcare centre is one thing. Carrying it on is another thing altogether, especially these days. So an anniversary really is something to celebrate. Parents trust you with their children, which is not something you do lightly. You could see this anniversary as a mark of the parents’ appreciation. I personally would like to congratulate you and wish you all the best for the future.
Childcare offers added value, for parents and children Congratulations on your Award. Thank you! It was a very special meeting in Washington. A hundred women were nominated, all of them in different ways involved in improving the position of women and minorities around the world. For instance, there was a woman from Gambia, who started collecting plastic waste which, together with other local women, she used to make bags and other products to sell. The women involved earned their own income in this way and were able to live independently. It was wonderful to hear about all these initiatives.’ Why is this subject so important to you? ‘I come from a close family with four children. As the only girl, I was treated exactly the same as my three brothers and had the same opportunities as them. But some of my friends were treated differently. The boys would be studying at the table, while the girls had to help out in the house. This upset me a lot.’ Your aim is for there to be more women in higher positions. Is The Netherlands behind on this? ‘Yes, it is, but fortunately we are making good progress. Fifteen years ago around 50% of Dutch women had a job, currently this number is around 78%.’ Why do you think there are relatively few women in high positions? ‘The first reason is that The Netherlands has a long tradition of the man as breadwinner. Secondly, the government plays a role in encouraging participation in the labour market. In the past the Dutch government was not as active in this role ‘Cherish the combination of working and family life in order to further develop yourself as parents’ as some other European countries. Furthermore a proper infrastructure for combining your private life and your work is a necessity. So childcare and after-school care should be available everywhere and it should be built around themes such as quality. Since the introduction of the Dutch Childcare Act in 2005, childcare businesses have really started to implement this infrastructure. Of course, the cultural values and standards of Dutch women are an influence as well. They must want to work and realise their own ambitions themselves.’ What would help women to achieve those high positions? ‘I am convinced that if women, the government and employers all took responsibility for this objective, women would have an increasingly prominent position. Employers must create the appropriate infrastructure and preconditions, society should start to accept women working, women will start to work to achieve their ambitions and encourage each other in this, men will have to take on some family responsibilities, and adequate and appropriate childcare should be available.’ You do not set a quota for women. ‘That is correct. I do not support quotas set by the government. It is much more important to plan how to realise the aim of getting more women into employment and into high positions. Now that the government is cutting back on the childcare allowance, many women are considering working less.’ What is your opinion about that? ‘I feel that women often give up their own careers too quickly. Of course childcare costs money, but it is only temporary. Developing your career so that it fits in with what you want is for the rest of your life. It is an investment in yourself and an example for your children. In addition, childcare also has an added value for the rest of a child’s upbringing, they learn a lot socially speaking. It has a social function for the parents as well; there is a lot of interaction between the parents.’ You have an impressive career. How did you succeed in combining this with a happy personal life? ‘Designing your life is all about making choices. I have always specifically chosen to develop my own talents. Of course it did help that my husband Constant (Constant van Gestel, late husband of Sybilla Dekker) completely supported me in this. We have always shared the responsibilities for our personal life and our family. If you make conscious choices, you will find your way naturally.’ What would be your advice for working women or parents? ‘Cherish the combination of working and family life in order to further develop yourself as parents. Really think through your decision before stepping back from your career, try not to do this just for financial reasons. Children grow up and move on. It is important that, as well as being a parent, you are yourself and that you continue to develop as a person and as a couple.’ Sybilla Dekker was the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment from 2003 to 2006. Since 2008 she has been, among other things, chairperson of Taskforce and Stichting Talent naar de Top (‘Talent to the top foundation’), through which she dedicates herself to leadership and emancipation for women. Working together with parents improves childcare Childcare in the Netherlands is already of a high quality, but there are some areas, such as collaboration with parents, which could be improved. With over thirty years of experience as an educationalist in the childcare sector, Kok van der Meer helps Zo to improve even further. Level of quality The educational quality of childcare comes first in The Netherlands. This was made even more apparent when in 2006, in my role as chairperson of the Landelijk Pedagogenplatform (‘Dutch National Platform for Educationalists’) I took the initiative in developing the Pedagogisch Kader Kinderopvang (‘Childcare Educational Framework’). There was talk of offering childcare of different ‘levels of quality’, so that parents with a lower income could opt for a simpler form of childcare. However, educationalists, managers and educational employees all soon agreed that in childcare there is no such thing as a lower level of quality. There is only one level of quality. This has been set out in the Educational Framework and has been adopted as the national standard by the State Secretary at that time. The Framework not only includes requirements regarding quality but also describes a number of ‘speelleergebieden’ (‘learning through play areas’) and a range of activities to be used in these areas. For day care these areas cover movement and sensory perception, language and communication, arranging, measuring and calculation, sound, music and dance, and nature and expression. Collaboration After this I wanted to progress my career in childcare. I noticed that parents were still seen as customers rather than partners, so I decided to focus on collaboration between parents and childcare. ‘Trusting their own strength makes children strong’ In my current position as educationalist at Zo I have now made arrangements with parents to increase the range of activities within the ‘learning through play areas’. I really look forward to making the areas included in the Educational Framework even more professional, working together with the educational employees (the professionals from the work area) and the parents (the partners in upbringing). If you would like to find out more about the Childcare Educational Framework, please go to www.pedagogischkader.nl or ask for a copy at one of our centres. The website and the Educational Framework are only available in Dutch. in 5 minuten je ARBO-kosten naar euro Mollerusstraat 1 3743 BW BAARN Telefoon 035 750 32 00 kijk op www.arboz.nl
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