Hello! Today I tell you about our cool news! The Netherlands is one of the countries that cares about Ukrainians in this difficult time! We were convinced of that again when we went to primary schools in The Hague with the Ziberteam.
Trampoline - Lucas Onderwijs (The Hague)
The first school we visited is the Trampoline, where we met the great staff of the school, including Ukrainian teachers who meet the children described. The teachers watched with us how they communicated with each other and with the children. It was very cool to see how the Dutch teacher Huib Boreel sings songs and plays guitar for children so that they learn Dutch words fluently. Ukrainian teachers at school feel familiar to children, so they easily adapt to learning and experience everything new as fun! The Ukrainian teacher learns the Dutch language together with the students - it brings them together, doesn't it?!
Great stories
Teachers give classes in which students portray the teachers in their speeches, the children were so inspired that a student named Sophia said she wants to become a teacher later and this is all thanks to the work of teachers from two different countries! Children are always asked how they feel at this school and their answer is that we really like it here, even a little more than at home (in Ukraine) - this is a very good sign.
It is nice to hear these kinds of stories and it is good that Ukrainian teachers learn from the Dutch education system. Children feel safe. I am very grateful to the headmistress of this school, Mariette van den Bosch, for bringing together such a great team of Dutch teachers who together help the Ukrainian teachers to feel at ease here! Mariette has a big heart and is always ready to help! As one of the Ukrainian teachers Viktoria said: my adjustment to the Netherlands went very fast, as soon as I saw and spoke to the headmaster and other teachers, I realized that I really want to work here, even though school is far away for me, every day I enjoy going to work partly because of the motivation that the team gives me! I'm very happy to be here! After the summer holidays, children like to run to school (21 children from Ukraine are here today) and this school year they are preparing for a new addition to their classes!
Fire Butterfly - Diamond - Lucas Education (The Hague)
The second school is the Diamond School (Fire Butterfly), there are more than 80 Ukrainian children at this school and almost as many Ukrainian teachers. It is certainly not easy at this school. During the first semester, extra work was done to support the children from Ukraine and to be able to adapt, because many of them experienced great stress. Almost all children are traumatized and the move to the Netherlands was difficult for them. The school first tried to give children a sense of security and comfort! The children were given a bicycle and computers to learn, from the new school year on, healthy food (fruit and vegetables) also appeared at the school.
Just as Dutch teachers help Ukrainians, we want to help Ukrainians to adapt comfortably to the European education system!
How we contribute with Ziber
Personally, I try to do everything I can to make Ukrainians feel comfortable in schools! For example, at Ziber , I work to ensure that our Ziber apps adapt to the language of the user, including Ukrainian. And I like to do that.
The Ziber platform is a social network that takes care of all parent communication! Here you can see what your child does, how lessons are given, how they make walks or excursions! You can also communicate with the teacher or with the parents of children studying in the same class, organize events for children together, give permission as a parent to take and share photos and more! This application has a lot of functionality, but the most important thing is that it works in Ukrainian, and you do not have to contact a translator every time to understand what is in the messages or if you have received a message. Everything is automatically translated into Ukrainian, that is taken care of! I am sure that in this way every parent can quickly adapt to everything that is new, get involved in school and therefore it will also be fun, but especially for the children!
See you later! Best regards
Sasha from the Ziberteam 💙 💛
Sasha has fled Ukraine and is now temporarily helping with Ziber to make the parent app for Ukrainian refugees work even better. During a visit to the above schools, she made this report. Sasha is a photographer and also took the pictures. The people in the photo and in the text have given permission for this article to be published on the Ziber website.