On top of the world…
De Singel is a school with a very diverse population. Diverse when it comes to the educational background of parents but also when it comes to the cultural background and the social/economical class. We enjoy this diversity and we cherish it. We feel it is really important that this generation is raised within a diverse community. That makes diversity is the norm to them. It will contribute strongly to a more diverse and rich society.
De Singel is also a public school. To us that means that we are open to all life convictions and religions as long as they respect the other perspectives. We celebrate Sinterklaas and Christmas. One could say these celebrations have a Christian background. Holland has, indeed, a Christian history. We celebrate Christmas and Sinterklaas in a way that is nowadays socially accepted.
Regarding our education we work with our motto: Denken, durven, doen; Thinking, daring, doing.
Thinking
The thinking part is about what we want to teach the children. Knowledge is the best predictor of being successful in life. And being successful to us means, being able to take good care of yourself and your beloved ones, being able to earn your own living and being able to contribute to our society in a positive way. We teach knowledge around a central theme. In that way children build up a knowledge base with grasping concepts and vocabulary. We repeat these themes every two years. We broaden and deepen them and adjust it to their age. We work hard with our pupils. We have high expectations and we like discipline, order and peace. You could call us old-fashioned :-).
Daring
Daring is about, do you dare to be yourself? Do you dare to trust yourself? Do you dare to approach the other with trust? With a trustworthy approach towards life, one receives something different. We work with two programs here. One is called Kanjertraining. In Holland all schools are obliged to work with an anti-bully program. We choose for Kanjertraining because it builds proactively and consequently on trust. It works with hats that symbolizes the behavior. The white hat stands for the Kanjer. He/she is trustworthy and willing to help you. The black hat stands for behavior in a bully way. The red hat for behaviour that supports the bully and the yellow hat stands for the victim. We are quite strict in that we want to see the white hat. We teach the children these group dynamics and make them aware of their choices.
The 7 habits of Highly effective people are from Stephen Covey (1981). He describes 7 habits that help you to take charge of your own life. To become the leader of your own life. These two programs are on our schedule, weekly. It has also become the standard of our behavior as adults. We model being a Kanjer and being a Leader. In that way it has also become the language in which we talk to the children. It is important that you, as a parent, understands that language. We expect the same attitude from you! In that way it is perfectly clear to everyone; as soon as you enter De Singel: this is how it works.
Doing
Doing is about being a good (global) citizen, and also about the balance in life. We live in a hectic, challenging time frame. One can be entertained 24/7. We think that balance, when it comes to healthy food, good exercises and enough sleep are very important. We wave that balance into the school days and -weeks. We model them. In the mornings the children eat fruit, we play outside on playgrounds that are as green and adventurous as possible. We provide gymnastic lessons from professionals and also dance, music and drama classes where we work with external professionals.
This is how we work and live as one community at the Singel. We are quite explicit in our do’s and don’ts; in a diverse community it needs to be very clear: this is how we do things around here!
If you are interested in hearing more and subscribing your child, please be welcome and make an appointment. 010 – 426 88 78
Warm regards,
Inge Werneke
principal
