Within the framework of our annual theme Together you get further In this interview, we look at the valuable collaboration between OPOO and SKO. This year, in fact, is the new joint training program to Child professional has started, whereby BBL colleagues at OPOO primary schools and SKO after-school care locations are being trained as both educational support staff and specialized pedagogical employees. The goal is to better respond to the needs of the children and offer them optimal development.
At three of the four OPOO locations, SKO and the school already share spaces, and SKO provides supervision during the teachers' lunch break. At the Gevers-Deutz Terweeschool (GDT) will also offer childcare from the same building during the move to the new construction.
Director Lennart Zomer of the GDT and Childcare Manager Petra Jonker from SKO engage in a conversation about the background of this new training program. What benefits it offers for both the children and the staff, and how the program has improved collaboration between their teams. A conversation that emphasizes the power of collaboration and shows that together we are stronger in providing the best education, childcare, and care for our children.
How has the new program influenced your collaboration? And what makes this collaboration unique?
Petra emphasizes that both organizations have a strong willingness to collaborate on the training: “It is remarkable to see that, despite the physical distance between our teams, that desire to work together is truly there.” Lennart notes that the joint training has strengthened the collaboration, even though they are located in different buildings. “Thanks to this collaboration, for example, I visited the after-school care. It brought us together on a different level and led to a new understanding,” he says. “It was very special to be there and see how the children from the GDT looked at me as if to say, “Hey, what are you doing here? Why are you here?””
What benefits do you see in a joint education for the children?
Both agree that it is very valuable for the children to see familiar faces, both at school and at the after-school care. The familiarity this provides is seen as the most important benefit. Lennart explains enthusiastically: “A child’s development doesn’t stop at two-thirty; it continues at the after-school care. The fact that I have now gained more insight into this has really paid off for the children. It makes you more aware of what happens after school. And I also have a much clearer picture of how things work at the after-school care based on the BBL students” stories.“ Petra adds: ”If an employee who sees the child at school during the day also accompanies them to the place where the child is in a leisure setting, it has a major impact on the relationship. That employee has a complete picture of the child; it is not a snapshot. He or she has seen how that child is doing throughout the day and can build on that in the afternoon. For example, it makes a difference whether a child has been outside, had an argument, or had a quiet or busy day. This yields significant benefits, not only for the relationship but also for the work itself. You can deliver your best work when you have a clear picture of the child, and that is what happens with the combined role.”
Are there any disadvantages?
Lennart: “If there isn't a connection with the teacher, that can be really annoying. Additionally, it can sometimes be a hindrance for a child if the school teacher also works at the after-school care. It is possible that the child feels inhibited because of this.” Petra replies that they noticed that colleagues with a combined job experience a different kind of authority, both at school and at the after-school care. “Children seem to listen to the colleague more readily at school than when that colleague works with the same children at the after-school care. So, during school hours, they are used to a different working method from the same child professional than after school hours at the after-school care,” she says.
And what benefits do you see for employees? 
Petra: “It is an interesting job because you have more opportunities for advancement than just as a project manager, and the working hours are more attractive. In addition, the deployment of educational support staff relieves the teachers. This benefits not only the child but also the staff, both the project managers and the teachers.”
The BBL colleagues feel very much at home in both teams. What did you do to ensure that this works so well?
“It is important to create a ’sense of home’ for the BBL colleagues, so that they feel like full-fledged team members from the start,” says Petra. “And we paid a lot of attention to involving the entire team in the training. mboRijnland gave a presentation to the team about what the program entails. It seems that this extra step contributes to the positive experience.” Lennart adds that they held the mboRijnland presentation for the entire school, which further strengthened involvement. In addition, the workplace supervisors visited SKO so that they felt even more connected to the various workplaces. “It was a new collaboration for both Petra and me; it started from scratch,” says Lennart. “We really presented it as a new world, and that earned us a lot of appreciation. We also addressed the BBL colleagues immediately as colleagues, not as BBL students.”
SKO and OPOO attach great value to a continuous development and learning pathway. Do you think this collaboration will contribute to this?
Lennart indicates that the BBL colleagues, in particular, are struggling with the fact that this has not yet really been implemented at GDT and Vuur & Vlam. They notice this during assignments for their training. “The rest of the team isn't really focusing on it yet, but given the future, I think it would be wise to pay more attention to this,” he says. Petra adds that it still feels a bit forced at the moment. “When we are all in one building together, it will become easier. At the moment, contact is mainly between the teacher and the project manager when something is going on with a child,” she explains.
In a year, the BBL colleagues will have two diplomas to their name. How do you envision the future workplace for these dual-diploma holders then?
Lennart indicates that it is important to make the bridging function of the child professional more concrete: “We need to better clarify exactly what the bridging function entails and what it can benefit both of us, so that we can take even better care of the children.” Even if we were to move towards extended school days in the future, where school time and out-of-school care time overlap, the combined role can contribute to this. “Especially when it comes to thematic offerings. This provides more room for one-on-one moments. This allows you to make better use of the capacities of both the childcare worker/child professional and the teacher.”
Petra adds that the future may involve more project-based education, in which play, outdoor activities, and art are more interwoven. “Part of the offering can be provided by the out-of-school care in a playful way. However, this must be done in consultation and collaboration between the teacher and the project manager.”
They both believe that, in an ideal situation, the teacher is responsible for the curriculum. The teacher then works together with the child professional or project manager to determine how they, as a team, can implement the various components. This should be based on everyone's strengths and preferences for specific tasks. Petra gives an example: “Suppose a child needs extra language support. This can be addressed in various ways. For instance, you could assign the child professional or project manager to provide language support, or that person could focus on the rest of the class, allowing the teacher to concentrate fully on the language support. This allows for a very flexible approach to determining what is appropriate and necessary.”
Can you come up with agreements needed to make the collaboration between the OPOO schools and SKO locations sustainable?
To make the collaboration between OPOO schools and SKO locations sustainable, it is important to establish structural agreements. Funding is a key factor in this regard. Petra emphasizes that the continued existence of combined roles can provide a stable foundation: “If the combined roles remain, we can assign a permanent professional to the lower, middle, and upper grades. This ensures that children see a familiar face in both the morning and the afternoon, which contributes to a sustainable way of working.”
In addition to financial resources, mutual interaction also plays a major role. Lennart adds that collaboration does not depend solely on the combined role: “Seeing and meeting each other remains essential, even if the BBL program were to end.” The move to a shared building could offer an opportunity in this regard. Petra also sees possibilities here: “Should the combined role disappear, we can still find other ways to continue the collaboration. The fact that we will soon be under one roof together creates new possibilities for this.” A possible development is that the teams from the school and the after-school care will eventually merge completely. Lennart suggests that this could be a future-proof solution. Both organizations are currently developing a vision for this, and both Lennart and Petra are eager to explore together how they can achieve this step by step.
