Fouad Parent, Activity Coordinator, has been part of the Partou family for eight years and has held various positions: from team planner to setting manager. He can put all this knowledge to excellent use in coordinating children’s activities in Utrecht and the greater Utrecht area, a responsibility he has been fulfilling for the past 18 months. He coordinates and oversees the programmes for some hundred Partou settings.
“There are teams that can flesh out and implement the activities programmes for the children with little to no effort,” he explains. "But we also have settings with a lot of new colleagues or temporary workers who are less experienced and adept at this. Or who don't really know how to communicate certain things to parents. We try to help by equipping them with certain skills.”
The activities that children carry out at Partou's childcare settings are divided into six themes. Each theme helps a child develop in a certain area. The early years staff try to ensure that all children learn and develop by exploring the themes, Fouad says: “A tool we offer in this respect is the digital platform DoenKids, an online database packed with guidelines and ideas for activities the staff can do with the children throughout the week.”
Development in various areas
The ‘fantasy & crafting’ theme, for example, is designed to stimulate and develop children's creativity and imagination through the art of crafting with construction materials. “The message we try to give the children is that the process is always more important than the end result,” Fouad explains. Another theme is ‘stage & expression.’ Children are encouraged to express themselves through dance and theatre: “This theme helps promote language development. But it’s also a great way of spreading the message that everyone is different, and that it’s okay to be who you are.”
Ball games generally fall under the ‘together & play’ theme, which focuses on making friends. In the ‘point & discover’ theme, everything is centred around technology, science and media: “We teach children that it’s fun to explore things on their own and to be open to new knowledge and experiences.”
The ‘green & healthy’ theme teaches children more about nature and healthy eating. “This theme also covers the popular ‘Taste Safari‘,” Fouad explains enthusiastically. “It allows you to teach children that eating vegetables is good and healthy for them. But for the little ones, i.e. for kids between ages 0 and 2, this can be a way to learn different colours.”
The final theme is ‘sports & physical activity’. “We want to teach children that sports and physical activity are healthy. But these activities also help children develop their motor skills.”
Mixing things up
Staff at childcare settings are free to implement the various themes as they see fit, Fouad stresses. “But the idea is to introduce variation in what children do,” he explains. "Which can be a bigger puzzle than people might expect,” the coordinator adds. “But few children attend the out-of-school club or the centre every day. So, sometimes it can be a challenge to introduce all the themes to a kid who’s only with us two days a week, for example.”
Always try
“Besides,” Fouad says as he laughs, “you notice that the older the children are,
the less likely they are to be satisfied. Especially when they reach 10 or 11, they sometimes become more recalcitrant. It takes more effort to get them excited about certain activities.” The early years staff have to do their best to motivate these teenagers to join a game: “Come on, just give it a try, you’ll never know if you like something unless you try! The children are always free to say no, obviously, but once they’ve chosen something, they have to see it through. If we’re counting on you to be here, then you have to participate.” Fouad also tries to coordinate activities that reflect current issues and trends in society. “The theme ‘media’ has become much more important in recent years because issues like fake news have also started to play a bigger role in society,”
he explains. Incidentally, the coordinator also has to deal with regulatory restrictions. “We would like to organise more activities for the older children that involve certain social media. But we have to abide by the rules of the GDPR and the potential privacy risks that this may entail. Yes, sports and games have taken on a very different meaning than when I used to play hide-and-seek as a boy!”
A commitment to care
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