Category:
Date: November 27, 2022

Our new school - parents' input from bidding process

Many parents have previously given input for the design of the new school during the bidding process. The PA will insure that this valuable information will be considered now when the architects are gathering requirements and designing the new school in Alkmaar.

Do you find anything missing in the following summary? Please send a message to esbpainfo@gmail.com with subject line "new school input".

Find out more about the bid and the vision of Alkmaar municipality here.

Summary of Parents Input During Alkmaar Bid Evening Session With Architects

Key 3 areas that parents are most concerned about (in order of priority):

  1. Stress free arrival - Kiss and ride / drop and pick up / parking – user friendly and safe (this is not the case
    for the current school), weatherproof the arrival, underground parking, safe cycle path all way to school.
  2. Maintain community feel – light friendly aula area, with canteen & theatre, enabling classes and language
    sections to mingle, encouraging creativity of kids, multi-use large space could be used during exam times.
  3. Balanced school life – balance of academic/innovation and creative/human/social sporting element.
  • Learn:
  • Classrooms with natural light, natural materials, healthy ventilation/climate system
  • Science lab, with IT connection with JRC and EMA clearly visible – bring JRC and EMA into classroom
  • Multiple sized classrooms – for different types of lessons – including small language lessons
  • Show areas for children’s work – so parents can come see it and have coffee at canteen
  • Media/ music area – for kids to create podcasts, produce music etc
  • Library important – so parents don’t need to always buy new books
  • Co-lab areas and individual study areas for kids to prepare projects/exams

  • Play & Relax:
  • Better sporting facilities indoors and outdoors than current school (check out Athletics skills model)
  • Separate playgrounds for different ages, with covered areas for Dutch rainy weather conditions
  • Campus like atmosphere – green spaces, co-lab areas, chill areas, small skate park.
  • Partnerships with sports clubs in the area – swimming pool, tennis club, football club etc

  • Sustainable & Safe:
  • Visible sustainability - children to see how much energy they saved or generated, linked to learning
  • Built for disabled kids, think of invisible disabilities too (hearing issues) – make it inclusive
  • Own garden, linked to canteen – healthy options in canteen – encourage healthy eating
  • Make good use of the roof – go upwards, for playgrounds, garden and solar panels and green roof
  • Visible recycling of water, aware of water usage & waste. 100% electric goes without saying.

  • Mobility:
  • No road to cross at kiss and ride & safe commute by bike from Bergen to Alkmaar
  • Do stuff to encourage more bike usage – safe bike paths, underground parking etc
  • Shuttle bus from Bergen to Alkmaar – so less parents bring cars
  • Free electric chargers for electric bikes for kids, staff, parents alike.

  • Family Life:
  • Pre-school (BSO/VSO) on school grounds – for easy dropping for parents with +1 kid
  • Good balance of electronic and physical experience for the kids – encourage less focus on phones
  • Fun outside accessible playground – fun for kids to play in before and after leaving school
  • Earlier drop off times for parents who need to get to work by 9am – school inside playground to wait

  • Recommendations to Architects:
  • Visit comparison schools - Mol, Kalsruhe ESB & International school in Copenhagen
  • Contact JRC they are doing research on Smart City Schools – smart digitization with solar panels
  • Check out Athletics Skills playground at HvA Doctor Meurenlaan Amsterdam – inside and outside

The Parents' Association

Organisatie Oudervereniging van de Europese School te Bergen
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