NPO subsidy for improving physical and mental development

Since the coronavirus pandemic, many schools have been dealing with learning delays. The Dutch government therefore introduced the NPO subsidy (National Education Programme) to tackle these delays in primary and secondary education. The subsidy can be used in various ways, including for fitting out the school playground.

Those involved sometimes tend to look straight at knowledge-related matters, but sport plays an important role too. Focusing on sport helps reduce delays. Serious delays are noticeable in physical activity, and exercise is good for children's physical and mental development. This ultimately improves the return on learning time.

NPO subsidy menu

Together with teachers, municipalities, parents and other parties, school leaders choose interventions from the government's menu that best suit their situation. The interventions fall broadly into six target areas:

• More education (during or outside regular school hours) to help pupils catch up on knowledge and skills.
• More effective teaching to help pupils catch up on knowledge and skills.
• Social-emotional and physical development of pupils.
• Development of pupils' executive functions.
• (Additional) deployment of staff and support.
• Facilities and preconditions.

One of the interventions is therefore children's social-emotional and physical development. Because of the pandemic and changing needs, children and adults move less in daily life. A good way to improve this is to tackle the school playground. It is often traditionally designed and rarely responds to children's changing needs, such as gaming culture, mobile phone use and the national decline in children who are members of a sports club.

The playground of the future

Together with our partner SmartGoals, we respond to these changing needs. Schools should focus on a future-proof playground, for example by using SmartGoals, which bring play and gaming together. They are innovative, interactive installations that stimulate children's motor development in an attractive way. The playground can be set up multifunctionally with them. SmartGoals are movable, so different set-ups and exercises are always possible and pupils are constantly challenged. The concept can also be used in PE lessons: any teacher can come up with fun exercises that stimulate children's motor skills and cognition. Above all, children enjoy moving with SmartGoals. The interactive elements can be programmed with all kinds of games, such as tag, post football, running games and relays. Whether you're an experienced athlete or a beginner, there are fun and challenging games for everyone.

SmartGoals Urban SkillCourt

There is also a permanent SmartGoals installation. The SmartGoals Urban SkillCourt can be fully customised and extended with other equipment, such as football goals and fitness stations. There are also fixed configurations, such as the SmartGoals Interactive Running Track, the circle, the triangle and the square. The interactive posts can even be integrated into existing playgrounds.

All of this happens during the day. In the evenings, the school can let local residents, bootcamp groups and sports clubs use the SkillCourt. No supervision is needed to activate the system; it works automatically via the SmartGoals app.

The school can monitor all user data: anonymised information about the target groups using the court, peak and off-peak hours, and even the most popular games.