It took some effort: the temporary school building for the Nieuwveense Landen new-build district in Meppel. But the school opens after the Christmas holidays. There is still a lot of renovation going on at the moment. The painters are still applying a layer of paint and some drilling is being done here and there, but in the meantime the learning areas are also being set up.
In the new Nieuwveense Landen district, houses are springing up like mushrooms. The demand for a school in the neighborhood arose, but its realization was difficult. In 2023 it turned out that the construction of a new school would be 7 million euros more expensive than expected. As a result, construction was constantly delayed.
To ensure that all children go to other schools, the municipality is converting the former Leer Werk Centrum into a temporary school. There will be two schools there; KindPunt Gavelanden, Kindcentrum Noorderveld and a childcare center under one roof.
The temporary school could not wait, says Niels Strolenberg, chairman of the Promes educational foundation. “We have already started in another school here in Meppel and it is growing at the seams. It is really time and the team is also looking forward to starting in its own building.”
A quick tour shows that several groups will be in one classroom. This is how groups 5 to 8 of KindPunt Gavelanden will come together. “We now have combined classes for as long as it lasts,” explains Herman Langhorst, chairman of the KindPunt educational foundation.
He expects that many new four-year-olds will be registered at the school, which will result in many new young children entering the lower groups. “We were in another neighborhood in Meppel, so people really have to find us. Many children have gone to other schools, including from our foundation,” says Langhorst.
“Slowly but surely, the parents are coming to meet us. Of course, it was tense for quite a while whether it would actually go ahead. It was politically sensitive. So people have been a bit hesitant. But I hear from the director that there are a lot of registrations of new students. Young students who are now turning four.”