A primary school, playgroup, after-school care and village hall. They will all live together in the new multifunctional accommodation (MFA) in Nietap. The old school building of OBS De Flint is already up for construction and the wrecking ball will soon be going through. In a year’s time, the new tenants will have to move into the brand new MFA.
“A new building is really not an unnecessary luxury,” explains director Aniek Sijsling of OBS De Flint. “The roof is leaking, the building is not well insulated and the layout is impractical.” According to her, it will soon be very nice for the children to have everything in one place. “The toddlers can move on to group 1, children can simply stay here after school for childcare.”
In addition to the school and daycare, Nietap’s village hall will also have a place in the MFA. “Every village needs a village hall,” says Geert Wolters of the De Flint Village House Foundation. “We also live together in a village, so we can share a building together. This is extremely good for cohesion.”
Today the construction agreement was signed at the Noordenveld town hall. Wolters already likes the plans. “It will all flow nicely together soon. But we can also help each other. I can already see that the children have a small garden here and there are probably some neighborhood grandfathers who want to help with the maintenance. And of course we are also a lot open after school so we certainly don’t get in each other’s way.”
Next year, the students of De Flint will be accommodated at De Parel primary school in Roden. Just before the Christmas holidays, they said goodbye to the school together with former students. Director Sijsling hopes that they can move back before the Christmas holidays. “We can do so much more of what we want here. There will also be a gymnasium and we can provide much more outdoor education. We are completely ready for the future.”
In Nietap they did not come up with this plan all by themselves. They looked at Zeijen with a slanted eye. There is also an MFA there that has been housing a school, daycare, sports clubs and the village hall for over ten years. “We all use each other’s spaces,” explains chairman of the De Zeijer Hoogte Foundation Albert Noord. “The teachers’ room is also used as a boardroom in the evenings and weekends, for example. The gymnasium is used by the school and the sports clubs. And we can use the after-school care and school space near the canteen as the first of the SVZ football club at home. plays.”
In Zeijen they are very proud of their MFA. “I wish this for every village. And it is so incredibly important for cohesion in your village,” concludes Noord.