Annemiek’s daughter (12) couldn’t go to school for a year and a half because of depression: ‘I advocate appropriate education’ | Healthy

Her daughter was nine years old when the schools closed for the first time because of corona and the classrooms were exchanged for homeschooling. After the May holidays, the schools reopened and the Cito tests were started in Felicia’s class. This soon caused tension for Van Raalten’s daughter. ,,Felicia felt that she had not worked hard enough at home. She often sets the bar high, was not satisfied and developed fear of failure in this way. That was accompanied by fears of contracting corona and fears of passing it on to us or to her grandparents. She didn’t even dare to go to the toilet at school.”

The longer the pandemic lasted, the more fears Felicia developed. During the corona wave in January 2021, Van Raalten’s family became infected. Despite her fears and the seventeen days of quarantine due to corona, the school asked a lot of Felicia. For example, she had to pass five tests in one day. The stress and fears piled up, as a result of which Van Raalten noticed that her daughter was getting worse.

“The teachers were fantastic, but she couldn’t go on anymore. She ran away from home and locked herself in the bathroom or in the attic. We tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. At one point we were at our wits’ end. That was the moment Felicia came home.”

In the end, Felicia spent a year and a half at home. She was taught from home by her aunt. She was also guided by a family coach. Until the director of Felicia’s school contacted Annemiek. “The director linked me to Ingrid van der Groep”, explains Felicia’s mother. ,,Ingrid had started an initiative to help home sitters and would be the right person to support Felicia. This allowed Felicia to make a new start at the so-called FOS Education: an intermediate station for children who are stuck, to help them get back into the school system.”

Felicia ended up in a school system where there is less pressure on learning and more love and attention for personal development. She blossomed socially and emotionally. Van Raalten: ,,She was seen for her talents and was given the space to grow. After a month at FOS Education, she took another Cito test and obtained a score almost at havo/vwo level. And that with a year and a half of education behind.”

Van Raalten decided to share her daughter’s story on LinkedIn to draw attention to initiatives such as FOS Education. This week, the municipality of Amersfoort and the Partnership decided to no longer support FOS Education financially, which means that FOS Education will most likely have to close its doors.

“At the moment there are about 20,000 children at home,” explains Van Raalten. “These children deserve the right attention and love that an organization like FOS Education can give. But these initiatives are currently under-supported. With my message I hope to achieve that FOS Education has more right to exist.”

It LinkedIn message by Van Raalten was seen by almost 300,000 people. She speaks of heartwarming and heartbreaking reactions. “The responses show that there are so many more children at home who need help. Together we must ensure that every child is happy and does not end up between two stools as is the case now.”