As a creative solution to the staff shortage, out-of-school care employees are increasingly being deployed as classroom assistants in Noordkop. In this way, both primary schools and nurseries can remain open.
Shallowy Jandroep (25) from Den Helder has such a combined function. “I am very enthusiastic about it. You gain more experience and the empty hours are filled.” At first she worked alone in out-of-school care and looked after the children before they went to school, during the lunch break and when school ended. At the beginning of last year she was asked if she would also like to help two days a week as a class assistant for a while.
She did this until February and from September she will replace a colleague at De Windwijzer who is on maternity leave for three days a week. “I think it’s fantastic. In the morning I start around 8:30 am when the children have been given an explanation from their teacher and have to do assignments. I support them when they are busy. Then I have a break and at 14:00 I go until the at the end of the day in after-school care.”
Get used to
Everything is different: her role, work and even her clothes. “In class I wear my own clothes and in the shelter I wear a special polo. At first it took some getting used to, especially to the times. But I know the children and everything is in one building. a lot stricter, then they have to work on the assignments for math and language, while the activities in the afternoon are a lot more free. Not only they, but also I can relax.”
School director Bart Oud of De Windwijzer sees only advantages. “There is a staff shortage everywhere and the schools and daycare centers therefore benefit from more cooperation than ever before. By also deploying the childcare employees as teaching assistants, you strengthen each other and fill in the gaps. At the same time, they gain more experience and for the children. it’s nice because they are regular faces.”
MBO and HBO
In September and October, the school boards of Meerwerf, Sarkon and the Cooperative School Foundation will talk to the Den Helder Childcare Foundation about this creative solution and how they can structurally deploy people in multiple places. They work together with the MBO schools, but they also talk with the HBO schools about training new teaching staff.
Who knows, maybe these combi-employees will (partly) solve the staff shortage? Most new teachers come from their own pond and not from a side-entry trajectory, Nils van Heijst of Meerwerf primary schools has already noticed. “For example, people from MBO who started as teaching assistants. They are now learning to continue develop into a good teacher.
In addition to the combined function at school and childcare, schools are looking for more solutions, such as working through groups and asking part-timers to work more hours.