School 's Cool, support for the transition from Primary to Secondary Schooling- Amsterdam € 2550
School 's Cool is is an organisation in the Westerpark area in Amsterdam, that supports children in their transition from Primary to Secondary schooling. School 's Cool is aimed at children who risk slipping, due to family or personal circumstances. In other words, children from families that have not been able to fully integrate into the Dutch society, from families where the parents do not speak Dutch or from Council-dependent, broken homes.
They can be identified and applied for by the school, the parents or school Inspectors and will then be allocated a personal mentor. The mentors are volunteers, who have a Higher Education. Each week the mentor will visit the child's home and will see to it that his or her pupil spends enough time on its homework, advises it on how to allocate their time and discusses school matters with the child, parents and teachers. He/she will accompany them to parent evenings and help choose appropriate passtimes. The supervision comes to an end when the child moves on to the second year of the Secondary School. This system appears to be very successful. Not only did all of School's Cool's children (35 in 2002) pass their 1st year , more than 30% of them were promoted to a higher level education.
School's Cool's success resulted in an increased number of applications, also from the mentors. Even the Amsterdam Police showed an interest, because it seems that this system might save some people from the targetgroup from a less positive future or career.
School 's Cool now also approaches schools in the North and Centre of Amsterdam. The costs of the organisation are minimal, but the budget is quite tight. No actual salaries are paid to these 'volunteers' , but they depend on a government scheme, where people who work for School's Cool maintain their rights to government benefits, despite their employment by School's Cool. We think that this system might not be sustainable or even desirable in the long run. The organisation is also subsidised by neighbourhood council Westerpark. It would be good if some children from North and Central Amsterdam could also benefit from School's Cool. Not only for the childrens' sake, but also in vieuw of a potential subsidy from those local councils.
In order to get more parents and schools interested, the information video needs to be enhanced with interviews with children who 'made it'.
THE COSTS FOR THE VIDEO'S ENHANCEMENT - DONE BY STUDENTS OF THE FILM ACADEMY - WERE € 2550,--
this project was adopted by an anonymous sponsor
School 's Cool is is an organisation in the Westerpark area in Amsterdam, that supports children in their transition from Primary to Secondary schooling. School 's Cool is aimed at children who risk slipping, due to family or personal circumstances. In other words, children from families that have not been able to fully integrate into the Dutch society, from families where the parents do not speak Dutch or from Council-dependent, broken homes.
They can be identified and applied for by the school, the parents or school Inspectors and will then be allocated a personal mentor. The mentors are volunteers, who have a Higher Education. Each week the mentor will visit the child's home and will see to it that his or her pupil spends enough time on its homework, advises it on how to allocate their time and discusses school matters with the child, parents and teachers. He/she will accompany them to parent evenings and help choose appropriate passtimes. The supervision comes to an end when the child moves on to the second year of the Secondary School. This system appears to be very successful. Not only did all of School's Cool's children (35 in 2002) pass their 1st year , more than 30% of them were promoted to a higher level education.
School's Cool's success resulted in an increased number of applications, also from the mentors. Even the Amsterdam Police showed an interest, because it seems that this system might save some people from the targetgroup from a less positive future or career.
School 's Cool now also approaches schools in the North and Centre of Amsterdam. The costs of the organisation are minimal, but the budget is quite tight. No actual salaries are paid to these 'volunteers' , but they depend on a government scheme, where people who work for School's Cool maintain their rights to government benefits, despite their employment by School's Cool. We think that this system might not be sustainable or even desirable in the long run. The organisation is also subsidised by neighbourhood council Westerpark. It would be good if some children from North and Central Amsterdam could also benefit from School's Cool. Not only for the childrens' sake, but also in vieuw of a potential subsidy from those local councils.
In order to get more parents and schools interested, the information video needs to be enhanced with interviews with children who 'made it'.
THE COSTS FOR THE VIDEO'S ENHANCEMENT - DONE BY STUDENTS OF THE FILM ACADEMY - WERE € 2550,--
this project was adopted by an anonymous sponsor
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+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69
+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69