Dutch Primary School 'De Buitenhoeve'

The beautiful primary school ‘De Buitenhoeve’ is located in the middle of the meadow, surrounded by vegetable gardens and all kinds of animals. Today teacher Jeanette and I meet and she enthusiastically talks about her primary school and why she lit the classrooms with smart LED daylight lamps from daylightlamps.ie.

“Our education differs from regular education because we develop our own concept," Jeanette tells. "One of the valuable sources of inspiration is Reggio Emilia. This is a pedagogical approach to children, developed in the Italian city of the same name. Our believe is that students should be able to develop through activities based on their own ideas. This requires a challenging environment, freedom and nature and that is why our school environment looks different from other primary schools in The Netherlands.”

Apply knowledge in practice
"After my studies I worked as a supervisor in healthcare, until the job as a primary teacher at this school came my way. As a teacher I’m able to help students develop their own identity, independence and creativity. For example, one of our students was very interested in France and with the whole school we went deeper into this subject by, among other things, speaking the French language, talking about history and making French food. Because we immediately apply the knowledge in practice, the students remember the subject much better. For a while, our school was a small village in France.”

Ideal lighting solution
"Space is also very important for an optimal learning environment. We believe that indoor and outdoor living should be connected. That is why we want our classrooms to be light and bright. On the top floor of our building, in the ridge, we also have classrooms. Only these are very dark. This naturally affects the environment for the students and that is why we went looking for a good lighting solution."

Bringing outdoors in
"A lighting consultant from daylightlamps.ie made a lighting plan for us and based on that we purchased smart LED daylight lamps. This really is an ideal solution. The lamps reflect 95 percent of the real daylight and it is important to us to bringing that outdoor feeling indoors. I am now very satisfied with my classroom and the other lit rooms. What I particularly like about the smart LED daylight lamps is that I can dim the lamps to any desired colour temperature. When I start my lesson in the morning, I light the candles on the seasonal table and dim the light. By the time we start reading I adjust the lamps and the room is filled with daylight. It really feels like a luxury to be able to adjust the light to the activities."

Future plan
“With 63 students, we are a small primary school, but this allows us to personally guide each student. Every child is unique and has its own development, at its own pace. What I love about this school is the place and of course the students! The kids always give me a nice day. As a school we still have many wishes for the future, but we are fulfilling this step by step. But for now I enjoy teaching in my well-lit classroom.”

More information about this primary school: https://www.buitenhoeve.nl

The lamps in the picture: Baron smart LED 38 watt

Text: Elise Spiering

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