An after-school care (BSO) has opened in Putten that sets itself apart through a remarkable facility: its own indoor swimming pool. This reportedly makes the location the first BSO in the Netherlands with such a facility on its own premises, reports Kinderopvangtotaal.
Swimming lessons and water safety at the BSO
With its own pool, children at the BSO can systematically work on their swimming ability and water safety. Rather than occasional trips to an external pool, this care facility offers the opportunity to make swimming lessons and recreational swimming an integral part of the daily programme. This is particularly notable at a time when waiting lists for swimming lessons at regular swim schools are long and many children only obtain their A-certificate at a later age.
Water safety is a recurring theme in public debate on childcare and education. The Dutch swimming certificate system, with its well-known A, B and C certificates, forms the standard for swimming proficiency. Yet research by the Algemene Nederlandse Zwembadbranche (ANZB) shows that increasingly more children are not completing or are inadequately completing school swimming. BSOs with their own swimming facilities can play a complementary role in this regard.
What does this mean for parents?
For parents, a BSO with its own pool offers several practical advantages:
- Time savings: children can attend swimming lessons on fixed days after school, without parents having to make separate arrangements for transport to and from a swim school
- Continuity: regular contact with water contributes to faster skill development and greater familiarity with water
- Cost transparency: swimming activities are integrated into the BSO rate, which can offer financial benefits compared to separate swimming lessons
- Combined care and development: childcare and skill development blend seamlessly together
Parents looking for childcare with additional sporting or development-oriented facilities would do well to specifically enquire about such provisions when selecting a BSO. Most BSOs work with fixed educational programmes; an own swimming pool is an exception within this framework.