We connect with the way in which the young child experiences the world as much as possible and are attuned to the importance of a socially safe environment. Therefore, all IJsterk daycare facilities meet five common basic criteria:
Pedagogical vision
Each daycare has its own identity and its own strong pedagogical vision. The child’s development and well-being take centre stage. We contribute to the child’s upbringing and therefore consider contact with parents to be very important. IJsterk Daycare has an overarching Pedagogical Policy; this sets out the vision, frameworks and principles on which our staff base their work at our daycare facilities. It also provides insight into our pedagogical views and fundamental principles to parents who entrust their child to our care. Each daycare also has its own pedagogical policy plan. This describes the daycare centre’s characteristic vision for dealing with children. Which pedagogical movement or movements does the daycare draw inspiration from and how is this “own” culture expressed in the daily pedagogical actions of the childcare workers.The daycare’s pedagogical policy plan can be found on the page of the respective daycare.
Full of activities
In line with the pedagogical concept, we offer a full and varied programme of activities everywhere, allowing the children to discover all kinds of things in different areas. Experts in various fields (from inside and outside the organisation) visit our daycare facilities for this purpose. For example: we have artists who engage in creative activities with the children, regular appearances by musicians who make music with the children, and children’s yoga.
We work with experienced teams and committed managers
A regular face in front of the group provides stability and is important for an emotionally healthy environment. The tasks of our childcare workers are focused on the children and the group and not on all kinds of other things like schedules and such. Our childcare workers’ focus is on the child and the group.
A healthy lifestyle is also important for the young child
What better way to start life’s journey than by picking up healthy habits, such as eating healthy foods, getting lots of exercise and spending a lot of time outdoors, in daycare. This is why we offer:
- Fresh hot meals: These meals are prepared fresh daily at the daycare by our own cooks. We work with fresh products, opting for organic products whenever we can. On some days there is no cooking. On those days, the children are given a healthy and varied organic lunch. At one daycare facility, there is no cooking. At that facility, too, the children receive a fresh, healthy and varied bread meal and/or salads.
- Playing outdoors: Basically, we go outside with the children every day, where we play in the outdoor playground. We also go shopping in the neighbourhood or visit the neighbourhood playground and the park.
- Movement: we play a lot of games with the children to stimulate movement and motor development, such as beweegkriebels (movement jitters) and children’s yoga.
Characteristic buildings and outdoor areas
The daycare facilities are housed in characteristic buildings in the Amsterdam Centrum district, built specifically as daycare facilities or in converted former school buildings. The group rooms are spacious and bright, there are separate bedrooms and often additional areas such as a large playroom and a workshop. Something very special in Amsterdam’s city centre are the large outdoor playgrounds, which are designed for ages 0 to 4 and offer a challenging and green environment. There are shielded baby play areas.
Our organisation
IJsterk Daycare has a long and rich history in Amsterdam. Our “oldest” daycare was founded 100 years ago as a “Custodial Facility for the Young Child” [“Bewaarplaats voor het jonge kind”]. Today, we are IJsterk kinderopvang BV and we have a social responsibility: caring for young children. Therefore, the private limited company does not distribute any profits and positive financial results are invested in the organisation directly, such as by investing in the pedagogical quality by upgrading the expertise of our staff and maintaining and refurbishing the buildings. The most recent annual report can be found here. Daily management and Supervisory Board IJsterk operates according to the Childcare Governance Code and attaches great importance to good corporate governance, at the heart of which are transparency, reliability and diligence. Day-to-day management is in the hands of managing director Marielle Devilee. The managing director is accountable to the Supervisory Board, which consists of Kathrien van Dam (chair), Jan van Rossum and Marianne van Teunebroek. They monitor the policies pursued and advise the chief executive officer.