The authors, led by Dr Amika Singh, from Vrije University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, wrote in the journal Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine: “According to the best-evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance.

Scientists in the Netherlands identified 10 observational and four interventional studies for review. Twelve of the studies were conducted in the United States, plus one in Canada and one in South Africa. Sample sizes ranged from 53 to about 12,000 participants between the ages of 6 years and 18 years. Follow-up varied from eight weeks to more than five years.

“According to the best-evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance. The findings of one high-quality intervention study and one high-quality observational study suggest that being more physically active is positively related to improved academic performance in children,” the authors comment.

Experts speculate that exercise may boost academic performance in various ways, including: burning off pent-up energy and allowing kids to pay attention better and focus on their work; boosting self-esteem and mood; and increasing blood flow to the brain, helping with memory and concentration.

The report appears in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

That was the result from a research which was published today by Cito. The annual research has been established after the performances of students were according to the cabinet in 2008, below standard.

The research included calculation which was about measuring, division, percentages and more. On all components the students from 8^th grade improved in their performance. At language the largest progress was made in the word guessing. For the first time little girls from the 8^th grade performed as well as boys. Also, for reading improvement was seen at the components of understanding and orthography. Children of the 4^th grade only calculation have shown some improvement.

The performances of calculation and language are mapped each year Cito. That is happening since 2008 and this was the third time, because the previous cabinet had announced that the results of these teaching professions should be raised, communicates the Trouw.

It seems that the extra focus has made 2,000 schools in the field of calculation and language show improvement. Though, according to the research workers, it is still too early for far-reaching conclusions. Still, they speak of a ‘ positive trend’.

According to figures by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) there are fewer early school-leavers who find a job in the long run than school-leavers with a basic qualification.

In 2008, 72 percent of pupils who left school without a basic qualification in school year 2004 – 2005 had a job. For pupils who left school with a basic qualification, 92 percent had a paid job in the fourth year after leaving school.

Nearly 100 thousand pupils and students aged 15 to 23 years left secondary and senior secondary vocational education (mbo) in school year 2004/’05; 53 thousand of these students were early school-leavers, i.e. they had not attained a basic qualification.

In the fourth year after leaving school, 72 percent of early school-leavers had a job. This is considerably more than the number who had a job in the first year after leaving school: only 57 percent.

For school-leavers with a basic qualification the percentage who found a job rose from 81 percent in the first year to 92 percent in the fourth year.

The Dutch high school with 2,000 students will start a pilot program in April with several classes.

iPads will also be introduced to new students after the summer holidays and the whole school will follow after the pilot, announced the Hondsrug Board Wednesday.

The mobile multimedia device enables the school to improve education by providing tailor made educational material and up-to-date information, said the school rector.

“Thanks to the iPad a teacher can monitor each students’ level and learning style. For example they can check whether a student needs additional support or supply additional material.”

This innovation is an investment of 250,000 Euros. Students only need to pay for maintenance and insurance of the tablet computer.

The iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and versatile tool with a multitude of applications, including thousands with educational uses.

Students also like the light weight of the iPad, which offers a relief from the heavy books that weigh down their backpacks.

Thirty percent of the students who dropped out in school year 2004-2005, have gone back to school again last year.

At the end of that year, half of them accumulated credits and graduated from HAVO, MBO or VWO.

Women tend to finish their education more often than men, according to figures published by Dutch Statistics. Native Dutch people go to school more often than immigrants.

College dropouts who go back to school usually have a better idea of what to expect from higher education and more clearly defined outcomes.

If you’re planning on going back to college after dropping out, do you think that you’ll perform better than you did the first time around?

6200 schools participate to the Citotoets, 85 percent of the total number of primary schools in the Netherlands. This percentage has been stable for years.

The Citotoets exam helps in choosing the appropriate level of high school and is seen by many as a final exam for the elementary school.

The Citotoets continues Tomorrow until Thursday. The test results are expected in the week of Feb. 28.

Last year, the pupils of some schools started the Citotoets in March, but not this year.

The purpose of this national test, which eventually twenty municipalities will participate, is to let children with an educational disadvantage make a head start in elementary education.

Minister Van Bijsterveld (Education) announced today the large-scale experiment. She is currently in talks with a number of municipalities that shows much interest in the new initiative, including Rotterdam.

A child will get more opportunities to eliminate a language deficit in the years before going to basic education.

Every child deserves this, but a good student who can come along in the classroom is also in favor of teachers, masters and classmates, “said the woman.

She was inspired by a report from the Student Council last year. The advisory suggested that all three year olds should play and learn in a rich educational environment for five mornings in a week.

A quarter of all primary schools in the Netherlands pays no attention to this subject, according to research by the Dutch National Institute of Budget Information (Nibud) with elementary school directors.

According Nibud 270,000 Dutch children remain deprived of a good money education. While almost all primary school directors (91 percent) say they feel responsible for these classes, one quarter don’t give this education due to time constraints and the fact that it is not in the school program said Nibud.

The study was conducted by Market Research DUO. Approximately 750 (deputy) directors of primary schools were asked to complete an online questionnaire. In total, 307 managers completed the survey.

Nibud says they are shocked by the outcome and wants the public education on money management rooted in the class offerings. Until that has not happened, the organization has a curriculum available to schools to facilitate attention to this subject.

The fitness test that was taken in 1980 over 2,000 children scored a lot worse on all fronts. Even if the overweight children are not included, and only measure the healthy children, they still are no match for the children of that time.

That is the result from a research of Dorine Collard in the Division of Social Medicine VU University Medical Center.

Dorine Collard and her colleagues conducted a fitness test for over 2000 schoolchildren, in the year 2006. The children were measured for strength, speed, agility and coordination. Exactly the same test was conducted in 1980, more than 2,500 schoolchildren in the same age from 10 to 12 years.

The children of today preformed much less than 30 years ago. They scored worse on strength, speed, agility, and coordination (motor skills). Today there are significantly more children overweight than then, but even if that was not counted, there was still a large difference.

The exact cause of this loss of fitness was not investigated. The initial study of Collard’s is about sports and play injuries in children and advocate for encouraging children to exercise more. Collard: “Sports in primary school should receive more attention. It is important that children learn to move. Children must improve skills such as strength, velocity, agility and coordination.

Photo by broma

The father stuffed the report into the 12-year-old boy’s mouth and ordered him to ‘chew it up and swallow it’, it was heard.

When his son was unable to eat the three sheets of paper, his father tried to push it down his throat with his finger, before hitting him on the head, the court in Poitiers, western France, was told.

Teachers of the boy alerted the police after the boy came to school with one blue eye and a busted lip and the father was arrested and charged with assault.

Neither the father nor the son could be named for legal reasons.

The man told the court: ‘It was a poor report and I lost my temper. I sent him up to his room, then followed him up there with the report.

Photo by Rob Shenk