Following the dream The philosophy behind Zein Following your dreams and turning them into reality is something that few people

can really lay claim to in this world, but for Robbie Zein the development of

Zein International Childcare represents just that. A lifelong held belief that there

had to be a better way to support and develop the lives of internationally mobile

children – a better way to ensure that the benefits of being a ‘Third Culture Kid’

(TCK) truly outweigh the negatives.

Together with husband Jan van der Meijden, Zein has developed a programme

that pays particular attention to the need to make international children feel at

home and at ease during transitions. They strive to provide children with the skills

to cope with their continuously changing settings and environments.

3The Zein tree is growing New names for our locations

4Hello Holland! The perfect holiday camp for new arrivals

6A themed approach Learning through the world around us

8Zein puts down new roots A look at our latest building plans

11Dutch DeZein furniture Bringing nature indoors

More on page 2

Hello Holland!A brand new holiday camp for new arrivals…

The perfect way to get to know your new home!

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Setting the Standard

Zein International Childcare’s mission and philosophy is based on providing an internationally oriented nurturing learning environment

Robbie explains just what it is they set out to do with Zein Childcare, and what it is that sets it apart from others:

“Zein International Childcare’s mission and philosophy is based on providing an internationally oriented nurturing learning environment. This environment is one which seeks to understand cross-cultural experiences and their impact on children. One of the most important aspects of our program is the exceptional care, attention, advice and feedback we provide to children and families of the expatriate community.

The older children who join us are likely to have lived in one or more different countries and experienced many cultures already. Whilst many of the younger children and

babies may not yet have started their travels, they are still probably growing up in a household

which speaks multiple languages – and quite likely without any

extended family around for support. We provide extra

attention for each child at the beginning of his/her journey: when leaving to move abroad or when arriving to settle down.

Our programme aims to make children feel at home and at ease during transitions. We strive to provide our children with the skills to cope with their continuously changing settings and environments. We encourage daily open communication with parents and schools when the child’s environment is going through major change such as a parent being away for an extended period of time.”

All of Zein’s centres aim to provide a place where the needs and abilities of international children are recognised, stimulated and guided; helping develop the necessary competences for children to achieve their potential. The Zein pedagogic programme is based upon an integration of aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach, Montessori methods and a Themed Approach to learning.

As a reflection of this, Robbie adds; “Most importantly, we believe in the importance of intentional teaching of socio-emotional competencies (such as interdependence, empathy, conscientiousness etc.). We believe that they are key success factors in bringing up happy individuals. It is the people who cannot function socially in the world that are unhappy. Through teaching socio-emotional competencies we hope to equip children with the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes for their social and emotional development, which we believe will help them succeed in their friendships, school life, home life, future careers and as members of the wider community. Our programme aims to help children feel better about themselves through making friends, solving conflicts and respecting others.”

[...] Co-founder of the Zein Child Care Group, Robbie is an adult TCK

who lived in Europe, North America and the Middle East. After her early

childhood education and consulting studies she specialised in childcare for

the expatriate community. She is an experienced lecturer and a qualified

educator. Her experience with families and children of all ages from diverse

cultures combined with her own international background has given

her unique perspectives and insights that help children and parents to

understand, work through and successfully deal with many of the issues and

problems that families may face in a fast-changing, foreign environment.

Following the dream The philosophy behind Zein

Continued from front page

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Having started with just a few children in a summer camp

10 years ago, things have been going exceptionally well for

Zein International Childcare in recent years, as more and more

international parents seek the high levels of care and service

for which we are now well known.

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But along with this increasing popularity and growth, comes a need to plan for the future. Up to now we have named our locations based on all sorts of things – the name of the sport played in the club where that group was first located, or even the leader who first ran that group. That made sense at the time, but it’s time for a change.

A new look for everyoneBased around the concept of Zein’s familiar logo, each Hague location will be named after a tree. Gradually, over the course of the summer, we will update our signage and all our locations will get a new name.

THE OAKSThe Storks and

The Music Room – Out of School Care

locations for the ISH

THE MAPLESDay Care* and Out of School Care at

the European School (*opens January 2017)

THE ELMSDe Bataaf – Out of

School Care location for the HSV and French School

THE WILLOWSRobbie’s Place Day

Care and Out of School Care at BSN Junior

School Leidschenveen

THE ESTATEDay Care, Pre-School

and Out of School Care in Benoordenhout (ASC for the BSN)

We are also introducing new

‘sub-logos’ to represent the

different services we offer

The Zein tree is growing!

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Holiday times at Zein Childcare are based on two key concepts: having great

fun with friends and discovering new things… But what if your child is new here,

school still hasn’t started and they haven’t had the chance to make those all

important new friends?

HELLO HOLLAND!

Starting out a new life and setting up home in a new country can be challenging at the best of times, but with young children to worry about and entertain as well, those summer holidays can seem to last forever… Wouldn’t it be great if there was somewhere your children could go that would not only keep them entertained with a fun filled programme of activities, but also help to introduce them to their new country – and some new friends – at the same time?

Join the adventure Our new holiday camp aimed specifically at new arrivals aims to do exactly that. “Hello Holland!” is a week-long ‘themed’ day camp based around helping children learn about their new surroundings – the culture, the city, the people, the language and, of course, introduce them to all the really fun and cool

things there are to do here in The Hague… Whether it’s Clog Painting or Cheese Making, boating down Dutch Canals or trying out a few newly learnt Dutch words, there’s going to be something for everyone in this fun packed week.

Think it’s only fun for newcomers? Think again! The trips and activities are fun for everyone – and who better to help other children feel at home than those who are already settled here? So, even if your child has lived here all their life, they’ll still have great fun. Before you know it, they’ll be ‘Special Helpers’ for the week and sharing their knowledge about living in Holland with their new friends.

The perfect holiday camp for new arrivals!

Mon 15 Aug – Fri 19 Aug Mon 29 Aug – Fri 2 Sep

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This Summer we have a wide range of different Holiday Camps to choose from. There are some great new Theme Camps running alongside our well known Multi-Sports and Multi-Activity Camps.

Covering the holidays of all Dutch and international schools in The Hague, our camps are fully registered and qualify for the Dutch Childcare Allowance.

Visit www.holidaycamps.nl for the detailed programme and to register.

Summer Holiday Camps 2016

Mon 25 Jul – Fri 29 JulMon 22 Aug – Fri 26 Aug

Mon 1 Aug – Fri 5 Aug

Mon 11 Jul – Fri 15 JulMon 18 Jul – Fri 22 JulMon 25 Jul – Fri 29 JulMon 1 Aug– Fri 5 AugMon 8 Aug– Fri 12 AugMon 15 Aug – Fri 19 AugMon 5 Sep – Tue 6 Sep

Mon 25 Jul – Fri 29 Jul

Mon 15 Aug – Fri 19 AugMon 29 Aug – Fri 2 Sep

Mon 4 Jul – Fri 8 Jul Mon 8 Aug – Fri 12 AugMon 22 Aug – Fri 26 Aug

Mon 8 Aug – Fri 12 AugMon 11 Jul – Fri 15 JulMon 18 Jul – Fri 22 Jul

Mon 18 Jul – Fri 22 Jul

Mon 15 Aug – Fri 19 Aug

Performing Arts Camp

Beach Camp

Mon 1 Aug – Fri 5 Aug

Tennis Camp

Multi-Activity Camp

Tech Camp

Hello Holland Camp

Circus Camp

Adventure CampArt Camp

Football Camp

Multi-Sports Camp

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Any good pedagogue will tell you that children learn through exploration and

discovery and at Zein International Childcare this forms one of the cornerstones

of our approach to Early Childhood care and development. The first few years of

a child’s life play a crucial role in long-term life success, so we focus on ensuring

we create an environment rich in diverse learning opportunities.

Our ‘Learning Zones’ help promote independence and an appreciation of every day skills, however young the child. It is during these years that children discover how to learn and interact. Positive learning opportunities during this time are essential for children’s emotional, social, language, cognitive and physical development.

Learning to learnChildren learn in different ways. To support successful learning, we use different teaching methods and techniques – from story-telling to demonstration; role playing to question and answer; visual aids to self-discovery methods. We believe in allowing children to express their own areas of interest and we build upon this to advance their learning.

Children benefit greatly from interacting directly with their world, so we provide many opportunities for active participation

A themed approach

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The combined involvement of parents, teachers and children is crucial to early childhood development and therefore central to our approach. We emphasise a sense of community and inter-dependence through the use of Themes that reflect the world around us – whilst creating an environment that accepts and acknowledges individual differences in cognitive development.

Zein’s Pedagogic Programme Developer, Ngozi Uche, explains what a themed approach looks like in reality:

“Earlier this term, Robbie’s Place Day Care received a special visit by the fire service department from Nootdorp led by Fireman Jeroen Dukker. This visit was part of the broad theme of “Me and My Magical World” which the children had been exploring for the first couple of months of the year. The sub theme for that particular week was ‘Me and My Community’ – with an emphasis on community helpers.

Prior to the visit, our Day Care teachers took some days to prepare the children for the visit. When the children are this young, reducing potential anxiety so they can enjoy the experience is key to the success of the event. Happy relaxed

children who understand what is going on are more able to benefit and learn from the experience. In preparation, the children completed many activities such as:

Colouring and finger painting a fire station

Creating their own fireman helmet in their Arts and Crafts time

Circle time reading and discussion about Firemen as important community helpers

Playing in the construction zone and building their own fire-trucks and ambulances

Come the day itself, even children and parents of children who wouldn’t normally attend that day turned out to welcome the firefighters. The excitement was clearly visible on the faces of the children as they were each given the opportunity to see and touch the fire-fighting equipment, as well as the chance to climb in and explore the inside of the fire truck parked outside. The best part of the morning was the children practicing with a real fire hose and spraying water outside!”

A themed approach

In line with the Me and My Community theme, day care children play doctors and learn about how they help us.

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NEW! Out of School Care facilities for ISH students

Opening August 2016Over the summer, Zein’s Out of School Care provision for The International School of The Hague will be moving to brand new premises conveniently located on the sports fields directly behind the school.

The new club house building for Die Haghe Football Club has been designed from the outset for multipurpose use. The top floor will serve as the club house for the soccer club and the ground floor will be for the exclusive use of Zein After School Care children from the International School. Zein’s current After School provision for ISH children is located on two different sites, so it will be a great improvement to have both the younger and older children located at the same site. This new set-up will allow siblings to attend the same location, making pick-up much more convenient for parents.

The interior décor and furniture will offer the same homely feel as the other Zein locations and a brand new natural playground, consisting of a wide range of wooden play equipment, will complete the facilities at this great new location. With the building project now well underway, we are confident that we will be able to start the new school year in August in our new premises.

This new location offers more childcare places than previously, so interested parents can now register via our website www.zeinchildcare.nl

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Zein puts down new rootsConstruction has commenced on not one, but two brand

new locations for Zein...

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NEW! Childcare Centre at The European School of The Hague

Opening January 2017Anyone who has driven past the European School of The Hague lately will probably have noticed the building site on the edge of the campus. Thanks to a partnership with the Gemeente Den Haag, Zein International Childcare, will soon be able to move into beautiful new purpose-built facilities on this ideal location.

Scheduled to open in January 2017, the new building will offer the full range of Zein’s services – Daycare for 0–4s; Pre-School for children from 2–4 years and After School and Holiday Care for school children aged 4–11 years.

With large floor to ceiling windows and the now familiar beautiful wood furnishings from Dutch DeZein (see page 11), this light and spacious eco-friendly building will offer almost double the amount of space per child as a standard Dutch childcare location. The site will also feature a fully landscaped natural playground of some 500m2 – designed and zoned with all ages in mind.

Registrations for Day Care are already open and demand is expected to be high – from both ESH parents and the international community living in the vicinity. The After School Care facilities will be for the exclusive use of children attending the European School, but children from the surrounding community are also welcome to register for any of Zein’s Holiday Camps.

For further information on registrations please visit our website www.zeinchildcare.nl

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The British School in The Netherlands and Zein International Childcare have a long standing relationship, but more recently an even broader partnership has been formed, as the BSN Language Centre is now making use of our flagship location ‘The Estate’, on the corner of the Jozef Israelsplein in Benoordenhout

As Sandra de Bresser – Manager of the BSN Language Centre explains, this location adds real choice for students:

“We already have courses in Mariahoeve and Leidschenveen, so it is great to be able to supplement these with a more central Hague location. It’s the perfect scenario – parents can drop-off their child and take a course themselves, learning more about the Dutch Language and Culture in one stop! But our courses are not only for Zein parents – anyone can register to join a course.”

Based in Zein’s beautiful listed building, participants are made to feel immediately at home. They meet other recently arrived expats and work together to learn the basics of the Dutch language. The process of grasping key phrases, and building up a useable vocabulary, is really important in giving students the confidence to engage with their new environment. Friendships are often formed that last well beyond the confines of the course.

Courses at The Estate start at different points during the year. The BSN Language Centre now offers a Dutch Pre-Elementary course every Tuesday morning from 09:30–11:30, and a Beginners Dutch course on Monday evening from 19:00–21:00. If you are a complete beginner you can register online via www.bsnlanguagecentre.nl or call 070 315 4080 to arrange a language level assessment.

Let’s get social…! A few weeks ago, Zein took its first steps into world of social media with the launch of the official Zein Facebook Page. The page offers parents and staff – both current and future – a great way of keeping in touch with developments and recent events at Zein. News and highlights from across all our locations and range of services will be shared, providing a more global view on all that is happening!

Interested in finding out more…? Visit www.zeinchildcare.nl/ZeinChildcareGroup and ‘Like’ us!

Don’t forget that you can view our page even if you don’t have a Facebook account yourself.

At Zein we believe in the value of positive relationships, so when the opportunity to support our neighbours from Shell Outpost arose, we happily accepted.

Outpost provides a range of support services to Shell employees, their partners and their families to help them embrace both the challenges and opportunities of global mobility. The Outpost Network provides professional information on many aspects of living in The Netherlands, including business development.

On this occasion this support was provided through a new series of ‘Unleash Your Talent’ events. We were delighted to be able to act as hosts for the April edition of this event at The Estate. The event offered Shell partners’ a great platform to learn about business opportunities, exchange knowledge and enhance their professional growth experiences through a range of workshop activities.

With over 30 participants the event was a great success and we look forward to working with the Shell Outpost team again in the future.

Welcoming Shell Outpost

Zein partners with BSN Language Centre

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This approach to childcare is embedded in all aspects of the organisation at Zein, including the interior design of our locations. You will never find walls painted in bright primary colours, or hard edged white melamine cupboards giving a clinical type feeling to the surroundings. Instead, Zein favours a natural approach with beautiful stylish wallpaper, soft carpeted areas and spaces furnished ‘just like home’.

The interior design of Zein Childcare centres is, in fact, so integral to our approach that when Co-Founder Jan van der Meijden couldn’t find the kind of furniture he was looking for – when furnishing the ‘Estate’ location – he decided the best solution was to design their own! So, with the help Kids-F, an interior designer and interior architect, the ‘Dutch DeZein’ furniture line for children was born.

Using smooth wooden forms, the natural and homely children’s furniture line brings the outdoors inside by using organic shapes reminiscent of a tree. The tables and chairs feature veins and knots, the sides of the cabinets are designed to look like tree trunks and the cots have little ones sleeping below the branches of a tree. The extensive line also consists of stylish but practical items specially designed for use in childcare – cabinets for the backpacks of after school care children, a cabinet especially designed for use by the group leaders, and toddler beds that can be stacked in the corner when not in use.

In addition to the homely and organic feel that the furniture brings to the rooms, the line also includes pieces that support the imaginative play aspect of Zein’s pedagogic vision – like a kitchenette with adult and child height sinks, and a play arch set up where, with the help of a large blanket, a play hut can be created and children can let their imagination run wild…

After countless requests from parents wanting to

buy elements of the range, we are delighted

to announce: DeZein furniture is now available

in 97 countries via www.heutink.nl

dutchDezeinfurniture“At Zein it’s not just about what we do,

it’s about how we do it.”

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One of the things that sets Zein apart from other childcare providers is the truly international

mix of our staff. We truly believe that the best way to serve our diverse community is by

ensuring that the people working for us reflect the same level of diversity themselves.

Zein International Childcarewww.zeinchildcare.nl www.holidaycamps.nl

Address:Head Office – The Estate Jozef Israelsplein 36 2596 AV Den Haag The Netherlands

Contact us: T: +31 (0)70 3268 263E: info@zeinchildcare.nlFollow us: On Facebook: ZeinChildcareGroup

Our partners:

Working for Zein

This approach is about more than just the mother tongue language a colleague may speak, or the passport they hold. It is about their ability to empathise with the experiences and challenges faced by internationally mobile children and families. It is about their ability to use their own cultural experiences and background to add a richness to the care they provide.

We’re recruitingAs we continue to grow and develop, finding diverse, committed and highly qualified staff is one of our top priorities. At Zein we set the bar high. We are looking for more than people who just “like working with children”. We are looking for enthusiastic and dedicated individuals who have a passion for teaching, developing and caring for children. Open minded, emotionally intelligent people who are able to share and deliver the Zein vision and help us truly Set The Standard in International Childcare.

Due to continued expansion we now have a range of exciting career opportunities available – if you think one of them might suit you, or you know of someone who may be interested in working for us – please do get in touch or pass on our details and help spread the word!

All employment enquiries should be sent to hr@zeinchildcare.nl

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With over 100 staff representing 31 nationalities, Zein really is ‘Setting the Standard’ in the international make up of its workforce

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