What is the reason for these agreements?
The legal agreements can be found in the Pedagogical Policy Officer Brochure from the Dutch Government. You can find the brochure here. Every year, on the reference date of January 1st, we make a new calculation for the allocation of hours based on these agreements.
Allocation of hours
We calculate the number of hours for pedagogical policy and pedagogical coaching at a central level. They are allocated to locations of both Partou B.V. and Smallsteps B.V. through a secondment agreement. All coaches are linked to both operators in the Childcare Personnel Register (PKR). We calculate and account for these hours per operator in a fixed template, which we continuously update. Due to the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG), this template is only accessible to supervisors.
Additional agreements for VE locations
For locations offering preschool education (VE), additional agreements apply. In some municipalities there are other additional agreements. Because these agreements may vary locally, you will not find this information here but in the location guide of your specific location.
Figure 1: Pedagogical policy hours
Below, you will see the pedagogical policy hours per operator.
*The flexible staff of the head office is not yet included.
Useful facts - Figure 1
- We calculate the policy hours we need on January 1st based on the number of locations per operator in the Childcare Register (LRK) (number of locations x 50 hours per year).
- We calculate with 47 working weeks (due to statutory leave).
- For the tasks of location managers regarding pedagogical policy (5 to 10% of their activities), we allocate 1 hour of policy per week per location (47 weeks).
- The quality managers have other responsibilities besides pedagogical policy, so we count these as 50% towards pedagogical policy. We have 17 quality managers employed with a minimum of 32-hour contracts.
- The policy hours at the head office are allocated as flexible staff.
- All pedagogical policy officers work at a minimum level of Bachelor's degree. This is described in their job profile.
- Each location is allocated the minimum number of policy hours (50 hours). Any additional hours are allocated on a customized basis.
Figure 2: Pedagogical coaching hours
Useful facts - Figure 2
- We calculate the coaching hours we need per operator on January 1st. This calculation includes the number of Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) employed on January 1st, 2024, as well as the number of flexible FTEs and the number of hours of additional staff training in the last quarter of the previous year. The calculation rule: the number of pedagogical staff to be deployed (in FTE) x 10 hours per year.
- We calculate with 47 working weeks (due to statutory leave).
- We distribute the available hours among the locations based on the number of pedagogical staff at that location (in FTE) x 10 hours. This makes it plausible that all staff members will receive coaching annually. Due to the total number of locations we serve, it is difficult to predict exactly how the year will look for each location in advance.
- If it turns out that we do not have enough pedagogical coaches employed at the time of the reference date, we anticipate this.
- We try to address interim changes as quickly as possible (such as new locations, vacancies, etc.).
- If a pedagogical coach is absent for an extended period due to sickness, maternity leave or parental leave, we replace those hours where possible.
- We have entered into an agreement with temp agencies stating that they will provide coaching for the temporary staff we hire on our behalf. We share relevant information with them for this purpose. They ensure that this coaching is documented. If coaching by the temp agency is not feasible unexpectedly, the pedagogical specialists of Smallsteps and Partou provide the necessary coaching.
- Pedagogical staff who are employed flexibly are linked to a location and receive coaching at this location.
- Pedagogical coaches at each location keep track of when they have coached whom.
- The number of hours available per location based on the FTE on the reference date of January 1st is included in the pedagogical policy of a location.
- The actual number of coaching hours may deviate due to unforeseen situations or customized issues.