After school

If you see a long line of children riding bikes, they must be coming from Buitencentrum School in Bos in Wilhelminaoord. They stay there from Monday to Friday and receive nature and environmental education. The outdoor center is located in the former Rustoord II in Wilhelminaoord.

In 1967, the building of Rustoord II was purchased for ƒ 100,000 by the municipality of The Hague to be used as a conference center, but it turned out to be unprofitable. In 1973, Jan Wartena, who worked for the Municipality of The Hague at the school and children's garden department, came to Wilhelminaoord. He became the head of what is now called Buitencentrum School in Bos and initiated nature work weeks for students in grades 7 and 8 from all schools in the Municipality of The Hague. During school vacations, courses for adults were organized. Jan Wartena has since retired, but his work is continued to this day by an enthusiastic group of staff. The students are supervised by their own teachers, but the lessons are provided by staff from the Outdoor Center.
They receive an intensive program that focuses on raising awareness and taking responsibility for the living environment. For example, there is a Prehistoric area, a panel where incoming solar energy and electricity consumption is illustrated by having them turn lamps on and off. There is a prehistoric area where they learn how humans adapted to nature. Workshops teach techniques such as bronze casting and flint or wood working. Rain or shine, they go out and explore themes such as water, birds, and tracks in nature. In the theme of nature management, there is work done in the woods, the moors, or on the school grounds. A landscape walk teaches them about the cultural landscape visible from their home by the sea to the landscape in our area. On Friday, a product exhibition and evaluation of the work week takes place. Time and again, the team succeeds in engaging children with nature and creating memories with head, heart, and hands (vision document). So far, about one hundred thousand children from The Hague have visited the Outdoor Center. In 2023, School in Bos will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The building is managed by the Archaeology Department of the Municipality of The Hague and is carefully maintained and renovated where necessary.

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