geocache: 'Lekker langzaam' in Nieuw-Vennep (GCB4WAW)
These pictures belong to the cache 'Lekker langzaam'. I totally forgot to log this one.
My goal in geocaching is not to find as many caches as possible, but to write fun logs and take photos of all the trackables that accompany me on my geocaching adventures.
I work as a teacher at the Antoniusschool in Nieuw-Vennep, a small village in the Haarlemmermeerpolder. The Haarlemmermeer is one of the largest polders in the Netherlands. It is located next to the city of Haarlem (of course) near Amsterdam (our capital). Schiphol, the largest airport in the Netherlands, is located “in the middle”.
The Antoniusschool was a girls' school run by nuns (as you can see in the photo).
The school still exists, but it is now a school for boys and girls. We are no longer a Catholic school and children of all religions are welcome. The beautiful old school building still exists, but the classrooms are now luxury apartments. In the photo you can see the old Antoniusschool and the “new” building. (Although, it's not that new; it was built in 1970 or so.) We no longer have nuns as teachers. Also, some children are missing from the photo of the new school. That's because we now have six weeks of summer holidays.
So, plenty of time for the teacher to go geocaching.
History
The Antoniusschool has been around for over 100 years! As early as 1880, there were plans to establish a Catholic school in Nieuw-Vennep. Unfortunately, there was no money. It was not until 1909 that sufficient funds became available and a provisional budget was drawn up for the construction of a new Roman Catholic school. The budget was presented to the municipal council of Haarlemmermeer. After that, things moved quickly. Within two months, permission for construction was granted.
Now teachers had to be found. At the time, however, the Roman Catholic parish council had a strong desire to entrust the education at the new school to the Reverend Ursuline Sisters. Nieuw-Vennep was fortunate, however, and received confirmation that a school would be built there. Less than a month later, the contract was signed with the Ursuline sisters (in Bergen) who would be teaching there. This meant that construction of a Catholic school could begin in the autumn of 1909. The cost of building the school and the nuns' residence in 1909 was 30,000 guilders, including furnishings. A nuns' residence/convent was built next to the school to house the nuns. The work was completed on 26 July 1910. The sisters arrived at the new convent on 17 August 1910. The school was named “Sint Antoniusschool”. The official opening of the school took place on 18 August 1910. It started with 143 pupils.
In the early years, the school was intended for both girls and boys, naturally in separate classrooms. In connection with the 1920 Primary Education Equality Act, the parish council requested permission to establish a second primary school, specifically for boys. Under the leadership of Pastor G. van den Boogaard, the parish council began preparations in 1920 to establish a boys' school on Venneperweg. On 24 October 1921, the school building of the Sint Josephschool was inaugurated by Mgr. Stoffels, dean of Haarlem. The school building consisted of three classrooms and a gymnasium.
Over the years, the boys' school building fell into serious disrepair. That is why, in 1966-1967, attempts were made to obtain permission for a thorough renovation. There were ambitious plans, but no money!
In the meantime, the pupils of the Sint-Josephschool had to be accommodated, of course, and it was decided to merge the boys' and girls' schools. In September 1969, the separate Sint-Josephschool ceased to exist.
It was not until the early 1970s that there was enough money to build a new school. On 14 March 1975 at 4 p.m., Mr Alkemade, former head of the Sint-Josephschool, drove the first pile to replace the old Sint-Antoniusschool. The client was the Stichting RK-Onderwijs Haarlemmermeer (Haarlemmermeer Catholic Education Foundation).
The name of the school was changed to Antoniusschool in 2006, thus removing the word “Sint” (Saint).