Experts

Marcel van Herpen is founder of the ‘Expertise Centre for Experience Based Education’, the Expertise Centre for Sustainable Education and Development and the E.G.O. St. Maarten Foundation. He has also worked at De Uilenspiegel primary school.

Marcel is the author of various books and other publications on the connection between theory and pedagogical and educational practice in a broad sense. He develops pedagogical frameworks for educational practice, guides teachers, coaches and educators in sustainable change processes and gives many lectures and master classes.

“Swimming lessons at Ezzy’s are really different from traditional swimming education. It’s all about the well-being and high involvement of children. You can see that the children feel good, have fun and are fascinated. The instructors ensure that the children learn to swim ‘as if by themselves’ for a lifetime of swimming fun.”

As former national coach and Chef d’Equipe of the national swimming team, René Dekker has been closely connected with top swimming for many years. Nowadays he mainly focuses on swimming education. René is co-owner of the successful Swim2Play, an innovative and playful concept to replace school swimming. René also works as a teacher at the Calo Hogeschool Windesheim.

“The traditional way of learning to swim is often too much focused on learning technique. Little attention is paid to the fun element. Ezzy’s has opted for many playful forms of work, in which children are allowed to work together and creative use of materials is encouraged. The fun shines through in the swimming hall.”

Simone worked in special education for years, studied Ecological Pedagogy and taught in the Master SEN of the Seminarium for Orthopedagogy. She also worked for the Board of the Child Protection and is a board member of Stichting Praat.
Simone Mark is author of the book ‘Pedagogical Contact’. She gives lectures and master classes on the quality of contact between educators and children. Simone supervises projects for pedagogical deepening in schools, sports clubs and municipalities.

“Children need teachers who encourage them, give them confidence and recognise and help develop each child’s qualities. Ezzy’s teachers know the power of connection and give confidence so that each child can learn at their own level and at their own pace.”

Thamar worked for years as a policy officer for Swimming Education at NRZ, was a lecturer at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences and was involved in the Swimming Education Expertise Centre.

Thamar Henneken is a former top swimmer and won the silver medal on the 4×100 metre freestyle with the women’s relay team during the Olympic Games in 2000. After studying movement sciences, she has been active for years as a policy officer Swimming Education at the National Platform Swimming Pools | NRZ, where she led projects with, among other things, the aim of increasing the pedagogical quality of swimming education.

Nowadays Thamar is the director of a public primary school in Utrecht, but she remains involved in swimming education as a member of the Advisory Board of EasySwim.

“One of the most important principles of teaching is to ensure that the teaching material has meaning for the pupil. In this way you come to involvement and intrinsic motivation to learn. At Ezzy’s, the challenging exercise material and the use of materials are fully attuned to the children’s perceptions, so that from that involvement an optimal learning process can arise”