Sofie van de Waart

Sofie van de Waart has continued to teach with great enthusiasm on an irregular basis. She also shares her views on education through contributions to Algemeen Dagblad and Radio 1. Sofie has extensive experience as a project leader in education, working with, among others, a large school board in Rotterdam and the Equal Opportunities Alliance. She set up a facility for long-term homebound gifted students, where care and education collaborate, and established several part-time programs for gifted students. In one of these initiatives, she successfully connected children from different backgrounds through a gifted class: Explora Breda.

Sofie’s Utopia

Two years ago, Sofie won second prize in Omroep Max’s “Jouw Idee op TV.” On December 7, Omroep Max will air the documentary Utopie van Sofie, directed by Paul Rigter, following her work in setting up Explora Breda: a class providing education for gifted children at their own level. The challenges these children face often receive little attention in the school system.

Sofie cares deeply about every child, but over the course of the school year, she encounters obstacles herself. Organizational resistance to her fast thinking and actions raises uncertainty about whether she can continue at Explora. By the end of the year, the outcomes for the children differ from Sofie’s own expectations.

Sofie as Speaker and Moderator

Sofie is happy to professionally chair your retreat or conference. She keeps sessions on track, improvises with humor when unexpected events occur, and is always fully prepared and informed. Her presence ensures a pleasant, personal, and smoothly run day.

In her lectures, Sofie engages audiences on topics such as giftedness and equal opportunities. She shares which interventions are effective in making education truly inclusive. In her keynote Buitenbeentjes Binnenboord, she inspires audiences to think critically and take action with practical knowledge and tools.

Examples of Clients

Sofie has served as a regular moderator for the Sectorraad Praktijkonderwijs and as a speaker for ASML, including for their Neurodiversity Network and Parent Network. She contributed on leadership for CNV Onderwijs and chaired sessions at Leiden Kennisstad’s Evening Symposium. She has acted as both speaker and moderator for Samen Top, supporting people with barriers to the labor market.

For the Municipality of Tilburg, she led an inspirational session on new education initiatives, and she guided fourth-year PABO Breda students through the possibilities a teaching degree offers. At We Women Impact and Meer Muziek in de Klas, she took on a dual role as speaker and moderator. She also frequently speaks at events organized by school boards, collaborations, and various primary, secondary, and special education schools.