Immigrate to the Netherlands and let your children live a happier life!

Class Schedule

The Dutch primary school system lasts for 8 years. Children officially enter primary school on the day they turn 4 years old. Class starts at 8:30 in the morning, fruit is eaten at 10:00, and lunch is at 12:00. Class starts at 13:00 and ends at 14:30. It is a national law that there is no school every Wednesday afternoon in order to allow children more free time to develop extracurricular hobbies.

Although I don’t have much time in school, not all of it is spent on studying. Physical education classes are held twice a week, mostly indoors, with all facilities available. As for handicraft classes, they account for a large proportion, and this is the case until junior high school. Physical education and handicrafts are all included in the assessment.

Almost every child has two or more extracurricular activities: boys have football, hockey, swimming, karate, etc., and girls have hockey, swimming, horse riding, dancing, etc.

Well-read books

Children’s books in the Netherlands have nationally unified difficulty levels for children of different ages to choose from. Throughout primary school, there were no fixed Chinese textbooks, only fixed exercise books. Teachers encourage students to read a lot, and the school has a library where students choose their own reading materials.

Libraries across the country are open to children free of charge. The books are arranged in an orderly manner, and audio and video works are all available. During primary school, parents usually take their children to the library to borrow books once a week. The school gives each child a reading bag and the borrowed books can be taken home to read. When it comes to homework, this is it.

In this way, by the time they graduate from elementary school, the children will have read a lot. The Chinese language assessment method is to list a long vocabulary list and test students' reading skills; in addition, students' reading comprehension is tested, with a total of 10 levels. Generally speaking, when you graduate from primary school, you can reach level A10.

Speech ability

Chinese language teaching in primary school attaches great importance to public speaking ability. Starting from the lower grades, children often sit in a circle and take turns telling their own opinions on a certain event in preparation for the formal speech starting in fifth grade.

Every school has a stage to cultivate children's ability to express themselves freely in public. This kind of speech starts from the class and can be about reading experience or free topics. After class, I check information online, draw charts, and make beautiful and neat written reports. The school holds performances every month, and students voluntarily sign up to demonstrate their inventions on stage.

Every year before Christmas or summer vacation, the class will write and perform a program. The graduating class even launched a drama masterpiece, and parents were invited to visit the show. A student who cannot express his or her views fluently in public is considered a failure here, and this is an extremely important language ability that cannot be demonstrated with scores.

Parent Meeting

Every half-year semester summary, parents will get a semester report, which records in detail the child's performance in school, mainly: whether he can interact with classmates normally, and Whether you take the initiative to complete your homework, whether you can concentrate, whether you are confident, whether your expression is clear, whether you do things in an orderly manner, etc., are mainly based on the teacher's observation and evaluation.

The academic performance in the report is divided into grades: excellent A, excellent B, passing C, and failing D. You never know where your child will rank in the class, and the Ministry of Education clearly stipulates that ranking is not allowed. Each student's report was put into a large envelope one by one. Even on the day when the report was issued, the teacher repeatedly emphasized that he should go home and hand it to his parents directly. He was not allowed to look at each other and ask questions, in order to protect the underachievers and avoid competition. .

After parents get the semester report, they will be invited to the school one after another. They can have 10 minutes of private conversation with the teacher. During this period, they can communicate with each other, ask questions, and explain their requirements. This is what is called a parent-teacher conference in Europe. Parents are customers of the school. Sending their children means that the government will give the school a subsidy, which is also the source of teachers' wages.

Middle school transfer

When I graduated from primary school at the age of 12, there was a three-day national exam. Test scores are still secretly written on school reports and not announced publicly. Grades are only used as a reference for students’ destination, accounting for about 40%. Daily grades are also used as an important reference, and the teacher makes the final decision. Although it is up to you to decide which secondary school to choose, students in the Netherlands are already separated when they enter secondary school. Good students go to VWO, a six-year college preparatory program; lesser students go to HAVO, a five-year college preparatory program; and most of them go to VMBO, a three-year vocational college preparatory program.

The advantage of the Dutch education system is that it does not bury talents and does not determine the outcome based on one score. After being admitted to a vocational secondary school, you still have the opportunity to go to college or university. As long as you work hard, it's never too late. In middle schools, extracurricular activities such as sports and handicrafts have not decreased, but have become more colorful. Physical education is still taught twice a week, and it is taken seriously and included in test scores. Side courses such as cooking, painting, photography, and philosophy are also offered.

Social support

Looking at primary education in the Netherlands, the focus of school education is not academic performance, but all-round development. Especially those with sound personality, strong body and flexible hands and feet. In terms of academics, teachers focus on helping those who are underachieving and do not encourage those who stand out. In other words, the school cultivates simple and normal people, rather than outstanding talents.

From primary school to junior high school, from the beginning of understanding at the age of 4 to the initial growth at the age of 12, primary and secondary education in the Netherlands has always been responsible for protecting the integrity of students' personality and will never judge heroes based on scores. Taking all-round development as the starting point and delivering all kinds of qualified talents to the society as the ultimate goal. At this point, schools and society are closely linked, and schools eventually become the most solid pillar industry in society.

Without qualified schools, there would be no good society. Social quality is not something that comes out of nowhere. Good student quality creates good social quality. Dutch schools do their best to cultivate students' basic qualities, especially the minimum moral qualities, including love, respect, responsibility, obligation, dedication, dedication, obedience, law-abiding, etc.

Immigrate to the Netherlands, let your children learn and grow in a more relaxed and free space, and give your children a better future!