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It will soon be 15 March! For whom is this an important date? Why is this an important date? If you have children in Group 8 (final year) of the Basisschool (primary school) this is important for you. The 15th of March is the deadline for registering for a secondary school. You must apply before the deadline or your child risks not having a place at secondary school in September.
A quick re-cap of the secondary school system in the Netherlands. Secondary schools are known as middelbare scholen or voortgezet onderwijs. (See also this previous Connections article: http://www.connect-int.org/blog/2014/08/an-education-on-the-dutch-school-system/).
The secondary schools in the Netherlands are streamed. This means they bring children together of similar learning and academic abilities and sometimes interests too. The school your child attends will in theory determine what type of further education (if any) they do and what type of career they will do. As twelve years old is very young to make such life-determining decision, changes can be made up and down the system (more on this later).
There are basically 3 main streams:
VWO (voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs = education preparing for university)
HAVO (hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs = higher general secondary education)
VMBO (voorbereidend middelbaar beroeps onderwijs = preparatory education for vocational education)
You may also have heard of MAVO. This used to be a stream in between HAVO and the bottom tier. The name is coming back into fashion and is used for the most academic stream of the VMBO, known as VMBO-tl (see below).
VWO
VWO is designed to prepare you for a University study. This stream takes 6 years and a VWO-diploma gives you access to a university degree course. Within this stream there are some variations.
Atheneum (best described as regular VWO).
Atheneum + (as Atheneum, but extra subjects not on the standard curriculum such as Philosophy, or extra languages such as Spanish, Russian, Chinese, will be given throughout the years).
Technasium (again as Atheneum, but with special emphasis on working in groups and a heavy focus on all sciences, including IT, and business.
Gymnasium (also as Atheneum, but Latin and ancient-Greek are also taught and at least one of them must be done at final exam level).
All these streams sit the same national final examinations and all give the same right of access to University education. Some secondary schools will offer these streams along with other streams within one school, some will only offer one. Most often you will find schools offering Gymnasium as a mono-stream.
HAVO
This stream takes 5 years and upon obtaining a diploma, students can follow any higher education that is not a University. In the Netherlands these are known as HBO (hoger beroeps onderwijs= higher professional education), Hogeschool, etc. This diploma also offers access to doing years 5 and 6 of the VWO should you so choose.
VMBO
This stream takes 4 years and is generally designed for children who do not excel academically at primary school. It itself is divided into 4 streams
VMBO – basis
This comes down to being the minimum level of secondary education required to be able to continue with any further job-related education/vocational training. Students completing this course may continue at an MBO college.
VMBO – Kader
This stream also leads to entry to MBO, but is in particular focused on practical studies, working with your hands etc.
VMBO – Gemengde Leerweg (=mixed learning path)
This sub-stream allows students to follow some more practical and some more theoretical subjects depending on the student’s ability and interests. This leads to MBO courses at a slightly higher level.
VMBO – theoretische leerweg (tl) (theoretical learning path), sometimes known as MAVO
Schools that offer VWO and HAVO may exclusively include this VMBO stream and then often call it MAVO. This stream is also 4 years and its diploma leads to the more elevated MBO-studies, or years 4 and 5 of the HAVO can be entered into.
How is the level your child goes to determined?
Although it has been different in the past, currently the primary school (basically the form teacher of your child) gives a binding advice as to which level your child should do and the secondary schools are obliged to follow this advice. Primary school teachers base their advice on the academic results of your child’s regular work, but mainly on the result of the national tests (often CITO). The teacher will also look at the child’s attitude and aptitude. In addition, the child’s home-life and the academic achievement of the parents have been found to influence the teacher, therefore it is important to have good communication lines with the teacher and make your wishes/aspirations clear. Hopefully all these factors will then come together to find the level that best suits your child at this time in their life.
As children are not fully formed academically (or any other way) at 12 years old, this strict system does allow for movement. (See also the diagram below.) There is the formal movement as each step is completed, which allows one level of secondary school to be followed after the other, or people can move throughout the tertiary system (e.g. from MBO to HBO to University). In addition, many schools call the first year Brugklas (or bridging class). They may be combined classed e.g. HAVO & VWO, or v-MBO-tl & HAVO and a final decision as to what stream is not made until after the first year. Some schools even have a 2-year brugklas. Combined level classes are known as ‘dakpan’ (=roof tile) classes, as they overlap each other. Movement can be both ways and there are even incidents of children moving from VMBO-tl to VWO and vice versa.
Type of school
In addition to the stream/level of school, you will need to choose what type of school you wish your child to attend, e.g. religious or non-religious, Montessori, Vrije School (a.k.a. Steiner or Waldorf), Private education (limitedly available in the Netherlands), Twee-talig (a.k.a. TTO =dual language: usually English-Dutch), international education in English (International School Groningen), large or small, one type (e.g. only VMBO), or one that offers multiple streams. Also take into account travel times and travel routes.
Choosing a school
Once you know the level of the secondary school your child will be attending, you and particularly your child, should visit the schools, either on their open days or by appointment. Which local schools offer what, can be found in the ‘VO – gids’’ . This magazine will either be issued to you by the primary school your child attends or the municipality (Gemeente). You can also look on-line: www.devogids.nl. When at the school, ask lots of questions and soak up the atmosphere. Look what extra-curricular activities are on offer. Make sure you have a first choice and a second choice. Apply in time (deadline for 2018 is March 15) and make sure you apply for the correct stream within the school.) Applications can me made on-line and on paper directly to the schools, or sometimes via your child’s primary school.
First and Second choice
Why do you need a second choice? Some smaller and/or popular schools are oversubscribed and these schools will draw lots to see who they accept. These lotteries should be completely transparent and you should at the very least be kept informed by the school’s website. Make sure that your second-choice school is not also a school that draws lots, as schools are allowed to exclude pupils who put their school as their second choice from the lottery proceedings.
In addition, the school of your first choice may refuse you on the grounds that the primary school’s advice does not match the stream you applied for, or they may feel you are not a good match. The latter is only allowed under a very strict and limited set of circumstances.
So…….
Choose with your heart and mind and listen to your child.
Don’t worry about where they start out too much – changes can be made along the way if needed.
DO NOT FORGET TO APPLY IN TIME: 15 March 2018 is the deadline.