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A new school year and your child will be moving up a grade (or ‘groep’ as they are called in Dutch), or maybe starting school for the very first time. Not all schools use the same teaching methods, especially between the international schools and Dutch schools. But regardless of where you decide to send your child, at the end of each school year every primary school pupil should be, more or less, on the same level of basic skill sets.

It is handy to know what skills your child will be focusing on during the school year so you can complement their studies at home too. Here is an overview of the basic standards for each school year to help with this.

Groep 1 / Pre-K / Reception
From 4 years old

In this group, the focus is still mainly on learning through play and exploration.

Groep 2 / Kindergarten / Year 1
From 5 years old

Children will begin basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills, working tasks on their own, as well as part of a larger group.

Groep 3 / Grade 1 / Year 2
From 6 years old

During this group children start a more structured teaching program, often introducing the idea of a standard school day. They work on improving their reading and writing skills. And also arithmetic skills such as adding and subtracting with numbers up to 20 and counting numbers.

Groep 4 / Grade 2 / Year 3
From 7 years old

By now your child can often read whole sentences and will begin to focus on spelling and learning grammar rules. They also begin to learn their times tables.

Groep 5 / Grade 3 / Year 4
From 8 years old

Further development of reading skills continue, moving up the reading book levels. Children also begin to be introduced to additional languages and topography.

Groep 6 / Grade 4 / Year 5
From 9 years old

Children will start learning about long division and fractions. Reading and writing skills continue to improve, including that of additional languages such as English if attending a Dutch school.They may also be asked to write and/or present a book review to the class on occasion.

Groep 7 / Grade 5 / Year 6
From 10 years old

Many schools begin to issue homework from this year onwards. Book reviews will be more common too. As well as continuing to improve reading, writing and arithmetic skills, students will learn linguistics and more in depth topography of Europe.

Groep 8 / Grade 6 / Year 7
From 11 years old

Getting ready for high school, during this year students will have more homework and are encouraged to work at a higher tempo. Reading, writing and arithmetic skills will cover a higher skill set and children will learn about the topography of the rest of the world.

Talking with the school your child attends is always a good idea and can help you help your child to achieve their full potential.
You can find out more about the educational system here in the Netherlands on the IWCN website.

www.iwcn.nl/settling-in/education