Moving to The Netherlands and need advice please on schools-Dutch or International?

[irishmumonthemove]

Hello,

We are moving to the Netherlands at the end of June when school is finished for the summer. My DH is already there working close to Amsterdam. We are delighted to have the opportunity to live on the Continent but at the same time we don't know the country at all and are trying to figure out nice, family friendly yet close enough to the city places to live. Also, we fluctuate between sending the children to local Dutch schools ( to enable integration with other kids and locals ) or subsidised International schools ( easier from a language point of view and maybe less stressful in the short - term ).

Does anyone live or used to live in the Netherlands? Would you send an English speaking Irish 9 yr old to a Dutch school and hope for the best? He is a clever boy ( aren't they all! ) and will see it as a challenge I think ( hope ) but I worry about how stressful it might be ( new country, language, culture). How do I find out about good Dutch schools? Should we select a school first and then a house or vice versa? We have been looking at houses on the net in Naarden, Bussum, Hilversum, Leiden, Utrecht. It's hard to decide...

Done. I'll let you know when I hear from her. She has put her dcs into Dutch schools. She'll be able to tell you about the experience (if she agrees to let me pass on her e-mail address of course).

Have e-mail, will send!

One school I know requested parents pay a ?photocopy supplement? half way through the year as things were so tough, and in my school they?re trying to cut the number of teachers and increase class sizes

Irish parents are no strangers to photocopy supplements, or indeed at my nephew's school in Sligo 'toilet paper supplement'

Irishmum - apparently research says that it takes up to 2 years to become conversant in a language, but 5 years to become fluent for the purposes of academia.

Not all bad though he gets to drop Irish ;0

Hi
I just moved to the Netherlands and I am very concerned about my 8 year sons school.
He speaks German but no English or Dutch.
I wonder for which school you decided and would like to learn about your experiences.
Thanks
Regards
Isil

Her boys went to Dutch school and last heard did just fine.

Hey Isil - have you found any of the expat NL Facebook groups? The Dutch Education group is a mine of useful info on this. It's Amsterdam-centric, but also great for general questions. Most 8 year olds would attend a language class for one year to get their Dutch up to speed. These are often part of a regular Dutch school, but not all schools have them.

Hi! I know this thread is long over, but I am in a similar situation now except with older children!

My son is 11 and will be 12 in August, my oldest daughter will be 11 next September and my youngest turns 8 next month (I don't worry much about her except for the fact she has NEVER attended school outside the home).

We are coming from the US, and are homeschoolers so it will be quite the transition for my children.

We cannot at all afford international school, while my husband's company is small, they cannot pay tuition either. Plus, we want to be integrated into the Dutch culture. That is a huge reason why we want to go.

Anyway, I was wondering how Irishmumonthemove's experience turned out, as well as any advise for my older children. I know about the testing when they are 12, but I don't know how it would effect my kids as they are that age when we are moving. It is difficult for me to navigate the schools from the internet.

I did find the Leiden website helpful. That is one location we were thinking about living anyway. My husband travels for work so easy access to the airport is a bit of importance (easy being 45 to 60 mins by train).

Anyway, I am going over the first week of November to look around and I was hoping to mark meetings with school administrators to figure out my options. There are just so many options I don't know where to start!

Any advise would be helpful! Thank you in advance.