Schooling in/near the Hague??

[candleheaven]

My husband has been offered a job in the Hague. We have 2 children who will be starting secondary education in the next year or two - 9yo and 10yo. Looking online it seems that private schools tecahing in english would come in at around 30K for the year for both children which would not be feasible for us.
What are the alternatives? Presuming if the children were dropped into a local state school they would just need to learn dutch?? I'm wondering how this would affect their eduacation?
Any thoughts or experiences greatly appreciated.

There are a lot of bilingual schools out with the British school, however you need to watch what system they follow as most are either leading into the Dutch system or to IB. Depends how long you will be there for. Take a look here utesinternationallounge.com/international-and-bilingual-schools-and-daycares-in-the-hague-area/

On the off chance that they speak French, I went to the junior school of the French Lycee in The Hague a very long time ago. Obviously, that is probably not a helpful remark, but I loved living in The Hague (I was 6 when we went, came back at 9 ish). 40 years later my family still have very fond memories of that time.

I lived in Rijswijk, near the Hague. I went to the local H.A.V.O school, which I attended from 14yo, and picked up the language pretty quickly. Loved living in Holland.

Yes, international schools are very expensive.

DS did tto - tweetaalig onderwijs - bilingual education (Dutch/English) - not in The Hague - at a state school. It was the IB programme.

I had a google for you and came up with this. (There;s a forum on it too)

www.expatarrivals.com/europe/netherlands/hague/education-and-schools-hague

Hopefully, your DH's company's HRM dept. can help out too. The Hague is full of expats (many embassies are located there).

Are they helping with housing? It was one of my jobs when I worked in HRM in an international co. We worked with an estate agent.
fun going out of the office to check apartments

I think you'll enjoy living in NL. Expats from all over the world live here and there's a huge UK community.

Good luck!

Oh, and this....

if the children were dropped into a local state school they would just need to learn dutch??

All kids unable to speak Dutch go into a "schakelklas" ("switch class") for fast-track Dutch. They're at an age they'll pick it up super fast.

Thank you for your replies. Really helpful. Looks like I need to go back to school with my typos in my original post
We are just dipping our toe into the planning. It seems we get a sort of allowance on top of the salary to support each child and housing. We've looked at rent rates etc and are aware it's pricey.
It's great to hear that everyone is so positive! I wondered if the children not being tiny and learning the lingo might hold them back education wise. Great to hear that you've found that to not be the case. We've had several holidays in the Netherlands and like the culture so all in all feeling excited.
The role is permanent so we'd be going for the medium/long term unless of course we all hated it and ran back home!

This thread is making me very nostalgic!

Just reflecting back on comments here and wondering what recommendations would be for initial settling in in the area (especially the children to minor disruption). Any tips for managing the transition? It seems like DH's work is very supportive and it's a well trodden path process wise but I wonder socially amd community wise what the opportunities might be?

Hi OP,

Feel free to message privately if you like but if you are coming to one of the big international companies or organisations most of them includes assistance with school fees.

If that's not the case you can have a look at HSV. They offer an international programme for about 5k a year, and a bilingual programme that is under 1k a year.

The international and Dutch social life is excellent, there is a definite cafe/restaurant culture when Covid is not a problem and endless clubs and activities for adults and children in both Dutch and English. It's a very easy city to live in.

ISH (International school of the Hague) is an IB school that offers subsidised International education (Part of DIS - Dutch International Schools). Gets full quickly though but a lot cheaper than fully private (American/British) schools.

In my experience TTO (bilingual) schools are not suitable for non-Dutch speakers as that's not who they're designed for. They're meant for Dutch speakers to become fluent English. Kids with poor Dutch do well the first few years in immersion then struggle once everything switches back to Dutch (all final exams are in Dutch for the Dutch high school diploma...even the English exam has questions in Dutch. The only exception is the IB English exam but that's not part of the regular High School Diploma).

Many kids who come from abroad go to the ISK - intensive Dutch - but this is usually for 1-2 years with very little offered in terms of other subjects and then they give a recommendation on the level of Dutch education for secondary. This level might be lower than your child would follow in the UK because of language. Secondary education in the Netherlands is very segregated into different types of school, not comprehensive like the UK (grammar schools aside). Not all high school diplomas are of the same level (suitable for entry to university for example).

Most expats I know in the Netherlands who have come here when their kids are older than 8 either use international schools or have had to get their kids Dutch tutors.

Approach to additional needs also different here. More Special Education schools, less in school support in mainstream.