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3.5.7 The Power of Parents in Entering Primary School Levels: A Good Practice

Almost all Dutch children enter primary school at the age of 4. There they focus on play, social activities and educational materials relevant to their development and learning. Most Dutch schools have age-based groups, children are 8 years in primary school before going to secondary school. There will be children in these groups that perform above average or below, the teacher must attend these children with sufficient educational materials and instruction. To give every child the education he needs, in schools in Nijmegen ask parents and teachers at day-care centre or other people that know the child very well, to fill in an entry characteristics questionnaire of their 3.8 year old children prior to the intake at school. This questionnaire is a norm-based entry list, composed in collaboration with the university of Nijmegen (ITS, T. Mooij e.a.) and allows the school and the parents to communicate better about the child. It gives a clearer multi-perspective view of the child and moreover other play and learning materials can be introduced because the difference between the children of the same age will be addressed. Even for future educational support. Teachers create different types of small groups of children to help them at educational, social, motor and emotional needs. So, parents have a big say in their own child’s level of educational and other needs when the child enters school. This form of education is now present in the whole of Nijmegen, but best seen in primary school “Het Talent”, a school with 640 children and no age-based groups, here children start at their own level and develop themselves at their own pace and educational needs. The fundamental idea is “recognized inequality”; every child is working at its own level, pace and time. That can be the case for all different subjects. Parents are an important part of this way of education, together with school (sometimes others like other family members, childcare or general practitioner) we are responsible for the best development of the child.

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