The Dutch school system is complex. In fact, it is so complex that I had given up trying to understand it while still in South Africa, reasoning that this will be one of the first things which we will unravel after our arrival in the Netherlands. Of course, then "the year which should never me named" happened and subsequently schools closed and reopened.. and closed again, school visits and enrolments were planned and cancelled, waiting lists changed... and then the two-month summer holiday commenced.
Therefore our toddler hadn't been to school for 6 months and we had completely missed the Peuterspeelzaal / Gastouderopvang / Kinderdagverblijf phase. Which is probably just as well, because the cost of childcare before the age of four is a mathematical nightmare which depends on several factors: Your household's annual income, your household's combined working hours, the hours and days your child will spend at daycare, the subsidy you will receive from the Belastingsdienst (tax authorities), whether the Gemeente (local municipality) has a VVE (pre-school education) program for non-Dutch speakers, and whether the GGD (health authorities) will approve the Gemeente's VVE request.
Oh and have I mentioned that there's often a two-month waiting period, so while you think you are being pro-active by phoning all parties involved and explaining your situation and specific requirements (often in Dutch!), you are already late in starting to unravel the process. But the good news is that all of this becomes a lot simpler and cheaper once your child turns four. Or so we naively thought...
Basisschool (Primary school) is compulsory from the age of five, but children can attend from the age of four. And when I say four, it is literally on the day that they turn four. This means that new wide-eyed four-year olds arrive at Groep 1 of Basisschool throughout the school year. It also means, depending on when your child's birthday is, that they can remain in Groep 1 / 2, which is often one class, for two full school years, or for three years. This also depends on which transfer cut-off the school uses: A child has to turn six before 1 October / 1 December / 1 January to be transferred to Groep 3 where they will start reading and writing.
Basisschool has eight groups (Groep 1 - Groep 8), therefore children will go to the same school from the age of 4 / 5 until the age of 11 / 12. Where we live, primary schools are much smaller than what we were used to in South Africa: A small school has 160 pupils and a big school 400. This means we have numerous schools within a 3 km radius of our house, which is wonderful for walking or cycling to school and getting to know the neighbourhood children. Schools can be selected based on religious affiliation and teaching methodology and you therefore have options like: Catholic Montessori, or Protestant Dalton, or Openbare (non-religious) Vrije schools.
Each age group in Basisschool has 1 - 4 classes with 20 children each, often combined as Groep 1 / 2, Groep 3 / 4, etc. But sometimes a class with two groups could be split into two classes with one age group later in the year (because of the 4-years olds arriving throughout the school year, see?). At our toddler's school, three teachers oversee two classes with two age groups per class, because teachers often work on selected days / half-day.
Teachers are not responsible for opvang (pre-or afterschool care) or tussen-opvang (the lunch-hour), where children often go home. Opvang is available next to the school in a separate building and you have to arrange that like the aforementioned Gastouderopvang / Kinderdagverblijf at an additional cost, which can be determined by multiplying your blood type by your IQ. Tussen-opvang can be arranged at the school (also at an additional cost).
Pre-corona, the school hours were from 8:30 until 14:45, except for Wednesdays when school ended at 12:20 and every fortnight when school ended at 12:30 on Fridays. Oh, and some days are study days where there is no school, because the teachers have to prepare the curriculum or plan for special events.
I have to admit that we navigated all of the above uncertainties and ambiguities like champs: We selected a school close to us with a modest teaching approach. We attending a kennismaking with the school, which, might I add, was in Dutch. We completed all the forms. In Dutch. We arranged and our toddler attended the wendagen (visiting days for newcomers). Obviously in Dutch.
We even bought the correct gymschoenen, drinkbekekers and fruitbakjes (after thorough research in Dutch) and learned that gym shoes are not just "tekkies" like we initially thought. Our toddler even had a rain jacket in his school bag, for the unpredictable Dutch weather.
We. Were. Doing. This!
The Dutch Way!
On the first day of school, we joined the other (Dutch) parents and children, who arrived on every imaginable style of bicycle - from skopfietsen to bakfietsen. We greeted the teacher and exchanged murmurings about the summer holidays (in Dutch!) and when our toddler entered the classroom without tears we were incredibly relieved proud.
We had done this. First Dutch school day done!
But... we were not informed that the first school day's hours where different than planned / communicated / researched / double-checked, because: During the corona-period, the hours had been updated to end 45 minutes earlier. Except for Wednesdays, which were now longer. And every-second Friday, which were still shorter than the normal Fridays. Obviously.
Let me just say this: We are very, very glad that we selected the closest Basisschool to our house. And we now know that we can reach the school within 4 minutes of receiving a phone call from the teacher...
