I arrived in the Netherlands with my child...when and how do I enrol him/her in school?

Author: Alina Filimon

I recently went through this experience. I didn't know much about the education system in the Netherlands so I started searching for information from all possible sources: Google, Facebook, various groups, acquaintances already living in the Netherlands. Any information is useful, but everyone's experience can be different, the process of enrolling a child in school can differ depending on the city, the school, and especially the age of the child.

I'll tell you a bit about how we did it and then leave you with some useful tips.

I came alone for the first month, I found a rented apartment in Amstelveen near Amsterdam as I work in Amsterdam. I first started contacting schools in the area where I lived. Initially I searched Google Maps for the names of the schools in the area, checked their websites (they are all in Dutch, but I have become expert Google Translate and copy-paste), read everything I could find about the differences between schools (usually in every area there is an OBS school, a Catholic school and a Protestant school, all state schools) and sent emails in English requesting an appointment to see the school and discuss the possibility of enrolling my child in that school.

The surprise was that nobody answered my emails. Then I called each one in turn and all the schools in the area where I lived told me that they had NO places left! First shock for me. They wouldn't even sit down to talk, no way I could go to see the school or talk to them.

I then turned to the Facebook Mums group and got some great advice which you'll find below: joining the Facebook group Dutch Education Group. I learned a lot of useful things from this group and understood that at the age of 4 all children go to school, they start with group 1, usually 4 and 5 year olds, groups 1 and 2, stay together in one class, but school enrolment starts at around 3 years old. In Amsterdam there is even a lottery to get a place at the school you want. My child had just turned 5, it was December and it was very difficult to find a school place available for his age group as classes were full in many schools.

I got recommendations for other schools in town a little further away and started checking websites, emailing and calling again. I managed to schedule 3 appointments at 3 different schools within a 2 mile radius of my house. Important to note is that I did all of this before I brought my child here. I knew there was a deadline by which the child had to be enrolled in a school (not necessarily to start immediately, especially if there are holiday days in between) after arriving in the Netherlands and being registered at the town hall (the deadline is about 4 weeks).

I went to the 3 schools with my husband and child who arrived in the meantime. All the principals explained to us quite thoroughly how the education system works, what activities they do according to age/group, teaching method, curriculum they follow and answered our questions. The experience was a positive one. We chose the school we liked best, we also took distance into account, but we went more on instinct. We filled out an application form and emailed it along with a few scanned documents: the child's passport, BSNul and health insurance card. From what I learned later, enrollment can be done initially without a BSN and insurance, but by the school start date the child must be enrolled at the city and added on a parent's insurance.

There are parents who enrol their children or reserve a place for them at their desired school even before they move here.

Tips

Start your research and information early, even before you move in, especially if a parent is already here and has a home. If the child is over 6 years old, they will usually go to a language school (Taalklas) where he will follow an integration and language learning programme. However, not all cities have them, in some places children go to a normal state school and get extra help - it differs from area to area and school to school. My recommendation is to contact the schools near your home first and they will guide you according to your child's age. However, ask about the existence of this language school or any other existing program to make the integration of the child as easy as possible. Join the Facebook group Dutch Education Group (from Amsterdam Mamas) and use the search option to find out what you are interested in (name of a school or city or type of school) or ask a question.

If possible, go to at least 2 different schools so that you can form an opinion and understand the differences between them. Apart from OBS, Catholic and Protestant schools, there are other state schools with other methods like Montessori, Dalton, Jenaplan, etc. If you have such schools in your area, read about them, the method, and go for a discussion. In Romania you pay a lot for a Montessori kindergarten or school, here they are state run!

You can also use the services of an education consultant: a Dutch lady has such a business and helps foreigners to enrol their child in school (for those who don't have the time or can't manage it themselves). The basic package is 100 euros, from what I've seen. It also has useful articles, I recommend them: www.new2nl.com (it also has a Facebook page).

You can also call a co-worker or neighbour if you have a hard time with the language (ask them to call a school to ask if they have places and set up an appointment). We only communicated in English and it was ok.

If you are moving to a big city and especially to Amsterdam, this consultant's recommendation is to first look for a school that can take your child and then rent in that area. And yet, I would say it is almost impossible given how hard it is today to find an acceptable rent. I tried at first to do them in parallel, at the first apartments I looked at I immediately looked into schools too, but gave up when I was told I could come to a discussion with the director after 2 weeks. They did tell me though that they have places available and it's good to know when choosing the area you will live in.

Once the child is registered at the town hall and has a BSN and an address, the child should be enrolled in school within 3-4 weeks. Within about 10 days of registering with the town hall, we received a letter from the institution that is looking for all children to be enrolled in a school (I don't remember the name of the institution) asking us to provide proof of enrollment. They gave us a deadline of maximum 3 weeks. There was a form in the envelope that had to be filled in and signed by the school they were enrolled in. However, school started approx 6 weeks after arrival in the Netherlands as it was the winter break.

And last but not least: even if you don't find a place at your local school or one you prefer for some reason, don't give up. After 2-3 months call again and ask if they have places. It seems that here, if you insist, you eventually succeed. Plus there are expats who still leave or move with housing. After a few months, we managed to get a talk at the school near our house, which we really liked and got a place in the new school year. In the medium to long term it is much better for the child to go to a school close to home, they can make friends more easily to meet after school and you can also integrate more easily as a family into the community (especially in smaller towns). Extra tip: for translations, apart from Google Translate, you can also use this website: Deepl.

Good luck!

About me: My name is Alina Filimon, I'm 34 years old, I'm an economist by profession, I moved from Bucharest to Amsterdam/Amstelveen in November 2017 together with my husband and our 5 years old son.

I work in the banking system but I dream of one day having my own business and spending more time with my family. In January David started school and now he already speaks quite good Dutch, he gets along well with children and adults. It helped him in the beginning that he knew some English and could communicate with the teachers."