New French School
New location, bi-lingual teaching for Amsterdam’s french school
From September 2009, the French School of Amsterdam will be located in a larger building offering a new education programme with more English, better IT facilities and an introduction to Dutch language and culture.
The official signing ceremony of the contract for the new building took place in the Maison Descartes French cultural centre on 26 June. Over the summer the school will move to Rustenburgerstraat to be housed in a former Dutch school, Het Mozaïek.
Important event for Amsterdam
The contract was signed by Egbert de Vries, chair of the Oud-Zuid city district and Thérèse Delaubier, director of the ‘Vincent van Gogh’ French School, with Jean-Francois Blarel, the French Ambassador present.
“This is an important event for the ciaty and for the French community,” said Mr. Blarel. “Bigger and more functional premises are an essential instrument for strengthening the position of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area for French families.”
Help from amsterdam inbusiness
Mr. Blarel also acknowledged the assistance given by amsterdam inbusiness. The school had been looking for years for bigger premises. They made contact with amsterdam inbusiness, and using its extensive network of contacts, the new school had been found in just a few weeks, and the paperwork expedited.
New bi-lingual educational
The French school will offer 28 pupil places for a new education project based on three main elements:
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Priority given to English with the start of a bilingual French/English pre-school class offering an equal number of hours of each language and 1 hour of English for all pupils aged 6-11 per day.
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Development of information technology facilities and learning.
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Dutch language and culture lessons, with trips in Amsterdam and the Netherlands and exchanges with nearby Dutch primary schools.
A similar syllabus was two times oversubscribed when it was launched last year in The Hague.
Evolution of the French School
The French school was founded in 1957 by the Michelin tyre company. It was managed by parents until 1989 when it officially became part of the French Lycée Vincent van Gogh in The Hague.
This in turn is supervised by AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad), under the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which co-ordinates teaching standards and standardised curriculum across 450 schools in 135 countries.
One programme, two languages
Headmaster of the Amsterdam school Germain Soulard stressed that the changes mean one programme - the same AEFE-certified syllabus – but taught in two languages.
“This is important because most expat contracts are for 2-4 years,” he said. “Families can live in Amsterdam, then go to China, and their kids can immediately pick up where they were, the exact same programme all over the world.”
Pressure from increase in pupils
The constant increase of its enrolment of the last few years has made the AEFE decide to develop the school. The accommodation in the Rivierenbuurt had become too small for the 110 pupils aged between 3-12 years old currently enrolled.
The new building also offers the opportunity for the school to expand, and it plans to offer secondary education in the near future.
This is very interesting to the Francophone community in the Amsterdam area, said Mr Soulard. “In the past, families have left the area because there was no suitable French secondary teaching.”
Photo credits: Svetlana Jaraud / Maison Descartes
