Primary School

The primary school of DENISE is completely bilingual. The aim of the Dual Language Program is to offer high-quality education in Dutch and English. Education that does justice to the background and characteristics of our student population, based on the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and the regular Dutch curriculum.

DENISE is open to both Dutch and International students. A large proportion of the students speak Dutch or English at home, but there are also pupils who do not or hardly speak either language or both. There is room at DENISE for all these students.

In primary education at DENISE, the pupil is taught in Dutch and in English. The ratio is about 60/40.

In order to guarantee the language acquisition of the pupils and the flexibility of the programme, language support is provided in the form of Language Assistants. In this way differentiation is possible and students can be helped and guided in a tailor-made way.

Lessons are given in both Dutch and English. This is done through team teaching. In fact, two teachers (Dutch and English) and two Language Assistants (Dutch and English) are jointly responsible for teaching in a group. In addition, various subject teachers are involved in the group for Art subjects and Sports.

 

The International Primary Curriculum

 

IPC website

 

The IPC was originally conceived by Fieldwork Education in collaboration with ‘Stichting Nederlands Onderwijs’ (Dutch Education Foundation). Together with the founders, the curriculum was further developed for and by a group of fourteen Dutch and International schools around the world. In addition to a curriculum focused on learning, this group also wanted to be able to respond to an increasingly smaller world. More than 1000 schools in 65 countries currently work with the IPC. Schools that work with the curriculum form a vibrant, global community of member schools. Schools learn from and with each other.

The curriculum consists of more than 80 different thematic units (levels) that each last 4 to 8 weeks. These contain stimulating and engaging topics such as Treasures, The Rainforest, A Mission to Mars, Chocolate, Health and Fitness, The Olympics and Making News. The curriculum has a continuous learning line from groups 1 to 8. The subjects are offered in conjunction with each other. At the same time, links are made to language and arithmetic. Each unit guarantees a structure in which clear learning outcomes are identified.

The IPC has proven in recent years to be a curriculum that works as an incentive for children's learning.

The basis for the planning of our IPC themes are the learning objectives that we want to achieve and that are required of a Dutch school. This creates a balanced program that meets both the ambitions of the school in the international context and the requirements set within the Dutch education system.