Vacation on demand
The holidays in the spring invite luxury absenteeism. But not in nine primary schools where parents can decide for themselves when they go on holiday.
Picture: Type tank
Dear parents, when do you want to go on holiday with your child? Just six weeks in the summer? Or would you prefer a few weeks of winter sports in February? Cheap to the sun in November? You can request your holiday period from the management as usual.
That is how it works at the Sterrenschool in Apeldoorn. One of the nine primary schools that, as a trial, may divide their teaching time flexibly over the school year. These schools do not have to adhere to the centrally determined holidays.
This flexibility has quite a few consequences for education, says director Hans van der Most of the Sterrenschool Apeldoorn. "If a child just takes a three-week break in traditional education, it misses ten pages of the teaching method." How do you, as a teacher, catch up with that child in the intermediate pages? “That is already difficult with one child. With thirty children who are all gone from time to time, that is impossible. ”
Getting used to
At all schools that are experimenting with flexible holidays *
Teacher Ineke Salentijn of the Sterrenschool Apeldoorn is back from winter sports. She went for official spring break, nice and cheap. Because yes: if the students and parents can go on holiday all year round, like at her school, teachers can of course do that too. On the other hand, Salentijn is often at work during the traditional school holidays. “The mentors then make folders that state what each student needs on a day-to-day basis, in terms of education.” That seems like quite a job: thirty students who follow an individual program. “Well, making those folders is the most work. And we provide education here together: teachers and support staff. Then it is not too bad.” In the autumn, Salentijn and her husband often go on a city trip. In the summer and at Christmas they stay at home, because then her husband has to work. He makes - believe it or not - vacation guides. “In the summer he is busy with the winter guides, and in the winter with the summer guides. Hence.” participate, the pupils receive a personalized learning line. The basis for these learning pathways was laid by the School in Zandvoort. The star schools (in addition to the school in Apeldoorn, five other star schools are participating in the experiment) follow the example of Zandvoort.
Such a personalized learning line took some getting used to for teachers, says Van der Most of the Sterrenschool Apeldoorn. But it is not rocket science. “If you see that many students are on vacation in the coming week, you may not need to plan anything new. Or yes, because then you can give instructions to small groups. You repeat that instruction two weeks later for students who need it. And then the children who have returned from vacation can join immediately. It's a matter of organizing. ”
Most of the schools participating in the experiment have close links with childcare. This means that the school can then be open every day for fifty weeks a year from eight in the morning to six in the afternoon. Depending on their individual program, the pupils then follow education or are cared for.
The floor also needs a wash. That is possible that one week a year that we are closed
But what consequences does that flexibility have for the holidays? Not all Van der Most students leave in the summer anymore. “We are located here in the Veluwe, and many parents work in tourism, catering and camping. That is the busiest time of the year for them. Some self-employed people also have to have it in the summer. Those parents like to go on holiday in the spring or autumn. ”
Yuppenschool
And don't think that his parents are all highly educated double earners, emphasizes Van der Most. “When I started, it was sometimes said that this would become a 'yupp school'. But that is not the case, and we are not really in a yuppie neighborhood. ” A number of his parents once came to the Netherlands as refugees. “They occasionally return to their country of origin to visit family. In the low season, when the flight is affordable. ”
At the Casaschool in Pijnacker - a bilingual Montessori school where the telephone is answered in impeccable English - the parents are often highly educated two-earners. But their holiday wishes do not differ much from those of the Apeldoorn parents, says director Karin Keizer. Because the low season is also popular in Pijnacker.
The schools participating in the experiment are usually closed at Christmas. “Between Christmas and New Year's Day, all parents want to have their children at home,” says Anneke Slegers, director of the Bikube Sterrenschool in Hoofddorp. And that actually works out well. “It sounds frumpy, but the floor also needs to be washed. We have the time for that one week a year that we are closed. ”
When parents take it too far, Van der Most shows his teeth
At Sterrenschool Apeldoorn, parents also have the option of taking four separate days off. The rule is that a parent requests such a day off at least one week in advance. Not everyone adheres to this, Van der Most notices. Sometimes that's not so bad: "After the Eid, for example, many parents take a day off - we know that by now, so we already take that into account."
But when parents take it too far, Van der Most shows his teeth. “Then I say: This day off has not been requested in advance, so I want to see your child at school. And otherwise I will report it to the attendance officer. ” It has never come that far.
It can also happen, very occasionally, that Van der Most rejects the requested long holidays. "As a rule of thumb I use that there should always be about ten weeks between two holidays." Sometimes parents want to allow children to come to school continuously for fifteen weeks, and then Van der Most makes an individual assessment. “One child can handle that, the other child does not absorb anything after ten weeks. Continuing for another five weeks is a waste of time. ”
Missed opportunity
The experiment with flexible teaching hours will be evaluated by the Education Inspectorate this year. Based on the results, it is decided whether the schools are allowed to continue, and whether other schools are also allowed to start flexible holidays.
The current schools are not really reassured about a good outcome of that evaluation. Because the participating schools differ in approach and size: it is a matter of comparing apples with pears, according to many directors. Rosanne Maters of the School in Zandvoort already thinks the central question is a missed opportunity. “The inspectorate wonders what effect the flexibilisation has on the quality of education. But you could also ask yourself how this flexibility can contribute to appropriate education for every child. ”
As soon as your child turns four years old, you can no longer go on holiday flexibly, which is actually crazy
In any case, reversing the free holidays would be strange, according to those involved. “The Netherlands is working more and more flexibly and therefore also more flexible on holiday. But once your child turns four, it stops. That's really crazy, ”says Van der Most. “That six-week summer vacation was intended to help children help with the harvest,” says Slegers of the Bikube Star School. “Nowadays, the parents want to go to the sun in May, by plane. Why shouldn't that be possible? ”
This article can be found in the Education Magazine of March 2018, in the mail next Tuesday January of AOb.
