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Dubbelster is a small school in Amersfoort. Together with 17 other public schools it belongs to the "Meerkring" organisation. The school employs 12 teachers who cater for 200 children. There are 8 class groupings. Children start school at the age of 4 and stay for 8 years. After that they go to secondary schools. At our school we try to make children feel safe and secure. In a safe environment children can develop and learn optimally. We feel it is very important to develop social skills, so we teach children to be responsible, critical and open. The development of respect for others and creative skills are also important objectives in our school. These items serve as foundations for developing European citizenship as well. Therefore, our participation in European Projects like "A taste of Europe" is a very important component of our curriculum. Since the start of the 2009 academic year, De Dubbelster has begun to teach English from year one (4 years old). We believe that this is very important, because it provides our pupils with essential lingua franca skills so that they can communicate with and understand people in other European countries. Parents are very important in our school. Not only do they work together with the staff in the education of their children, but they also assist at school with various activities. De Dubbelster offers children an education that focuses on maximising their potential. To achieve this objective, teachers differentiate and adjust programme content as necessary. Extra help and extra materials are offered to children as required. This applies not only to those children with learning challenges, but there is also a large range of materials for children who need extension activities. Culture, gymnastics, environmental awareness, and arts and crafts are important components of our curriculum. For some years now, De Dubbelster has implemented methods and strategies developed by Spencer Kagan’s in his co-operative learning research. This methodology helps children to develop social skills and teaches them how to work together effectively. This focus on developing co-operative learning in our school is a result of an earlier Comenius Project with schools in England, Spain and Italy. In all of the participating schools, co-operative learning was introduced and has become a daily methodology in all subjects. It has proven to be a very valuable teaching technique and has yielded tangible results. De Dubbelster teachers focus on enabling children to be independent and responsible members of our community. In addition to this, children attending De Dubbelster also receive a solid cognitive foundation. Working this way, we believe that De Dubbelster contributes to the age-appropriate development of the whole child. De Dubbelster
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