If you are looking for a school that helps your child become truly bilingual, curious, independent, with a sense of community and a love for learning – then look no further than Winford Bilingual School.
Winford Bilingual Primary School is the only total immersion, dual language primary school programme in the Netherlands. Winford Bilingual is unique in its teaching methods, varied curricula, and the time spent on learning Dutch and English. The student population is diverse with children coming from all around the world, as well as local Dutch families.
In 2019, the Winford School Group launched Winford Bilingual Amsterdam. Winford School Group has been running for many years and offers private Dutch primary and secondary education in many cities throughout the Netherlands.
Winford Bilingual Amsterdam was their “flagship” fully immersive dual language school. Due to the great success of the Amsterdam campus, their second location, Winford Bilingual Haarlem was opened in 2022. A third location is planned to open in The Hague later in 2023.
A bilingual education
Winford Bilingual offers authentic bilingual education in Dutch and English. All subjects are taught equally in both languages - that means 50/50. Each class has two teachers - one that teaches all the subjects in Dutch and one that teaches all the subjects in English. It is unique because both teachers give lessons simultaneously throughout the school day.
During core subject lessons, the class is split into two sections. Half of the class will have a lesson with the Dutch teacher, and the other half will have a different lesson with the English teacher. After the lessons have finished, the children will swap to the other teacher and language. This happens consistently throughout the day, ensuring the children get used to translating fluidly.
Curricula
Winford Bilingual uses three curricula, which gives parents more variety when choosing a secondary school (high school) in the future. As Winford is a private B3 school, all subjects taught in Dutch follow the Dutch National Curriculum, and the CITO tests are included.
Whereas all subjects taught in English follow the U.K. National Curriculum. Enquiry-based units of work are also taught via The International Primary Curriculum. The combination of these three curricula plus equal lesson instruction in both languages gives the children many secondary school options, such as Dutch secondary schools and international or British secondary schools.
Focused and immersive teaching
Although Winford Bilingual is not officially a Montessori school, its approach to teaching and learning draws heavily on its philosophy. A Montessori is an education which involves students’ natural interests rather than traditional teaching methods.
At Winford Bilingual, the classrooms are designed to encourage all students to be independent and to move at their own pace as much as possible. With two teachers per class, and small class sizes, the students receive a high ratio of direct teacher to student time. This means all students have the opportunity to be challenged and to excel during the regular school day.
Marc Peters, Winford’s CEO, feels strongly about the importance of bilingual education and would love to see more bilingual schools in the Netherlands:
“The long-held dream of offering bilingual education is catching on, with a concept that is close to our hearts. With this we offer children from the age of four the opportunity to immerse themselves in bilingual education and the associated cultural experience.”
Take a tour of a Winford Bilingual School campus
Winford Bilingual Schools offer personal tours of their primary schools in Amsterdam and Haarlem. If you would like to schedule a tour of one of their campuses, fill out the tour request form or email Winford at [email protected].
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