In March 2020, the 19th year of Kickstart School, like many other companies, Kickstart had to reinvent itself. How did that go for them?
Kickstart looks back on the two most challenging years in the history of the school, but due to good teamwork and having their online learning environment in place (KickstartNet), they already had a good basic structure to build upon. They also invested in the technical hardware required to support online classes very early on. Once the technical setup was installed, all the staff were trained over the weekend, and off Kickstart School went on their own new learning journey! The teachers and administrative staff were students again and had to adapt very fast.
Kickstart has always had a proven track record of consistency and quality and the ratings have even gone up since the coronavirus pandemic. They have grown as an organisation and have basically become leaner and meaner. They have also embraced new types of clients: the young learners. They tore down a wall and created a huge classroom in which they welcome the students to learn Dutch through play.
Since Kickstart was relying so heavily on their online learning environment, they decided to give their KickstartNet a facelift. Once that was completed, they also decided to improve the website and, subsequently, the whole back office.
Kickstart 2.0 not only reflects the new systems but also the company's new client population; going from a local to a global school is maybe a little bit exaggerated, however, Kickstart is immensely proud to have students joining their online classes from all over the world, including Turkey, Gambia, Bermuda, Saba, Switzerland and Singapore.
The connecting thread is that Kickstart is all about people, from employees of international organisations to expat children and teenagers who need to integrate into a new school system and everything in between.
Whether it is an online or a face-to-face course, Kickstart School’s goal has always been to provide a pleasant, supportive, and challenging learning environment for both teachers and students, where personal attention and care are paramount. In particular, the small group sizes (four to eight) ensure that each student receives individual attention and has ample opportunity to put their skills into practice.
A team of 45 teachers and administrative staff are constantly monitoring quality, improving all the aspects ranging from the content development, innovation of processes, and procedures and staying in touch with the clients.
Kickstart School offers a variety of language courses:
The regular Dutch, English and Chinese courses are taught face-to-face and remotely. If you are looking for more flexibility, then you can opt for a private course.
Kickstart uses a range of different learning materials, including their very own online learning platform, KickstartNet. It enhances students’ opportunities to develop their language skills and, in the KickstartNet Forum, students can communicate with their teacher and fellow students.
Kickstart also offers Dutch and English exam preparation courses for a wide range of internationally recognised language qualifications.
Kickstart’s company courses (ranging from A0 to C2) are carefully programmed to meet specific learning goals while also exploring interesting cultural aspects related to language learning.
A totally new phenomenon is that expats can already start preparing for their move to the Netherlands by learning the language while still in their home country. Find out more about this by watching this video:
“Having survived the storm, we are happy to have arrived in calmer waters to reflect on all the experiences of the last two years. We were able to do more than what we expected of ourselves, which is often the case with our students too while learning a language” ~ Kickstart School
For more information about Kickstart School, visit their official website, send them an email or call via 070 360 78 60.
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