applications

Maimonides is a special small (scale) school that focuses on both secular and Jewish education. Jewish education involves more than just the transfer of religious knowledge. Maimonides wants to prepare the students for the (international) world, so that they can contribute to society as active and conscious citizens and carry out their Jewish values in their hearts.

FIRST GRADE

The first year group mainly consists of entrants from the primary school of Rosj Pina. But Jewish children from other primary schools in Amsterdam and beyond also choose Maimonides to continue their school career.

TRANSFERS

At Maimonides it is common for pupils from other schools to transfer. This can happen from year 1 to the exam years depending on the situation of the pupil.

Motivation for this transfer has to do with the small scale and the safety of a small and Jewish school. We have smaller classes and only 168  students.

INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES

This form of intake concerns students who come from abroad, usually Israel. These pupils start with an adapted language program depending on their year of study. At the moment, intake is only possible in year 1 or 2 (ages 12-14). Year 1 in the Netherlands corresponds with kita zajin (year 7) in the Israeli system.

We do not advise students older than 14 to enroll. The biological reduced brain plasticity and often low motivation as a result of puberty and change of surroundings causes many learning challenges especially with the Dutch language. The Dutch language is a hard language to learn.

In addition, the separate language program causes considerable isolation, which is even more demotivating at that age. We know from experience that this is not a beneficial situation for a child, but also that their school career suffers. The Dutch language is a hard language to learn and between the age of 16 tot 18 pupils need to be ready to make all their exams, these are all in  Dutch.

The Dutch school system

The Dutch educational system consist of 8 years of primary school starting at age 4. From the age of 5, education is obligatory. After 8 years, the primary school determines together with the pupil and parents the level of high school education. This is called the school advice. The school advice directs into 6 different high school levels: 3 vocational directions and 3 preparatory directions. Maimonides offers the 3 preparatory directions called: mavo, havo and vwo. These ‘tracks’ are respectively 4, 5 and 6 years long and will lead to different further educational opportunities.

Here you find the Maimoindes year structure:

In the Netherlands the school advice of the primary school is binding and this advice will determine to what schools a pupil can apply. At Maimonides we give the students a few extra years to show if the primary school advice was the right advice by offering a double level educational program in the first 2 to 3 years. This means that we combine the tracks and the curriculum in our classes and will give pupils and parents insight in the progress on both levels we offer during those years. At a certain point the teacher team will determine the student to a track based on results. These determining norms are standardized.  

Vwo

The 6 year vwo track is the preparatory curriculum for entry at a university. Students choose a profile of 8 to 9 exam subjects. Exam levels of all subjects is comparable to the 5 unit level in Israel. Universities in the Netherlands (and abroad) give entry to any student with a vwo diploma. Entry does differentiate in which profile or subjects the student pursued.

Havo

The 5 year havo track is the preparatory curriculum for entry at a university of applied science or college. Students choose a profile of 8 exam subjects. Exam levels of all subjects is comparable to the 4 unit level in Israel. These colleges in the Netherlands (and abroad) give entry to any student with a have diploma. Entry does differentiate in which profile or subjects the student pursued.

Mavo

The 4 year mavo track is the preparatory curriculum for entry to secondary vocational education institutions. Students choose a profile of 7 to 8 exam subjects. Exam levels of all subjects is comparable to the 3 unit level in Israel. These secondary vocational schools in the Netherlands give entry to any student with a mavo diploma. The students will have a broad variety to choose from; store manager, nurse, social worker,  school/ doctor/ dentist assistant are only mere examples.

Stacking

Within the educational system of the Netherlands we know the principle of stacking. This means that  pupils will have the opportunity to stack-up a level.

Within high school this means that after exams in 4 mavo a pupil can continue his education at 4 havo and after exams in 5 havo a pupil can continue at 5 vwo.

But also after high school stacking is possible. A finished level 4 vocational educational diploma can give entry to the first year of a university of applied scienve or college. A completed first year of college gives entry to the first year of university. Entry will depend on the connection of the field of study.

Contact and guidance

All classes have a mentor of sometimes two. These are teachers who beside their task as a teacher guide a class through the cycle of the school year. Results, wellbeing and support are the main tasks of the mentor. Also the mentor is the first point of contact for pupils and parents. A few times a year the school hosts contact moments for parents to meet the mentor and teachers.

Career counseling

The Dutch educational landscape has a broad variety and children and parents need guidance in this matter. In the 2^nd year of mavo and the 3^rd year of havo we start guiding students ans parents in their orientation of future careers.

Rules and regulations

The Netherlands is a structured country when it comes to educational laws and regulations.

Until the age of 18 children are obliged to be at school. But even after this the Netherlands requires a minimum level of education. Until the age of 23 the government stimulates to get a havo diploma or a level 2 vocational diploma.

All schools in the Netherlands need to register students presence daily. All schools are sypervised by an attendance officer and need to justify their attendance policy.

Educational needs

The Netherlands has the policy of ‘inclusive education’ which means that schools need to offer education to pupils with learning challenges. Maimonides is known as a school that offers this on a very high level. Because of our small class sizes, we are attractive to (parents of) students with a challenge. Think of high intelligence, high sensitivity, multilingualism and possible language delays, dyslexia, dyscalculia, AD(H)D, ASS and other problems that can obstruct learning or wellbeing.

As a result, the student population knows more students who have to deal with such challenges and a team that has experience and expertise to guide the pupils.

The intention is that parents of pupils with special care needs have a meeting with the educational needs coordinator well in advance of the school year.

From the start of the school career at Maimonides we design an educational development plan per student. In this document we maintain the progress of the student concerning wellbeing and educational needs. 

Open evening

Each year in January we organise an international open evening.

Please contact  welkom@jsgmaimonides.nl for further inquiries about starting at Maimonides or to make an appointment for a personal visit or talk.