Transition from International to Regular Primary Education

Amstelveen welcomes many international families. Some families initially enrol their children in international schools due to uncertainties about their long-term stay. If you now find that you will be staying in Amstelveen, it is possible to transition your child to regular primary education.
If your child's Dutch language skills are not yet sufficient, they will first need to attend a language school. Here, children from international schools are always screened to determine their language proficiency. 

Due to limited spots available at the language schools for this group, there are specific rules to follow:
 
Relocation Plans
If you have plans to move outside the municipality of Amstelveen or already know this will happen, it will not be possible to enrol your child in a language school in Amstelveen. You must inform the CIL about this when registering.
 
Timing of Transition
A change of education from an international school to regular primary education can only be made at the start of an academic year.
  
Language Proficiency
If your child does not yet have a good enough mastery of the Dutch language, he/she will first have to attend a language school (also starting at the beginning of the academic year). On average, it takes nine months before a child can move on to regular education. From experience, children who already attended an international school might enrol in regular primary education sooner.
  
Application Deadline
Before 1 May, an application must be submitted via the registration form on CIL's website for the following school year. Applications received after 1 May will automatically be placed on the waiting list for the school year after the upcoming academic year.
  
Placement Priority
Placements will be made based on the date of receipt of the registration form.
  
Priority for Children not in Education
Children not currently in education have priority over those who are already in education. This means that even if your application is submitted before 1 May, it does not guarantee placement

The next step
It is important to be aware of the following in advance. When your child is admitted to a language school, there will come a point when they can transition into mainstream education. At that stage, we will offer you up to three schools with availability in the appropriate group. These do not necessarily have to be the schools closest to your home address. Often, due to limited availability, we may need to consider schools that are further away, with a travel distance of up to 3 kilometres from your residence being considered acceptable. To avoid any disappointments later, it is important to take this into consideration beforehand.