Our education
Bilingual - because the world is big
Onder De Bogen is the first bilingual primary school in Utrecht, with Dutch and English as the official languages of the school. We work with the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) for citizenship education, history, science and technology and the creative subjects: drawing, dance, drama, crafts and music. Pupils take English from group 1 to 8, according to a fixed programme.
In this way, we prepare our pupils for the society of the 21st century. This preparation allows them to connect with people all over the world and offers an enormous trove of knowledge and information. Our programme expands on this by facilitating connections with foreign schools and organizations.
We want our pupils to become inquisitive citizens of the world and we see a good command of the English language as a logical foundation for them.
Building on scientific insight
At Onder De Bogen we base ourselves on scientific research, because we want to know what works and what doesn't. We call this evidence-informed. We also conduct our own research, which we do together with colleges and universities. In this way we make conscious and substantiated choices in our education.
That appeals to the teachers we attract. They use research from cognitive psychology, among other things, in their classroom practice. The professionalism of the teachers is very important to our school.
Knowledge is power!
Thematic work is boundless
Ralph Borghart, head of Onder De Bogen: “Discovering new things and then seeing the connections between those things. That's thrilling, every time. For example, you can look at food in so many different ways. Food, restaurants, cooking, ingredients, culture, geography. If you see the connections, knowledge takes hold much better. It also encourages children to do their own research. Group 3 pupils throw themselves into calculating light or how the brain works. This way they come to understand that it makes sense they do not understand everything yet!”
Dive into Roman times
A project about the Romans is, of course, about geography and history. But also about a visit to the Castellum, researching the clothing and eating habits of the Romans or performing a play from that era. This coherence makes the subject even more interesting.
Our pupils are young explorers who conduct research under the guidance of their teacher.
A day at Onder De Bogen
In the morning, we work on subjects of the core curriculum, such as maths, language, reading (comprehension) and writing. We use energizers during the lessons, because exercise is good for involvement in the lesson and learning performance. In the afternoon, we work thematically on humanities, sciences and creative subjects. We also look across borders and pay attention to international themes. Pupils learn to formulate good research questions and present their findings after completing a project or research.
Hello Stockholm, can you hear me?
Head of school Ralph Borghart: “We like to challenge pupils. We encourage them to put forward their own point of view or to analyze a subject together with another student. For example, we train thinking by linking philosophical questions to the lessons. In this manner, we continue questioning ourselves and others, to try to get to the heart of a subject.”
“We teach English in all groups because this is the lingua franca of the 21st century and young children feel more freedom to express themselves than older children. By starting English at a young age, pupils develop their language awareness: they begin to understand how a language works. This allows pupils to communicate with peers abroad and improve their independence and social skills.
Our motto is: work hard, be kind. The result: a strong start in society and a broad worldview.”