Taalschool Westland

How we work

Taalschool Westland is located on the Achterlaantje in De Lier and is specifically for children who have just come to live in the Netherlands. In a small-scale, safe environment, they learn the Dutch language in a playful way and with attention for their own story, so that after about a year and a half they can confidently move on to a mainstream primary school in the region.

Taalschool Westland is a unique collaborative initiative of three school boards in the region (WSKO, PCPOW and West Openbaar) and focuses entirely on newcomers: children who have just arrived in the Netherlands and do not yet speak the language. The team specialises in NT2 education (Dutch as a second language) and works in a language-focused way, with attention for the often significant experiences children have gone through before coming to live in the Netherlands. Besides language development, there is structural attention for pupils' social-emotional development, in a small-scale and multicultural setting where pupils from many different backgrounds learn together. The goal is for children to move on to a mainstream primary school after about a year and a half, with sufficient language skills and self-confidence. Even after that transition, the school remains involved, so the move to mainstream education runs as smoothly as possible. In this way, Taalschool Westland is an important first step for newcomer families in the region.