VEENENDAAL – Half of the school year is almost over and slowly group eight students have to make a choice which secondary school they want. According to André Merlijn, specialist in the field of youth communication, it is very important that schools profile themselves in a good way, so that students end up at the right school.
The Rembrandt College in Veenendaal is a school that has been busy developing what their school stands for in the past year. In November, the first information evening for students took place in the form of a school market. This attracted three times as many people as the school had expected.
Timo Valk, mavo team leader, does not dare to say with certainty that the great interest in their school was only due to the new way of working. “Maybe they hadn’t been to a secondary school for 1.5 years because of corona. Or were they afraid that they couldn’t go anywhere after a press conference,” says Valk modestly, “but it was clear that we had something to say. had this evening, because we had a packed auditorium three times!”
The school is the only public secondary school in Veenendaal. This year they started with so-called Rembrandt hours. These are hours in addition to the original schedule, which the students can fill in themselves. For example, they can opt for support hours, in which they receive extra guidance with mathematics, English or Dutch. In addition, they can opt for plus hours, in these hours students can choose a subject every six weeks in which they want to spend more time.
They have the Masterpieces course four hours a week. Here they are given the space to set up their own company, organize a fashion show or develop a game:
In the Masterpieces course, students are allowed to think of what they want to do.
The students are free to choose the Rembrandt hours. “That is really our vision”, says Timo Valk. “We want the students to discover instead of choosing.”
The school, on the advice of Bureau Coen, has been busy getting their message out there. “In the case of the Rembrandt College, they want to get a lot of unique points on stage, so our advice was ‘make sure it doesn’t get too much and don’t let the different points get mixed up’,” says André Merlijn, from Bureau Coen youth communication.
Qualitative intake
According to Merlijn, it is better for both the school and the students if schools tell you in a good way what you stand for. “It is not about bringing in as many students as possible, but it is about qualitative intake,” he says. “Which student feels most comfortable in that place, so that they can step into it and take steps towards the future from there”, Merlijn continues.
“This is important because it will provide more convenience in the future and will lead to students who are much more satisfied because they have made the right choice,” explains Merlijn. “If you visit four schools that all carry the same message, you still can’t make a choice,” he says. “Parents and children want to know what the differences are between the courses.”
More than just an open day
In order to inform the parents and students as well as possible, the school has various moments in the year to introduce the new generation to the school. “For example, we try to include the parents in a few months,” says Valk, “so that we as Rembrandt College remain in the picture with the students and the parents.”
According to Merlin, they do that well and just an open day is not enough. “Actually, the school must come to a ‘routing’ to inform the students and parents as best as possible at the right time about the questions they have at that moment. They are now rolling out this step by step at Rembrandt.”
According to Merlijn, it is therefore better to spread the information that a school wants to share over the school year. And for that it is not necessary to physically meet parents and students every time. “Sometimes, in a certain phase of the orientation to schools, looking at a piece of information on the couch at home, or texting the school to ask questions works much better than getting everyone around,” says Merlin.
The corona crisis has had an influence on the planning of Rembrandt College. “We notice that parents and students are craving information from secondary schools,” says Valk. “They just want to feel what it’s like to walk through high school. And we want to see them too!” The open day and the walk-in days have therefore been postponed due to the measures.
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