The British School of Amsterdam

Paul Morgan

The British School of Amsterdam: A PIECE OF GREAT

BRITAIN IN HOLLAND

Founded in 1978, The British School of Amsterdam has grown over the years to occupy three separate locations in Amsterdam’s Oud Zuid district. But on 21 April, The British School of Amsterdam finally made its long-awaited move to new premises. School Principal Paul Morgan is immensely proud of The British School’s new building and the beautiful city of Amsterdam it calls home.

New building The British School’s new home brings four separate sections of the school together on the site of a historic 19th-century listed building. According to Paul, this project has been extremely exciting but an enormous challenge as well. “The meticulous planning that has gone into the move really paid off. It had such little impact in the school itself. As the original shape of the building was a cross, each section will have its own wing. We take pride in creating a seamless transfer when children move through the different sections.” A photographer documented all the different phases of development so the school’s communities could follow the process, and one of the parents created a small LEGO scale model of the new building so kids could see where their classes would be.

Strong brand Worldwide, there are around 11,000 international schools offering a British curriculum, about 6,000 of which are British in style. The British School has three school sections: an Early, Junior and Senior school. “We are developing knowledge, skills and learning styles. In addition to developing knowledge and skills, one important aspect in the British system is the fact that we look at the whole child. We look after the children and make sure to be their first support system, alongside their parents. It’s about developing life skills and confidence.” The school has a mix of nationalities, the main ones being British (15%), Indian (22%) and Dutch (12%). As well as teaching Dutch in an Englishoriented curriculum, the school also observes all the Dutch celebrations and holidays. As Paul says, the school is a little piece of Great Britain in Holland.

Independent thinkers Amsterdam is an internationally-oriented city, and with many global companies based or locating here, high-quality international education is crucial. “We are all trying to create independent thinkers with good habits, so that when they leave here, they take those habits with them into the world.” The British School of Amsterdam hopes its community will take pride in this new building, where love of learning will be its main priority.

The British School of Amsterdam Havenstraat 6 1075 PR Amsterdam +31 (0) 20 679 78 40 britishschool.amsterdam