Lyceum Oudehoven

Welcome to the English version of our school’s website. It gives you a brief introduction to our
school and city.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Ton den Breejen
Principal Lyceum Oudehoven, Gorinchem

Lyceum Oudehoven, in a nutshell

The Lyceum Oudehoven is a Christian secondary school which offers pre-university education and senior general secondary education to approximately 1,200 students aged 12-18. We are a part of a group of six secondary schools in the region.    Our school has expanded a lot over the past ten years because of the pleasant educational atmosphere and outstanding  results.  Many former pupils, who now have the best careers and positions in our community, cherish our atmosphere.

A translation of the Dutch word “Oudehoven” is: Old Public Gardens. The school is situated at the site where the old public gardens of Gorinchem used to be.

 Our enthusiastic staff

 An impression of the bustling school hall during a change of classes.   

 A typical Dutch treat.

Our city Gorinchem

Gorinchem is an average size town (35,000 inhabitants) in South West Holland. Gorinchem is on one of the busiest waterways in Europe and within a stone’s throw from Rotterdam, one of the largest ports in the world. Gorinchem used to be a fortified town with the medieval centre surrounded by ramparts built during the 17th century, when Gorinchem was the key to Holland. Today’ Gorinchem is an attractive town with a wide variety of shops, restaurants, a weekly market and a local museum. The tower connected to the main church leans at the same perilous angle as the tower of Pisa.

Visit www.gorinchem.nl to find out more.

Photos of Gorinchem

 Many pupils travel to school by ferry and by bike

 A terrace for a drink in the city centre

 An impression of one of the streets in the city centre

The surroundings of Gorinchem

Visitors to Gorinchem will experience a typical Dutch flat polder landscape with river dykes, windmills, and traditional thatched roofs. There are many bridges over waterways. Both bikers and car drivers often have to wait for the boat-traffic, because of the bridges being up regularly.   Gorinchem is in the centre of The Netherlands, and many inhabitants commute to Rotterdam, Utrecht or Amsterdam. The borders of Belgium, France and Germany are not far, so these countries are within easy reach. Paris is about a four-hour drive away.

 A view over the river Merwede

 The windmills of Kinderdijk near Gorinchem

 Kite flying on he beach near Gorinchem

 

 Gorinchem has a central position in the Netherlands and in Europe.

The largest harbour of Europe, Rotterdam, is only 30 kms away from Gorinchem.

Gorinchem is not far away from the international airport Schiphol.

Most European cities are only a two-and-a-half-hour flight away from either Schiphol or Rotterdam airport.

Lyceum Oudehoven offers their pupils two levels of education.

VWO is a-six-year pre-university education training. At VWO-level the pupils choose either atheneum or gymnasium. (Gymnasium pupils also have Latin and/or Ancient Greek (=grammar school).

Havo is a five-year senior secondary general education training, which prepares pupils for higher professional education.

The first year of secondary school is known as the “bridge class”. During this first year our pupils get used to secondary education and follow a programme of basic secondary skills. From the second year the pupils follow Havo or Vwo depending on their academic abilities.

In the top forms (years four to six), pupils choose from four different sectors: Nature and Technology, Nature and Health, Economics and Society, Culture and Society. In each of these sectors pupils specialise in subjects depending on their interest and academic abilities.

The overall educational policy is that all pupils are trained to acquire basic conversational skills in three foreign languages: English, French, and German. Pupils have the opportunity to participate in visits abroad. In addition to that they may sit additional  internationally recognised exams in one or more modern foreign languages.     

In august 2005 Lyceum Oudehoven started “Tweetalig Onderwijs” (TTO) at Vwo-level (atheneum and gymnasium). TTO is also known as bilingual education or content and language integrated learning. Pupils applying for this programme must have Vow-level, excellent qualifications and be highly motivated to participate in classes taught in English.

Pupils in the bilingual VWO-stream are taught 50 % of the subjects in English in the junior forms (years 1-3). English is the medium of instruction during their lessons and the text books used are also in English. The pupils are immersed in the English language, so to say, and learn the language while learning e.g. mathematics, history or geography.

In the senior bilingual forms the programme returns to Dutch for most of the subjects, as the pupils will have to be well prepared for their Dutch VWO exam in year 6. 25% of their study load will be in English. Pupils get more hours of English than students in the regular stream, as they prepare for an internationally recognized certificate at near native level. This internationally recognized certificate makes studying at universities and colleges abroad that use English as their language of instruction feasible. Next to that the bilingual VWO pupils also participate in the regular VWO-curriculum, obtaining their VWO diploma by the end of their 6th year.

Bilingual VWO is much more than using English in class. Internationalization means opening your eyes to the world. We organise contacts with other countries and give attention to the histories and cultures of European and other Anglophone countries. Pupils participate in an exchange programme or study visit with a bilingual school in a foreign European country. An educational trip to an English speaking country is part of the curriculum, and even a practical training period is an option in the top forms. There are visits to Anglophone performances and museums, e-mail projects, contacts with foreign companies in the Netherlands, lessons given by guest speakers, etc. For our bilingual and internationalization programme we are committed to the standards of the European Platform. The Ministry of Education has commissioned the European Platform to support and monitor the quality of bilingual education in our country.

The school is a member of the national bilingual network . (http://www.ttonetwerk.europeesplatform.nl )

International projects by internet

Our school has several minor projects with schools and pupils in other countries. Projects like: Culture in a box, which is a project in understanding each others culture by PowerPoint presentations s about life in Holland. The pupils take part in e-mail projects in which the pupils exchange information about daily life in Holland.

International visits

In the top forms we organise one-week-programmes to France, England, Germany, Austria or Belgium.

In these programs we do not (yet) mix with students from other countries but we support several national projects and let the pupils experience other cultures. For example: help rebuilding a castle in France (in Burgundy) or help the National Trust in England .

Also, we arrange short visits of two or three days abroad to encourage our pupils’ modern foreign language speaking skills in French, German and English.

Exchange programmes for bilingual pupils

In year two of the bilingual programme the students take part in an exchange visit with the Dom Gymnasium, in Fulda, Germany. Pupils stay with their exchange partner. A cultural programme, lessons, and sightseeing are arranged for their visitors by each of the participating schools. Pupils and parents have been very enthusiastic about this kind of exchange so far, because pupils learn a lot about life in another European country. It widens their horizon and at the same time they practise their language skills. English is the language of communication during this exchange programme. We have a partnership with the Rabanus-Maurus-Schule/Domgymnasium Fulda. http://www.rms-fulda.de/

International help programmes

Last but not least, we do projects helping schools in Africa and in South-America. (Edukans) Every year a few students go to a third world country for which they first organise fund-raising activities. This school year we are involved in the programme: All 4 Africa.

See links website Lyceum Oudehoven: http://www.csdehoven.nl/lyceum.htm

Who should you contact in case of inquiries?

Should have any questions, please contact Mrs. J.T.J.M. Stiphout, Teamleader TTO

e-mail: j.t.j.m.stiphout@lyceum.cshoven.nl