BSN Mother Tongue Programme2015 | 2016
Internationally British
* Italian is organized through the ESI. See next page for more information
BSN Mother Tongue Programme
As an Internationally British school,
we value the diversity of our community
and understand the importance of
supporting language learning both inside
and outside the curriculum. The BSN
Mother Tongue Programme offers a way of
further progressing your child’s language
development.
Who are the classes for?Mother Tongue Language Classes
are open to native or near-native speaking
students from Years 1 to 6 from all BSN
Junior School campuses.
What languages are offered?Classes are offered in the following
languages at a level appropriate to the age
and experience of the child:
- Dutch - Portuguese
- French - Swedish
- Spanish - Chinese
- German - Hindi
- Italian * - Arabic
Where and when do the classes take place?
The Mother Tongue Language
Classes take place at the BSN Language
Centre on the Leidschenveen Campus.
Classes start mid-September and run to
mid-July. The programme operates Monday
to Friday from 15:50 to 17:00 - the day your
child attends will depend on the language
and level.
How do children get to and from classes?
Children from JSD and JSV join the
BSN Language Shuttle Bus to come over to
the centre – the departure of these children
is prioritised at the end of the school day.
Children from JSL are collected at the end
of school and supervised at the Language
Centre until the arrival of the other students.
Children can either be collected from the
Language Centre between 17:00 and 17:15,
or from the Overbosch Car Park near JSV
between 17:20 and 17:30.
A Language Support Assistant travels on
the return bus and waits with the children
until parents have arrived to collect them.
What size are the classes?The minimum number of students
needed to run a class is six. The maximum
number of students in a class is 18.
A Language Support Assistant is
employed for all classes with ten or
more students.
How is quality ensured?Children are placed in
classes according to age and
level – the combining of children
from all junior sites makes this
much easier and provides
more levelling options for the
teachers. All teachers are fully qualified
native speaker teachers only and Language
Support Assistants (employed when there
are ten students or more in a group) are
native or near-native speakers.
Lessons are located in the BSN Language
Centre on our Leidschenveen Campus -
offering purpose built, small language
classrooms with interactive whiteboards
and other online resources.
As all Mother Tongue teachers are located
in the same building they are able to share
best practices and resources and have
access to high quality training. The quality
of teaching is also regularly monitored.
How much do the classes cost?A Mother Tongue Class costs ¤25*
for a 1 hour 10 minute lesson. The bus
service from JSV and JSD is included and
parents of JSL students pay the same fee,
irrespective of the bus.
The cost for a return shuttle back to
Mariahoeve will be charged separately and
is in addition to the class fee. The price
of the shuttle varies from ¤3 to ¤4 per
trip according to the number of students
travelling. Costs are confirmed each term.
Billing is done through the school finance
department with an annual invoice being
sent in the Autumn Term (or alternative date
if joining mid-year).
*The Italian classes are run as an integrated part of the BSN Programme, but are subsidised through a long standing Italian government scheme. Costs are therefore lower for this language.
What about foreign languages?All students in Year 6 receive
modern foreign language tuition in French,
German and Spanish from Senior School
language teachers within the school day.
Dutch is also taught from Foundation
1 and a number of changes introduced
from September 2015 will provide further
challenge for those non-native but good
speakers – as well as greater support for our
youngest students.
If, in addition to this provision, there
is sufficient demand, the BSN Language
Centre can organise general foreign
language classes (as well as other Mother
Tongue Languages) on a Saturday morning.
If you are interested in your child learning
a language (mother tongue or foreign)
that is not covered in the Mother Tongue
Programme please contact languages@
britishschool.nl with details of your interest
and we will investigate the viability of a
Saturday morning class.
How do I register for the Mother Tongue Programme?
The registration process for the
Mother Tongue Language Programme is
run via the BSN Gateway. Parents can sign
their children up using this online system.
Parents need to register for a whole school
year (or part thereof if joining the BSN mid-
year). Classes run from mid-September to
mid-July.
Children joining the school part way
through a school year can only join an
existing class at the start of a school term
to minimise disruption to the learning
programme.
The registration form can be found on the
BSN Gateway under the Co-Curricular tab >
Clubs & Activities.
N.B. Italian parents need to register directly via Mr
Eros Capostagno, Director of ESI (Stichting Italiaanse
School In Nederland) - http://www.scuolaitaliana.nl