Review: The Staat Van De Ouder 2025.

Review: The Staat Van De Ouder 2025.

On 15 April, Ouders & Onderwijs launched the annual research report the Staat van de Ouder. That afternoon, we presented the results, talked with parents and schools, and ended with an interesting quiz.

Looking back at the Ouders & Onderwijs awards 

The afternoon started with a welcome speech from the chairman and a short look back at the Ouders & Onderwijs awards by Arline Spierenburg, theme advisor at Ouders & Onderwijs, and jury member Marjet Winsemius, director of Voor Werkende Ouders. 

Arline reminded the audience of the importance of parents in education and how the search for the most parent-friendly school has produced many beautiful and above all practical examples of cooperation between parents and schools. Marjet Winsemius also spoke enthusiastically about her award experience as a jury member. “I am jealous that I did not attend your school,” Marjet said to the parents of the award schools present in the audience.  

Pleased to be surprised

The school leaders of the nominated and winning schools also looked back on the award period. The winning schools, De Schakel and the Eligant Lyceum, look back positively on the period. “We were already a close community, but that really strengthened because we are a family school. And that is our strength,” said Janet Klein from primary school De Schakel.  

Marieke van Loo, team leader at the Eligant Lyceum, was pleasantly surprised when a parent from a secondary school wanted to nominate the Eligant Lyceum. “When you read what the parent wrote, you think: maybe what we do is not that obvious after all. That really makes you happy,” she said. 

Seher Baspinar, director of finalist primary school Al-Ghazali, said it was a great honor to be in the top 3: “the moment we were nominated, for my feeling we already had won.”  

Talking with parents about parent involvement 

Several parents who nominated their school for the Ouders & Onderwijs awards in 2024 told the stage about parent friendliness and parent involvement. This created a nice conversation about how they are involved with their child’s school. 

One of the inspiring ideas was organizing a ‘father evening’ at school. The parents of primary school Al-Ghazali, all mothers by the way, agreed that fathers may be more involved in their child’s education. A father evening, as a supplement to parent evenings, is therefore on the list to start next school year at primary school Al-Ghazali. 

The Schakelloket of primary school De Schakel also came up in the conversation. At the Schakelloket, involved parents work who want to help other parents. For example, they get questions about lessons at school, about the parent contribution, or about practical matters like school trips and excursions. Parents really stand ready for each other this way.  

The parents of secondary school het Goese Lyceum are also proud of their school. The good contact between parents and teachers stood out especially. Through newsletters, good talks, and putting the child central together, parents really notice that school wants to work with them and takes them seriously. Parents are really seen and heard: we can also contribute a lot via the parent council, and they really listen there.

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School leaders speak 

The school leaders of De Schakel, Eligant Lyceum, and Al-Ghazali also got a place on the stage. In a conversation with Lobke Vlaming, director at Ouders & Onderwijs, they shared their experiences with parents and parent involvement. 

At the Eligant Lyceum, parents are involved in their child’s education by holding triangle talks. In such a talk, the teacher, parent, and child sit together at the table, and the child takes the lead. This way, school and parents work together to put the child central, as the team leader of the school explained. 

The director of primary school De Schakel emphasized during the conversation that there are no ‘difficult’ parents. There are difficult talks or situations. It is the job of teachers to face these difficult talks and situations together with parents.  

At primary school Al-Ghazali, communication with parents is also very important. The director says that the school likes to make sure that parents dare to ask every imaginable question. For example, how a parent can talk with their child during the Week of Lentekriebels, but from an Islamic perspective. Primary school Al-Ghazali likes to think along with parents. 

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Quiz about the Staat van de Ouder 2025 

The second part of the afternoon focused on the results of the Staat van de Ouder 2025. The presentation was through an interactive quiz. The audience could vote on some questions also asked to parents in the research. A striking difference between the audience’s answers and the report’s was about the parent contribution. According to parents who joined the research, this amount turned out to be much higher than the audience thought.  

The results of the Staat van de Ouder 2025 show that many children sit in a class of 26 or more pupils, but also that education quality, fun at school, and the feeling of safety are lower from that number of pupils.  

Learn more about the relationship between parents and school?

A good cooperation between parents and school is essential for good education. Do you want to know more about communication with the school, teamwork, or do you have other questions about this? Then read more about the relationship between parents and school.