Wider offer of secondary schools needed.

Wider offer of secondary schools needed.

The choice of a suitable secondary school is an important decision and step to the future for many children and parents. And it involves quite a lot. What do parents find important? How does the choice process go? Is there enough to choose from? And what can be better? We asked the parents in the Landelijk Ouderpanel. What turns out? For most parents, the choice of a secondary school runs smoothly. Yet there are also problems. Mainly around lottery and students with support needs. Moreover, parents would like to see a wider offer of schools in the region. 293 parents participated in the survey.

Choosing a school, what do parents pay attention to?

When choosing a secondary school, parents mainly pay attention to their child’s preference and the atmosphere at school. Also, the distance from home to school, attention to personal development, and possibilities for extra support play a significant role in school choice. A smaller number of parents also consider secondary school transition test results, the reputation of the school, extra lesson offerings, or communication with parents. Parents pay little attention to whether there is a lot of testing, where school trips go, and what costs to parents are. Also, agreements about food and health or a possible Predicaat Excellente School do not play a role. Almost all children have a role in choosing their secondary school. Most parents say they involve their child in this choice.

How does the choice process go?

Most parents (63%) already start exploring their secondary school choice in group 7. Yet 20% say they only start working on it in group 8. That is as many as the number of parents who explore school choice before group 7. Information about schools is generally easy to find. Three quarters of parents look at the school’s website and 45% ask other parents for information. Moreover, nearly all parents go to open days. On average, they visit 4 open days. One parent even said to have been to as many as 17 open days. Unfortunately, a quarter of parents miss information needed for a good choice. It is especially hard to find information about extra support for students with special needs, transition data, and the school’s results.

Choice freedom and offer

Most parents can simply enroll their child at the school of their choice. The main barriers to full free choice are lottery systems (20%) and a limited offer due to the child’s support needs (20%). More than half of parents feel there is enough choice in the region. Yet 35% of parents are dissatisfied about this. There are too few schools to choose from or too little difference between schools. What do parents mainly miss in the offer? They would like to see more schools for Practical education track and Special education and more schools with multi-year bridging classes. Also, there is too little offer of small schools with smaller classes, and parents miss attention for continuous learning paths and tailor-made education.

What do parents run into?

Fortunately, the school choice runs smoothly for 60% of parents. But there is also a large group of parents who face problems with the choice of a secondary school. The biggest problems are lottery systems, especially around Amsterdam, support for students with special needs, and the offer of Tailored Education. Moreover, many parents say the child is placed at the lowest level of advice in case of double advice, which means the child does not get the chance they deserve. Also, the distance between school and home, the choice possibilities, and the lack of honest information from the school at open days are mentioned by parents as bottlenecks.

Suggestions for improvement

Parents also give some useful tips for improvement, especially about open days. One suggestion is to give longer time to visit open days, as well as to start open days only after the school advice. Also, parents want clear and honest information about schools, a different registration system, and a bigger and broader offer in the region. Children should get more chances and parents’ input can be better used in schools. Parents also see a role for the primary school in the choice process. They can help parents make a suitable school choice. Because they know the child and the secondary schools, parents expect they can make a good estimate of which secondary school fits their child.

What do parents think afterwards of the chosen school?

We asked the parents who already made the switch to secondary school what they think of the choice afterwards. For over half of parents, the finally chosen school meets expectations and for 8% the school is better than expected. Almost 30% thinks the school is a bit disappointing but is still quite satisfied. However, a considerable group of parents find the school disappointing: 20%. For 7% of parents, the school was so disappointing that they switched or want to switch.

Landelijk Ouderpanel: join too!

Letting parents’ voice be heard, that is the goal of the Landelijk Ouderpanel. More than 4300 mothers and fathers participate in large studies and short surveys about education and parenting. We discuss the results with, for example, the Education Inspectorate, the Ministry of Education, or the school federations. Together we want to make things easier and better for parents.

If you as a parent also want to give your opinion and be heard? Sign up here and join the conversation about topics that matter to you as a parent.

 

The Landelijk Ouderpanel is an initiative of Ouders & Onderwijs and Stichting Opvoeden.nl.