Special education.

Four clusters

Special education is divided into 4 clusters:

• Cluster 1: education for blind and visually impaired children.
• Cluster 2: education for deaf and hard of hearing children and children with severe speech and language problems.
• Cluster 3: education for children with a physical or intellectual disability and children who are chronically ill.
• Cluster 4: education for children with severe behavioral and psychiatric problems.

What age?

Special education is for children from 4 years old. An exception is deaf and hard of hearing children. They can go to a cluster 2 school from 3 years old. Your child can stay until the end of the school year in which they turn 14 years old. Transitioning earlier to secondary school is allowed if parents and school agree. You decide together if your child has a solid basis for secondary education. There is also special secondary education.

What does your child learn?

Special education has its own core goals. This means the lessons for pupils in special education are different from regular education. The core goals describe what your child must know and be able to do at the end of primary school. Schools decide how to apply these core goals.

Subjects and general goals

There are two types of core goals: for specific subjects taught at school and general goals for your child’s personal development. Subject-specific core goals are made for Dutch, math, world orientation, arts, physical education, and for some pupils also English. The goals for personal development focus on sensory and motor skills, social-emotional growth, learning how to learn, using media and technology, spatial orientation and mobility, and practical independence.

Two sets of core goals

In special education, the core goals depend on your child’s learning ability. There are two options:

• For pupils with a single disability: these are children who are normal or learning difficulties. For example, children who are chronically ill, have epilepsy, or behavioral problems.
• For very difficult learning or multiply disabled children: such as children with low IQ, severe motor disabilities, or neurological conditions.

For children with severe multiple disabilities, there are different learning paths with special options for children with an IQ below 35. The SLO gives more explanation about the different core goals.

Development perspective plan

Every pupil in special education has a development perspective plan. This shows the goal of your child’s education. The primary school states if the goal is to move to a regular secondary school or special secondary education. Parents have the right to discuss the contents of the plan.

Admission

To go to special education, your child needs a declaration of admissibility from the partnership tailored education. Read more about the admission procedure for special education. Different rules apply for admission to cluster 1 and 2 schools.