{"id":21557,"date":"2020-02-24T13:14:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T12:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oudersenonderwijs.nl\/from-preschool-to-group-3\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:19:24","slug":"from-preschool-to-group-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oudersenonderwijs.nl\/en\/from-preschool-to-group-3\/","title":{"rendered":"From preschool to group 3"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13060,"parent":21520,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/kennisbank-detail.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21557","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"banner_afbeelding":false,"inhoud":[{"acf_fc_layout":"inhoud_blok","afbeelding_of_video":"geen","afbeelding":false,"video":null,"intro":"Preschool children usually start after their 4th birthday at primary school. This means many preschool children do not complete a full school year. Does your child learn the lessons easily? Then he can maybe go to group 3 after one and a half years. Does your child need more time to get used to school? Then he often stays in preschool longer than two years. The school decides if your child moves on to group 3.","inhoud":"

When does your child go to group 3?<\/h3>\n

Every pupil starts in group 1 and usually moves to group 2 and then group 3 after the school year. When the school thinks a pupil is not ready for the next group, the school can decide to let the pupil stay in preschool one more year. Or the other way; if the school thinks the pupil is ready earlier, the school can let the pupil move up.<\/p>\n

Continuous development<\/h3>\n

Your child’s development decides if your child stays shorter or longer in preschool. The law on primary education<\/a> says a pupil goes through an uninterrupted development process in eight school years. So, a pupil who stays longer than two years in preschool does not have to repeat everything. And a pupil who stays shorter than two years in preschool does not miss development steps. Usually, pupils who start school after the Christmas holiday stay longer in preschool. Especially pupils who have a birthday in autumn cause some debate about moving up.<\/p>\n

School decides<\/h3>\n

The school decides if your child is ready for group 3. Teachers look at your child’s development. Schools can track this development in many ways. Many schools use tests to map pupils’ progress. There is also attention for social, emotional, and motor development. Young children develop in steps. What the child cannot do one day, may be possible the next day. So it can happen that a child is not ready for group 3 in January but is ready in May or June. It is important to wait and see how your child develops in the last period. The school keeps track of each child’s development in a student dossier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

School policy<\/h3>\n

The school decides how it tracks the development of pupils and writes this down in school policy. Every school has specific policy for starting, moving up, and staying back in preschool. The school’s policy must match the pupils’ development. Good to know: staying longer in preschool does not officially count as repeating a year.<\/p>\n

The role of parents<\/h3>\n

During preschool, the teacher will keep talking with you about your child’s development. This way you stay informed about your child’s progress. Moving to group 3 is in most cases a logical step. In some cases, the school doubts if a pupil is ready for group 3. Many schools ask the parents’ opinion then. Most parents find this a hard choice. Our advice? Talk with the teacher. He or she can tell you where the doubt comes from. You can ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n