Curriculum

    Structure of studies Languages: our greatest asset Subjects School hours and holidays Transition

    Structure of studies

    Primary School welcomes children from the age of 6 years during a 5-year curriculum.

    Life at the European School of Mol is very exciting: our teachers work closely together not only to make our pupils achieve the academic objectives but also to find ways how to create inspiring and effective learning environments outside traditional pedagogical space and activities. Besides usual class work our pupils contribute to the preparation of exhibitions, performances and other events.

    Each child creates their own portfolio with a wide collection of the child’s work, records of self-assessment and teachers’ assessment. Our pupils learn to set their own goals and keep track of their progress and evaluation.

    Read more about the curriculum

    Languages: our greatest asset

    One of the main features of our school is the multicultural character of the education. The challenge for our pupils is to learn to work, cooperate and interact from an early age with the children and adults of other nationalities and cultures in different languages. This way, children learn to appreciate both their native culture and other cultures.

    Our Primary School provides a formal education, which is recognised by all European Union member countries, in three language sections:

    • Dutch language section
    • English language section
    • French language section

    Most courses are instructed in the language of the pupil’s section.

    From Primary Year 1 onwards, all pupils choose a second language (the first foreign language). It is possible to choose English, French or German.

    Our SWALS pupils (Students Without A Language Section) are placed in the language section of one of the official vehicular languages: English, German, French, or in the section of the host country language (Dutch). They also follow courses in their mother tongue for 150 minutes (Year 1-2) and 225 minutes (Year 3-5) per week.
    More information on SWALS

    Subjects

    After holistic learning in Nursery School, our Primary pupils will concentrate more on their mother tongue, mathematics, the first foreign language and other subjects such as music and arts.

    Subjects Years 1 & 2 Years 3, 4 & 5
    Mother tongue (L1) 8 hrs 6 hrs 45
    Mathematics 4 hrs 5 hrs 15
    Language 2 (L2) 2 hrs 30 3 hrs 45
    Total 25 hrs 30 27 hrs 30

    (1) European Hours are provided from the 3rd year onwards (2 lessons per week): pupils from all linguistic sections in the same year participate in joint activities with a European spirit. This way, our pupils are exposed to even more languages and cultures, which allows them to develop their intercultural skills.

    Host country language lessons 

    We provide weekly Dutch lessons to our Primary pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 in order to facilitate their integration in Flanders.

    School hours and holidays

    School hours
      Years 1 & 2 Years 3,4 & 5
    Monday 8:30 – 13:30 8:30 – 16:15
    Tuesday 8:30 – 16:15 8:30 – 16:15
    Wednesday 8:30 – 12:30 8:30 – 12:30
    Thursday 8:30 – 16:15 8:30 – 16:15
    Friday 8:30 – 12:30 8:30 – 12:30
    School day
      Years 1/2 Years 3,4 & 5
      Mo Tue, Thu Wed, Fri Mo, Tue, Thu Wed, Fri
    1 8:30-9:15 8:30-9:15 8:30-9:15 8:30-9:15 8:30-9:15
    2 9:15-10:00 9:15-10:00 9:15-10:00 9:15-10:00 9:15-10:00
    3 10:15-11:00 10:15-11:00 10:15-11:00 10:15-11:00 10:15-11:00
    4 11:00-11:30 11:00-11:30 11:00-11:30 11:00-11:45 11:00-11:45
    5 Lunch break Lunch break 11:30-12:30 Lunch break 11:45-12:30
    6 13:00-13:30 13:00-13:45   13:00-13:45  
    7   13:45-14:30   13:45-14:30  
    8   14:45-15:30   14:45-15:30  
    9   15:30-16:15   15:30-16:15

    School holiday calendar

    Transition

    Going from Primary to Secondary is a big step in every pupil’s life. In order to make this transition a valuable moment of learning, we organise several joint activities for Primary and Secondary School. Our Year 5 students visit Secondary School, meet the Year 1 Secondary teachers, take part in some classes, join the Secondary students in their sports day, etc.

    The last year of Primary School is concluded with a festive graduation ceremony.