First Look: Veurs Lyceum Voorburg

Veurs Lyceum is the alma mater of  my husband. He started there when it opened in the early 90s so the building feels newer. When you walk in there is an open space setup like a cafe with a stage. Near the entrance is the music section. We walked into the piano and guitar room and it felt homey. The building feels spacious, more than it looks from the exterior. It's near the previous basisschool of my daughters so expect a lot of kids from that school will land here.

As you enter you come into an open space with multiple floors where the classrooms are located. There was a bouncy strip setup where uniformed kids were doing flips and other gymnastics.

This school is the closest and most easy to bike to one that has VWO. Last week, our daughter was told that she will likely get VWO advice, which is what we have expected all along. It would be unusual if she didn't.

Mama:

My first, immediate reaction was chaotic. There were less children and adults milling around than last week but it just felt like the organization of the day was not as well planned. After coming in, it took a few minutes to find out where to get some direction. Adults seemed to be there to direct us to the kids who were volunteering to lead every one around. A bit different also from last week when it was adults/ teachers who were leading the groups. Within a few minutes, we were taken to the science wing. There, they had setup some tables which had some robotics type projects plus a 3D printer. Photos of a recent visit by Mark Rutte were on the walls.

Afterwards we walked to the language area where they had the usual languages, German, French, English and Dutch. Did not see the tech setup with a limited number of computers. The ones I did see were in the Science area with recent Lenovo laptops.

I went to the English area and it was quite empty. 2 teachers were standing there looking desperate to talk to someone. This year the school set up its Cambridge English program and certification. The teacher seemed excited about it. No worries if we were partial to American English. However, there were no exchange or trips planned to native speaking locations. Seemed that the teacher wanted to set up these but met with resistance from the others. There's a program called "flex" where it seems there are elective courses that the kids can pick.

Papa:

Yeah it's the same as it was back then.

Kid:

It seems nice. Bumped into a few kids she knew from the area. But some people say there's a lot of stealing. People will take your phone and your things and stuff.

Notable swag: Pen that opens up with a flag about the school. 

Kid Sister:

It was good, it was leuk, it was good. Do I have to stay the whole day at this place? It's close to the swimming pool.