To Be Distributed to the Parents by the PC of the School

Newsletter to the Participation Councils (PC) of the schools in Alphen, Goirle, Riel, Oisterwijk, Moergestel, Hilvarenbeek, Haghorst, Diessen, Esbeek, Biest-Houtakker, Berkel-Enschot, Udenhout and Tilburg.

To be distributed to the parents by the PC of the school.

16 September 2013

Dear Parents,

An important change is about to take place in the education system. “Passendonderwijs” [Tailored education] will be introduced in the 2014-2015 school year.

We want to inform you in advance about “Tailored education”. That is why we are distributing a newsletter to the parents of our school. We have been assisted in this newsletter by the new “Passendonderwijs” collaboration.

We have decided to keep this newsletter brief. We will regularly provide additional information. We are thinking of the following subjects about which we will inform you in the coming months in the newsletter:

What exactly is “Tailored education”?
What is a collaboration?
Closer cooperation between parents and school
What is the duty of care and what does that mean for parents and school?
Rights and obligations
Parent participation in discussions and decision-making
The Support Planning board
My child has a “rugzakje” [personal pupil financing]. What will happen to it?
What is mainstream support and extra support?
What is the support profile of our school?
In what decisions can the parents be involved and in what decisions do they have no say?
How will the transition to another school be handled in the future?
To whom should I apply if my child requires extra support?

More than enough reasons to keep an eye out for the newsletter. In any case, our intention is to keep you well informed and have you join in the discussion with us. If you have any questions, please contact one of the members of the PC. These can answer your questions or pass them on to the collaboration association.

What exactly is “Tailored education”?

“Tailored education” is education tailored to all children. That means that all children attend school where good education is offered and where, if that proves necessary, they receive extra support. The aim of “Tailored education” is to allow more children who need extra support to be assisted in a normal primary school. Now, too many children attend “speciaalbasisonderwijs” [special primary school] or receive “speciaalonderwijs” [special education]. “Tailored education” will mean a lot for parents, for teachers and for schools. And, of course, for the children themselves. “Tailored education” will also mean a change to many rules.

Why should things be done differently?

Pupils requiring extra support, used to be able to receive a rucksack with money for extra supervision. However, this involved complicated rules and procedures. Furthermore, the approach was unable to prevent an increasing number of children missing the boat. When children went to the special primary school or received special education, complicated procedures were involved. Until now, the starting-point seemed to be what deficiencies a child had rather than what they were able to do. “Tailored education” aims to focus on individual needs with a constructive view on the development of children.

Matching needs

Teachers, parents and school heads are given a central role in the new system. They are close to the pupils and know which needs they have. We no longer talk of “extra care” but of “extra support”. It is not about the “label” attached to the child but what the child needs in its environment. That demands a very close cooperation between schools, parents and partners from the care sector.

Duty of care

If your child cannot - or cannot any longer - obtain good education at a school, this means that that school is obliged to find another suitable place for your child. The school must do this in consultation with the parents.

Suitable education place

Not every school is able to accommodate all children. If a school cannot - or cannot any longer - provide suitable education, the school will search for a school within the collaboration which does offer this and discuss this with the parents. Schools can specialise and can reach agreements with the other schools about which of them can offer which children the best education. The first priority is what your child needs. When looking for possibilities, the parents” preference plays an important role. The school must therefore take into account:

the needs of your child;
your preferences;
the possibilities of the school and the region.

All school boards in the same area reach agreements with each other in order to make “Tailored education” possible. Thanks to the regional approach, your child will receive the extra support it requires as close to home as possible.

What is a collaboration?

Within the collaboration, schools reach agreements about how the additional support for children is handled and how the available money is used and divided. These agreements are laid down in a support plan. The plan is drawn up for a number of years. The idea is that schools within a collaboration can very precisely identify what is required to offer their pupils tailor-made support. There is a separate collaboration for secondary schools.

The “Passendonderwijs” collaboration consists of 83 primary schools, 4 special primary schools and 5 schools for special education.

This,then, is the first newsletter. The following newsletter will be published in October. It will contain important news about the Support planning board and how you can participate in its discussions In addition, the new name of the collaboration will be announced and attention will be given to the school’s support profile.

To be distributed to the parents by the PC of the school. 25 October 2013

Name and logo

Above you will see the new name and the logo of the consortium of ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] in your region. The name emphasises that ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] connects and meets. The consortium is for pupils, schools, parents and partners in child care. The 013 shows that this is our region. You can also visit the website where you can find information for parents, pupils and partners.

The Support Profile of the school.

Each school draws up a document in which the school describes how support to pupils is arranged in the school. We call this document the support profile. In order to obtain a good and objective picture, the school is visited by an external agency that undertakes an independent study. The report of this visit and the reports of the inspection together form an important basis for the support profile. The consortium uses the schools’ support profiles to get some idea of what support can be offered by which schools. The schools have until 1 November 2013 to draw up the support profile. The school’s PC has advisory powers before the profile is finally approved by the school board.

CALL FOR CANDIDATES FOR SUPPORT PLANNING BOARD

The Support Planning board.What is it?

From 1 August 2014, ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] will be implemented in all schools in the Netherlands. ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] must ensure that all pupils receive the most suitable education possible. For this, schools will work together in regional ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] consortiums. Your school is part of the Plein 013 consortium. This consortium bundles regular primary schools, the schools for special primary education and the schools for special education (cluster 3 and 4) in the Tilburg region. They ensure that all children in the region receive the education and support they need.

Support Plan

The consortium describes in the ‘support plan’ how the school boards of the schools will ensure a suitable curriculum for all children. The support plan contains agreements about:

what supervision each school offers;
the basis on which children may attend special primary education and special education;
how much money is available for the schools for extra support;
how the primary school support and the extra support in the schools is regulated;
how parents are informed about what schools can mean for children who need extra support.

The support plan is adjusted at least once every four years.

The Support Planning board

Before the support plan can be implemented, it must be submitted to the support planning board (SPB). This is manned by parents and staff members of the schools. The most important task of the SPB is assessing and approving the support plan. The SPB can also discuss matters it considers important with the board of the consortium or offer advice on its own initiative.

The 91 schools of the consortium have many parents and staff. In order to make the SPB workable, it has been decided that the SPB should have 12 members: 6 parents and 6 staff members. In order to be able to handle this task well, it is important the motivated parents and staff members should sit on the SPB. Relevant knowledge and experience in the field of education, finance or human resources is welcome.

Several reasons for you to become a candidate:

You discuss and influence the way in which policy in the region for supervision and support in education is organised;
You discuss the way in which additional support can be offered to children;
You build up knowledge and expertise about the broader network of schools;
You will be facilitated for participation in the SPB;
You increase your knowledge about ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education].

Expectations

You will be expected to attend the meetings, discuss policy and have an open and active attitude. You must be able to take a helicopter view.

The material described in the support plan and discussed in the SPB can be rather complicated. Think about determining mainstream support for the schools, the financial resources, schooling of staff and the deployment of additional expertise. That is why it is an advantage if you have some knowledge of or experience in education and/or additional support to children. But it is, of course, also possible to build up this knowledge. The SPB is sufficiently facilitated by the consortium to carry out its task carefully and in a serious manner.

Requested investment and return

As member of the SPB, you have an important task. The investment is mainly in time. The number of meetings held by an SPB cannot be precisely predicted in advance. Probably between two and six meetings per year. Perhaps it is necessary to consult with the rank and file (parents and staff members). What do they consider important, where are the bottlenecks, where are the good initiatives?

Who is eligible for the SPB?

Everyone who, on 1 October 2013, is a parent or staff member at one of the schools of the consortium can be put forward as candidate.

Interested?

If you are seriously interested in becoming a member of the SPB, then you can put yourself forward as candidate.

Candidacy is open until 20 November 2013. For this, send an email to: Please state your name, first name, school and whether you are a parent or a staff member.

For more information you can contact Theo van Rijzewijk, director of the consortium. You can also request the regulations from him. Telephone +31 (0) 13-4679514 or the mail address given above.

If there are more candidates than the available places, elections will be held. The PCs of the schools will vote about this. Whoever receives the most votes will be chosen. The names of the persons in the SPB will be announced no later than 1 January 2014.

This, then, is the second newsletter. The following newsletter will appear in November. It will contain important news about the ‘rucksack’ - the individual funding facilities.

To be distributed to the parents and the staff by the PC of the school.29 November 2013

Important news about rucksacks [personal pupil financing]

For a long time it remained unclear what would be happening in ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] with the ‘rucksacks’ [personal pupil financing]. Their is now some clarity from Plein 013 for the children with a rucksack.

What is a rucksack [personal pupil financing]

Personal pupil financing (rucksack) has been in existence since 2003. If a number of criteria are met, parents of a child with an additional support need can apply for a rucksack [personal pupil financing]. The child then doesn’t attend a school for special education but remains at the normal primary school or special primary school. This school then receives money to provide the child with extra support.

In order to obtain a rucksack [personal pupil financing], parents must apply to a commission (CVI) which approves the rucksack. This rucksack always consists of a standard sum and is valid for three years. After this period, the parents must reapply for the rucksack to this commission.

With the arrival of ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education], the rucksack is being discontinued. The money that until then went to the school will, from 1 August next, go to the ‘Passendonderwijs’ [Tailored education] Consortium. This has caused a lack of clarity for the parents of a child with a rucksack. The school will no longer be receiving any money. What will this mean for my child?

How are we going to do it?

Plein 013 has decided that the money for the rucksacks [personal pupil financing] will, from 1 August, continue to go to the schools. This means that the schools will continue to receive the money and that the additional support for these children can continue. What is, however, important is that the money for the rucksacks [personal pupil financing] will decrease in the coming years. The school and the parents should take this very much into account.

The term ‘rucksack’ will disappear. In future, it will be called an arrangement. For which children this applies is up to the school in consultation with the parents concerned.

What are the advantages of this approach?

The children who have a rucksack can remain at the primary school or special primary school.
The parents no longer have to apply to a commission for a rucksack. The parents and the school arranges the support together.
The school which the child attends is best able to decide what that child needs. This takes place on the basis of a development perspective that is drawn up in consultation with the parents.
Customisation is possible. Each child is different and so the arrangements will differ per child. Shorter or longer periods are also possible. Our approach gives the schools and the parents that possibility.
The school and parents can, better than before, base things on the support needs of the child. Not the limitations of a child but what a child needs - that is the starting-point.

Now that this decision has been reached by Plein 013, it is important that from spring 2014 the school and the parents should enter into discussion with each other about an arrangement for the child. The school can then take measures in time and the parents have the certainty that the extra support for their child is properly arranged.

The Support Planning board

In the previous newsletter, we wrote about the support planning board. This board consists of six parents and six staff members of the schools. The most important task of the support planning board is assessing and approving the support plan.

Parents and staff members could submit their names as candidate until 20 November. No less than 39 parents and 15 staff members have put themselves forward as candidate. We are very pleased with this enormous interest.

It means that elections will have to be held. Plein 013 has set up an election committee and passed on the names of the candidates to them. This committee will ensure that the elections are run smoothly and fairly. This committee is made up of two parents and a teacher:

ImreMutsaers, parent (and also chair of the election committee)

Jessica van den Bosch, parent

Annemieke van Fessem, staff member

For these elections, each Participation Council of each school will have two votes which it may cast. The Participation Councils therefore elect which candidates will finally take a place in the support planning board.

In the week of 1 December 2013, the list of candidates will be sent to the Participation Councils. The Participation Councils will then have four weeks in which to cast their votes. One vote for a parent and one vote for a staff member. After the Christmas holidays, we will announce which persons have been elected to the support planning board in the newsletter.

Handy card from the ministry