About
OUR VISION
is to inspire students to be responsible, future focused, and proactive citizens of Europe and the world.
OUR MISSION
is to provide a positive, open-minded community that fosters ambition through rich cultural and academic opportunities, inspiring lifelong learning.
OUR COMMUNITY
is enriched by our multicultural and multilingual staff, students and parents as we connect, collaborate and celebrate a culture of learning.
The European School The Hague is a unique school. We were established in 2012 to educate the children of employees of European Union institutions. We provide a multilingual and multicultural education to Early Years, Primary and Secondary school children, culminating in the European Baccalaureate. We are an officially Accredited European School, partly administered and financed by the Dutch national education system, and accredited by the Board of Governors of the European Schools since December 2012. We are part of the Rijnlands Lyceum Foundation. Limited places are available to families who are not employed by the European Union - see our admissions page for more details.
Core Values
Our core values provide the foundation of how the ESH community, staff, students and families achieve our mission:
AMBITION
We strive to reach our full potential. We accept challenges and have a passion for finding solutions.
POSITIVITY
We focus on the positive aspects in all situations. We build a constructive and positive environment from which everyone benefits.
RESPECT
We show respect for people, possessions, our planet, protocols and ourselves. We accept the differences, strengths and weaknesses of others.
Key Competences
ESH students are future citizens of Europe and the world. As such, they need a range of competences to meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world. In 2006 the European Council and European Parliament adopted a European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. These competences are incorporated and embedded in the European Schools curriculum. The eight key competences, which all individuals need for personal fulfillment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment are what we aim for our students to achieve.
- Key competences for lifelong learning
- Sleutelcompetenties voor een leven lang leren
- Compétences clés pour l’éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie
- Schlüsselkompetenzen für lebensbegleitendes Lernen
Key competences for lifelong learning
Sleutelcompetenties voor een leven lang leren
Compétences clés pour l’éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie
Schlüsselkompetenzen für lebensbegleitendes Lernen
Languages
The rich diversity of European languages and cultures is one of the main features of a European school. To promote multicultural development, the focus is on consolidating and strengthening the mother tongue and learning and using foreign languages.
A key element of the European curriculum in the Secondary school is the multilingual teaching and learning across all the cycles, which provides the students with the opportunity to become fluent in at least three languages.
Due to a high level of proficiency in three languages and the high standard of the European Baccalaureate programme our students are given the greatest chance of success on the widest possible stage.
The European Schools Network
The European Schools were established in 1957 to educate the children of employees of European Union institutions such as the European Commission, European Patent Office and Europol.
There are two types of European Schools. The classic European Schools (type I), which are administered by the European Schools’ Board of Governors in Brussels. And the Accredited European Schools (type II), which are national schools that offer the European Schools curriculum. ESH has been an officially Accredited European School, accredited by the Board of Governors of the European Schools, since December 2012.
ESH follows the same structure and is subject to Pedagogical Inspections and Audits by European School inspectors mandated by the General Secretary every three years. Programmes and evaluation processes are identical, including the final European Baccalaureate examinations. Our last successful inspection was in November 2019.
ESH provides schooling for children of employees of Eurojust, Europol, EPO, EMA and ESA-ESTEC. These children are entitled to a place at our school. Additional places are also available for pupils who qualify for an international education according to the Dutch regulations, as below:
- A non-Dutch family staying in the Netherlands for a limited period of time with an expatriate status.
- An internationally mobile Dutch family, whose children have been largely educated abroad, and for whom an international education will be more advisable to ensure continuity.
- A Dutch family bound for an international assignment, whose children will be switching from education in Dutch to English. This transition is limited to a period of one year.