Parents

Like all successful schools, we are dependent on the contribution of parents. It is well known that parent involvement helps increase student achievement, and enhance a sense of community within a school. Through the PC, parents may engage in decisions relating to the organisation of the school, learning and other activities. Volunteering to become a Parent Representative allows parents to play an active role in their child's class activities, and through the PTA, parents can help with events, fund-raising and facilitate an active social environment.

Participation Council (PC)

By law every school in the Netherlands is linked with a Medezeggenschrapsraad (MR). This is a participation council, where elected teacher, parent and student representatives are consulted by the school management on various matters including policies, budgets and school-wide issues related to the management of the school. There are separate MR’s for the Primary and Secondary schools and a separate general participation council (GMR) for the Stichting Rijnlands Lyceum. MRs are regulated by the Dutch law 'wet medezeggenschap op scholen', which affords the MR two rights: the right of advice (adviesrecht) and the right of approval (instemmingrecht).

Parents, students and staff are welcome to bring their concerns to the attention of the PC via email, and the Council will decide if the issue should be raised with management. Parents are welcome to attend PC meetings as silent observers. The meeting minutes and dates of upcoming meetings are published on the PC pages in the Community Portal.

Enter the Community Portal

Primary Class Reps

Key Tasks for Class Reps

To welcome and identify yourself to new (this may be throughout the year) & existing parents.
To prepare and update a parent contact list to distribute to class parents and the class teacher. Privacy laws make it imperative that parents’ approval is sought before sharing their details with others.
To request and co-ordinate parent help for events within the class or for school trips/educational visits and other events. You should not do everything yourself!
To support the PTA by encouraging parents to contribute, for example: cakes/cookies for bake sales and to encourage parents to volunteer at PTA events.
Keep connected to the PC and share information and concerns when necessary.
To arrange a gift for children leaving ESH. The office has a supply of ESH kites that the class will sign it then it can be presented to the child when they leave.
To keep your class parents up-to-date with upcoming, relevant events and school matters.
To collect money for the class fund. This money can be used at your discretion and communication with parents.

How to spend class funds

Here are a few examples of how class fund money can be spent:

Class parties, which may include Sinterklaas, Christmas, End-of-year or anything fun agreed with the teacher!
To buy a gift on behalf of your class, valued at EUR 20-25, for the PTA Summer Fair Raffle/Auction in June.
To buy nice end-of-year “thank you” gifts for the teacher and assistant
Send flowers to parents who have suffered loss or are celebrating something
To buy a farewell gift for a teacher leaving ESH
Subsidise a social gathering with parents - invite families for a get-together and buy coffee, cakes, snacks or drinks for them

We strongly encourage you to keep an account of your spending to show parents how the class fund has been spent throughout the year. If there is a lot of money left over, you can buy an even bigger gift for the teacher (in consultation with the other parents) or donate it to the PTA who will re-invest it into school activities.

Optional Extras

You are welcome to also liaise regularly with other Class Reps and the PTA members;

To organise social events like coffee mornings, drinks evenings and/or weekend events which may include partners and children;
To organise seasonal parties and events for the children outside of school;
To give new parents a guided tour of local shops and amenities.

Volunteers don't get paid, because they are PRICELESS!!

Secondary Parent Reps

In a multiculturally diverse school like ESH, forming a strong and active community is critical to our success in providing a well-rounded education to our students. The role of the Parent Representative helps us achieve this, as the Parent Representatives act as a community link between the Mentor teacher, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and other parents in the class.

Parent Representatives liaise with the Mentor teacher to help arrange activities for the mentor class. For example, if a Mentor wants to arrange a class party, they can ask the Parent Representative to assist. Parent Representatives can also support students in arranging gifts, such as sending flowers to those in the class who have suffered a loss, or those who leave the school.

Parent Representatives are encouraged to attend PTA meetings to share ideas about fundraising events for charity, or other social activities that could be held at the school to strengthen our community. Occasionally the PTA may need volunteers, and Parent Representatives can assist by calling on parents in their class to volunteer. It may also be beneficial for Parent Representatives to attend the Secondary Participation Council (SPC) meetings. That way they will be prepared to provide their own feedback during the Parent Representative meetings with management.

Parent Representatives play an important role in making the school year full of fun, social and charitable activities, which are important in providing balance with the academic activities of the school. It is not the role of the Parent Rep to act as a spokesperson for an issue raised by another parent. In this case, please follow the complaints procedure, or direct your feedback to the SPC.

Not sure who your Parent Rep is, or want to get involved? Contact your child’s Mentor to find out more.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

First and foremost, the aim of the PTA is to benefit the school community. Through the PTA, parents can have their voices heard, make contributions to the school and organise various activities for children and families to build our community, fundraise or just have fun.

Primary PTA
Secondary PTA

Primary PTA

Together with a great team from around the world (Italy, Romania, Greece, Ireland, Germany, Turkey, France, England, Slovenia, Morocco, USA, Spain and South Africa) with many languages, we try to add value and the social factor to school life. We facilitate parental participation and collaboration within the school community. In short, we encourage parents to volunteer and participate whenever they wish.

You are all welcome to help out a little, a lot or not at all. It's up to you. - Tammy 2020

The PTA holds regular meetings throughout the month in the parent cafe, usually on Tuesdays 8:45am - to which every parent is invited. We discuss our big plans and brainstorm ideas.

These meetings are also attended by school representatives, giving us the opportunity to connect, communicate and collaborate. We are always looking for volunteers to join us!

Much of the PTA fundraising goes towards the annual Summer Fair.

Click here to see photos from 2019

Secondary PTA

The Secondary PTA Board is comprised of five parents, a staff representative and a student representative, and we are always looking for more parents to join us!

We’re an active association in the school. This school year we’ve raised money for charity by selling greeting cards, we helped out at the Christmas Party and the Valentine's Party, and we sold crepes and waffles at the Battle of the Bands. Planning of future activities is already underway, and we are looking forward to the easing of the coronavirus restrictions so that we can help bring the school community together again. We have plans for a wine tasting event for parents, and for a movie & BBQ night for Secondary students.

We are working closely with Secondary staff to explore how the Secondary PTA could further assist with the organisation of future events, bake sales, finding host families for exchange students, finding placements for the S5 work experience weeks, and much more! We also collaborate with the Primary PTA for whole school events such as the organisation of the Summer Fair and hosting the German Big Band.

The Secondary PTA Board is always happy to welcome new parents who would like to join the Board or would like to help out in any form, structurally or occasionally. If you are interested or have questions or ideas, please feel free to contact us via the Secondary PTA e-mail

Email the Secondary PTA