Groevenbeek Christian Secondary School is located in Ermelo, a small town with a population of about 25,000 situated on the edge of a peaceful area called the Veluwe, the largest forested region of the Netherlands. Ermelo is situated in the centre of the country, about 70 km from Amsterdam and 100 km from Rotterdam and The Hague. Our pupils primarily come from Ermelo and Putten, a village 4 km from Ermelo.

There are almost 2000 pupils enrolled in the school, spread over three locations. The exchanges are held with the location housing the 1000 pupils of the havo/vwo section, leading to academic and vocational higher education. This building, with a ground floor and two stories and built in 1991, is located at the southern end of the town on the edge of the forest and near the Groevenbeek Heath with its prehistoric burial mounds. The school houses a staff of 80.

The ‘vwo’ stream (also called atheneum) is a six-year course for pupils aged 12 to 18 and leads to University studies. The ‘havo’ stream is a five-year course for pupils ages 12 to 17 leading to schools of higher professional and vocational education.

Groevenbeek Christian Secondary School is a Protestant school within the Dutch system of publicly-funded Protestant, Catholic and nondenominational schools. It is headed by a foundation of parents, giving them a significant say in the operating principles of the school. Nevertheless, the national government, which funds the school, ensures by means of laws and regulations that the quality of education is maintained.

Though we are a Protestant school, this does not mean that we do not accept pupils of other faiths or that we are affiliated with a specific church. Rather, it means that our values and standards are derived from the Bible. We strive to express these values in our way of relating to each other and through school prayers, celebrations, courses in religion and charitable activities.

We attach a great deal of importance to our contacts with schools in other countries because we want to prepare our pupils as well as we possibly can for a world where international borders are fast disappearing.