Our basis
Mission and vision
The Hoornbeeck College offers contemporary education based on the Word of God (the Bible) on which the reformed confession is based as well. The Bible is our compass and guide.
The core task of our school and our personnel is to educate, equip and prepare (young) people for society from two perspectives: a professional perspective and a biblical perspective. Hence: learning for life.
Johannes Hoornbeeck (1617-1666)
The school was founded by parents and churches to offer Christian education to (young) people. Our school is named after the famous seventeenth-century theologian Johannes Hoornbeeck. At Hoornbeeck College we educate and prepare our students in line with the views of Hoornbeeck: unity between doctrine and life for the glory of God and for the benefit of one’s fellow men.
Identity
Day-to-day practice
The Bible in day-to-day education
- Christian attitude to life: in the Bible, we find clear guidelines for our behaviour. In this way God calls us to live a life for the glory of God and in a respectful relationship with each other and with ourselves.
- Ethics: we prepare our students for the reality of society and the philosophical questions they may encounter. We prepare them to make responsible choices from a biblical standpoint.
We help them to set boundaries around their participation in the (virtual) open society. - Bible reading and prayer: we start the day by reading the Bible, singing psalms and a prayer. Also, around the meals and the end of the day there are prayers and readings from the Bible.
- Religion & Citizenship: this is not a compulsory subject in the Netherlands but it is a core subject at Hoornbeeck College
Christian character
Hoornbeeck College is a Christian Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) school and offers good quality education with the Bible as a guide. We want to make this education accessible for as many Christian youngsters as possible. In order to guarantee the Christian character of the school, we ask our students and staff to uphold the school’s identity.
Our core values
Learning for life
4 cornerstones of Hoornbeeck College
The Hoornbeeck College is the bridge from secondary school to the labour market. Through a series of vocational training courses, we prepare (young) adults for a career with perspective.
CORNERSTONE 1 – Identity
Hoornbeeck College offers education based on the Word of God and the reformed confessional writings based on it. The Bible is the perfect Word of God in which we can get to know Him as the way to salvation. This Word is the norm for life and therefore also for the education of young people. It is open every day and it is often a reason for a good (religious) conversation.
CORNERSTONE 2 – Quality
Hoornbeeck College has been chosen, for many years in a row, as the best ROC in the Netherlands. This is something to be thankful for, but there is no reason to become complacent. All employees, in and outside the classroom, work on education and aim to reach the highest possible level. Many teachers come from professional practice and our students notice this.
CORNERSTONE 3 – Commitment
At Hoornbeeck College each student has a number, but our students are not numbers. We are a school where students, teachers and supporting staff are committed to each other. Where people take time for a good conversation and help with problems or offer support. There is room to share the joys and sorrows with each other.
CORNERSTONE 4 – Entrepreneurial
Just a little bit more, just a little bit higher … we like to set the bar high at Hoornbeeck College. We encourage new initiatives and we enjoy seeing students work together with passion.
Why? Because companies and institutions like to hire enterprising employees. Also, for internships! Hoornbeeck College looks for ways to build new bridges to the professional practice.
Locations
throughout the Netherlands
- Amersfoort
- Apeldoorn
- Goes
- Gouda
- Kampen Rotterdam
Annexes: Hoevelaken, Gorinchem, Kesteren and Rijssen
Studying
For doers and thinkers
Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) trains students for a profession. There are programmes at 4 levels: Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) 1, 2, 3 and 4. Admission requirements apply to each Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) level. With a Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) diploma you can also move on to a higher level within the Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) or Higher Vocational Education (HBO). Hoornbeeck College offers more than 90 programmes divided into four sectors: Social Service, Economics, Technology and care & welfare. Check out the current programme offer on www.hoornbeeck.nl/opleidingen.
Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) Level
- Level 1: the entry programme or assistant training for not complex executive work (1 year)
- Level 2: the basic vocational programme for executive practical work (1-2 years)
- Level 3: the vocational programme for self-employed professionals for executive work (2-3 years)
- Level 4: the middle-management programme for fully self-employed executive work with broad employability (3-4 years)
Learning pathways
- BOL: Vocational Education Learning Pathway (BeroepsOpleidende Leerweg; BOL), a full-time programme where you go to school five days a week.
- BBL: School-based Learning Pathway (BeroepsBegeleidende Leerweg; BBL), a part-time programme where you go to school one day a week and spend the other days working for an employer of an accredited training company.
Social Service: service-oriented
Broad, practice-oriented programmes in which hospitality and helping people are paramount. Such as the combi programme Employee Facility Service with Health Care & Welfare or the Security Officer programme which can be used to work in the security sector or to move on to the police or the army.
Economics: result-oriented
This sector has five directions: administrative, commercial, logistics, retail and secretarial. Hoornbeeck College has a lot of expertise to offer. Competencies such as good planning, organising matters, figures, thinking ahead, negotiating and selling prepare you for a job …with a future!
Technology: solution- oriented
Numerous opportunities in the fields of: civil engineering/infrastructure, electrical engineering, IT, installation engineering, mobility and mechanical engineering. Technicians within this dynamic world are urgently needed in our society. Our teachers come from practice and make sure that the profession really comes alive!
Care & Welfare: people-oriented
This sector has four directions: healthcare, social care, pedagogical work and social work. You have to love working with children or want to help your vulnerable fellow human beings. Afterwards, you can quickly set to work in a hospital, nursing home, child care or in education. Help from your heart!
International
Experiences abroad
Each year, Hoornbeeck College students do an internship abroad.
These internships mainly take place in countries of the European Union. Within the EU, you can often get a subsidy from a scholarship of erasmusplus.nl. Through an internship abroad, students get to know their future profession in a special way, learn the language and cooperate with people from a different culture. Quite an experience!
However, students must meet a number of conditions in order to be able to do an internship abroad.
Hoornbeeck HELPS
Together within the professional field in the region
Our educational institute has a direct connection with professional practice. Through close cooperation with the professional field in the region, companies and institutions always get the professionals they need. Teaching teams and management are both entrepreneurial and active, they keep abreast of developments and their training courses are aligned with the work field. We also teach in companies and institutions (business schools) and work with assignments from the professional field.
Education with a plus
Our students are educated with a plus. Education in which we pay a lot of attention to the right professional attitude, ethics, knowledge and skills. As a result, Hoornbeeck students have a good entrance into the labour market or fit in well with a higher level of training. Companies and institutions welcome Hoornbeeck College interns and graduates: they are equipped for their profession and are motivated to take up their tasks in society.
In the neighbourhood
Hoornbeeck Helpt is a project of the Hoornbeeck College Rotterdam in which we actively support local residents. Within this project, we are currently helping about 60 clients, who receive weekly visits from students. In this way, more than 3,000 assistance questions have already been answered. Students from Social Service, Healthcare and Social Work and Welfare programmes are carrying out this project. Neighbourhood afternoons are also organised and language lessons are given.
“Involvement in the neighbourhood is also part of a school’s mission.”
Jeroen van der Laan – Chairman of the Hoornbeeck Helpt Rotterdam foundation
“You make other people happy and that makes me happy in turn. It’s good to be able to help and support your fellow human beings in this way.”
Mirjam Stok – Social Service student –
Stewardship
Working in a sustainable manner
The Bible asks us to be stewards, which is why we invest in sustainability every year. God is the Creator of the earth and therefore we want to act with honour and respect for creation and the Creator. Hoornbeeck College wants to embed sustainability in education. If young people are educated with a conscious and sustainable attitude, this in turn will be reflected within the companies and institutions where they will work.
“Give an account of thy stewardship” Luke 16: 2b
- The old monastery from 1907 at the Amersfoort location has been drastically renovated. From energy label G to label A. A saving of 50% on the energy bill. The building in Amersfoort is heated by two large pallet stoves that burn wood pallets. The flue gases are removed from the fine dust.
- The Hoornbeeck locations are fitted with more than 2,000 solar panels, most of which are located on the roofs of the buildings. Green energy from the solar panels replaces electricity from coal and gas. The sun is an almost inexhaustible source of energy compared to other fuels.
- ‘Working in a sustainable manner!’ is an initiative of Hoornbeeck College, together with other Christian schools, to work on sustainability. Not as an impulse, but structurally. Sustainability is a mission! A biblical responsibility.
- Insulation, ventilation, lighting, the use of water: everything has been made sustainable. For example, the light switches on or off automatically thanks to motion detectors and daylight sensors, and investments have been made in heat and cold storage and energy-efficient water pumps. We strive for energy-neutral school buildings.
