Taalbeleid in het Primair Onderwijs in Amsterdam

In 2003 the local authorities in Amsterdam initiated a language policy in cooperation with the city's elementary schools. During eight years a large number of activities have been undertaken to help schools with their task to educate children from very different language backgrounds as well as they can and to find solutions for the problems they face. This article summarizes these activities in the light of changing views on language policy. Although it is still difficult to get an insight into the actual effects of all the efforts on the pupils, trends of changes are becoming clear. Now it is time to consolidate these trends and to move on to incorporate evidence-based programmes and new knowledge into the schools and to educate the teachers to perform their complex tasks as well as possible.