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Draft:Farel College

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  • Comment: The sourcing here includes some genuine independent coverage (notably the 2022 data breach reporting and the 2020 protest coverage), so notability isn't a lost cause, but the draft can't move forward as is. The wikitext still contains an HTML comment block at the end with internal drafting notes that needs to be removed before this goes anywhere near mainspace. Second, that same comment indicates a personal connection to the school; per WP:COI please add a disclosure to the draft talk page (a WP:connected contributor tag noting the connection is enough). Happy to take another look once these are addressed. Balabush (talk) 08:53, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

Farel College
The school's frontage in 2024
Location
Map
Paladijnenweg 101

Amersfoort
,
Utrecht
,
3813 DH

Netherlands

52°10′7.39″N 5°23′27.69″E / 52.1687194°N 5.3910250°E / 52.1687194; 5.3910250
Information
TypeSecondary school
Religious affiliation
Protestant Christian
Established1971; 55 years ago (1971)
RectorGijs van Andel
Enrollment881 (2025/2026)
LanguageDutch, English
CampusUrban
NewspaperFarelnieuws
Websitewww.farel.nl

Farel College is a Protestant Christian secondary school in Amersfoort, Netherlands. Founded in 1971 as an offshoot of the Corderius College, it provides education at the Dutch vmbo-tl, havo and vwo levels (see Education in the Netherlands), and offers bilingual education in Dutch and English at all three levels.[1] The school is part of the Meerscholen group and enrolled 881 students in the 2025/2026 school year.[2]

The school is named after the Reformer Guillaume Farel.[3] It has been designated an "Excellent School" by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education and is known regionally for FAMUN, a student-organised international Model United Nations conference held annually since 2016.[4][5]

History

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Farel College began in 1971 as a branch (dependance) of the Corderius College, which had outgrown its site and required additional capacity in the north of Amersfoort.[6] Teaching started in 1972 in eight temporary classrooms on the Elkerlijkpad, serving students from northern Amersfoort and surrounding towns including Hoogland, Bunschoten-Spakenburg and Nijkerk.[3] From 1972 to 1975 the school was led by Klaas de Jong Ozn., who left to become State Secretary for Education and Science in the Den Uyl cabinet.[7]

The school moved to its present site on the Paladijnenweg in 1978.[3] It merged with the Andreas Mavo in 1990 and with Mavo Sytwende in Bunschoten-Spakenburg in 1997, the latter now the Oostwende College.[3] Bilingual education was introduced in 2006.[3] The school marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2022 with a reunion and a school musical.[3]

Education

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Farel College teaches at vmbo-tl, havo and vwo level. It operates two-year mixed-level introductory classes, in which students are placed in a combined vmbo-tl/havo, havo/vwo or vwo group and are assigned a definitive level only after the second year. Lessons run for 70 minutes.[8]

The school describes internationalisation and research as the two main strands of its teaching.[3] All lower-year students take a combined science subject, and the school allocates additional time to scientific orientation.[3] Farel College participates in U-Talent, a programme run in association with Utrecht University that offers advanced coursework to havo and vwo students and links secondary to higher education.[9][10] International activity includes exchanges with partner schools, participation in Erasmus+ and the Edukans Going Global programme.[3]

Bilingual education

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The school began bilingual education (tweetalig onderwijs, or TTO) in 2006 with fifteen students.[3] It offers the programme at vmbo-tl, havo and vwo level, and states that it is the only school in Amersfoort to do so at all three levels.[11] By the 2022/2023 school year more than half of all incoming first-year students chose the bilingual track.[3]

In the lower years a majority of lessons are taught in English, reverting largely to Dutch from the fourth year onward because the national final examinations are sat in Dutch.[12] Bilingual students take Cambridge English examinations, and those continuing in the upper years of havo and vwo follow the International Baccalaureate English programme.[13] The school maintains partner schools in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Norway and Poland, and bilingual students also complete an international work placement.[13]

FAMUN

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Since 2016 students at Farel College have organised FAMUN (Farel Academy Model United Nations), an annual Model United Nations conference simulating United Nations bodies such as UNICEF and the Security Council, with debates conducted in English.[14][15] The conference is planned and run by students, with alumni returning to chair committees and Farel students hosting visiting participants.[4][16]

The first edition in 2016 ran for three days with about 150 participants.[4] After a two-year interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference resumed in 2023.[17] The 2024 edition drew about 320 students from ten countries and more than 40 nationalities, with an opening ceremony at the De Flint theatre attended by a municipal alderman.[14][16] The 2025 edition drew more than 340 participants of 42 nationalities under the theme "Connecting, contrasting, communities" and was organised by a student executive team of 28 over eight months.[15][18] The ninth edition, held from 5 to 8 February 2026, involved around 100 Farel students as organisers and assistants.[4]

Campus

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The main building has stood at Paladijnenweg 101 since 1978, on the edge of the built-up area near parkland in the north of Amersfoort.[3]

Between 2020 and 2021 the building was substantially extended. An additional storey containing classrooms and study areas was added across much of the school, together with a tiered seating staircase connecting the ground and first floors; the extension replaced part of the temporary buildings on the schoolyard. After roughly ten months of construction the work was formally completed on 15 April 2021. The extension was designed by Bureau Bos Architecten and built by Koelewijn Bouw.[19][20]

Farel Academy

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From 2013 to 2023 the school operated a secondary site at J.P. Sweelinckstraat 4, known as the Farel Academy, described by the school as a place for innovative teaching. It was used because the main building had insufficient classroom space.[3] The site is no longer in use.[21]

Recognition

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The Inspectorate of Education has awarded Farel College the "Excellent School" designation, a predicate for which schools apply and which is assessed by a jury, and which is held for three years at a time. The havo department first received it in 2016 and the vwo department in 2018; the havo designation was renewed in 2019 and again in 2022.[5][22][23]

In 2018 the school's library won the Nationale Mediatheek Trofee, an award from Stichting Lezen for the most attractive reading environment for young people in Dutch secondary education. The jury selected it from 24 nominated school libraries, citing its spatial layout and its visible attention to reading promotion. The prize, a trophy and a book package worth 1,000 euros, was presented on 20 November 2018 at De Doelen in Rotterdam. The library had been refurbished the previous school year.[24][25]

Incidents

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2020 protest against mask requirement

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On 22 September 2020 the campaign group Viruswaarheid demonstrated at the school's then secondary site on the J.P. Sweelinckstraat against its face mask requirement. Unlike several other schools in Amersfoort, Farel College required students to wear masks in corridors between lessons, in part because the building was undergoing construction work at the time, which the school said made corridors busier than usual. The school's leadership and the board of the governing group met the group but did not change the policy, describing the demonstration as the wrong means of raising the issue.[26][27]

2022 data breach

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In September 2022 approximately 1,300 students were sent home for two days following a data breach. During a migration from Google to Microsoft 365, files were incorrectly assigned a permission label making them visible to all users, exposing documents dating from 2014 to 2018 to students and staff. Rector Gijs van Andel said the incident was not an external hack. The school suspended student access to the software, reported the breach to the Dutch Data Protection Authority and opened an investigation.[28][29]

Notable alumni

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  • Femke Bol (born 2000), track and field athlete, completed her vwo diploma at the school while developing her athletics career.[10]
  • Jasmijn Torrico, singer, who as half of the duo Sep & Jasmijn won the 2023 Dutch national Junior Songfestival and represented the Netherlands at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023. She was a pupil at the school at the time.[30][31]

References

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  1. ↑ "Farel College (Amersfoort)". Scholen op de kaart (in Dutch). VO-raad. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Farel College: héél véél informatie in cijfers en grafieken". AlleCijfers.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Farel College al vijftig jaar een wereldschool". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 28 September 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Debatconferentie FAMUN voor de negende keer gehouden in Amersfoort". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 9 February 2026. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Nieuwe 'excellente scholen' in Breukelen, Soest en Amersfoort uitblinkers in lesgeven". RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). January 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "In beeld: Amersfoort toen en nu, het Corderius College". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Drs. K. (Klaas) de Jong Ozn". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Parlementair Documentatie Centrum, Leiden University. Retrieved 6 July 2026. rector Christelijke scholengemeenschap "Farel College" te Amersfoort, van 1 augustus 1972 tot 1 september 1975
  8. ↑ "Farel College". Van Basis Naar Brug (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "Farel College, Amersfoort". U-Talent (in Dutch). Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Wij zijn een U-Talent ambitieschool". Farel College (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Kom je kennismaken?". Farel College (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Tweetalig onderwijs". Farel College (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Veelgestelde vragen". Farel College (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Leerlingen Farel College organiseren internationaal debat evenement". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). February 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Internationale debatconferentie op het Farel College: FAMUN". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 4 February 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  16. 1 2 "FAMUN 2024 op het Farel College". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 29 January 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "FAMUN groot succes: leerlingen Farel College organiseerden van A tot Z een Model United Nations". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). February 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "FAMUN 2025". Farel College (in Dutch). 3 February 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Oplevering nieuwbouw Farel College". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Nieuwe verdieping voor Farel College". Amersfoort.nieuws.nl (in Dutch). January 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Groep 8". Farel College (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Havo Farel College excellent". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). January 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "Excellente scholen: Amersfoort". Excellente Scholen (in Dutch). Inspectie van het Onderwijs. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  24. ↑ "Farel College uit Amersfoort wint de Nationale Mediatheek Trofee 2018". Stichting Lezen (in Dutch). 21 November 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Farel College wint Nationale Mediatheek Trofee". De Stad Amersfoort (in Dutch). 20 November 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Amersfoortse school zwicht niet voor mondkapjesprotest: 'Zo werkt het hier niet'". RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). 22 September 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Viruswaarheid demonstreert op schoolplein in Amersfoort". Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch). 22 September 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "School dicht door datalek na migratie naar Office". Computable (in Dutch). September 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Datalek op middelbare school Amersfoort, alle kinderen moesten naar huis". Nationale Onderwijsgids (in Dutch). September 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  30. ↑ Van den Boom, Iris (14 February 2023). "Jasmijn (13) wilde bij Kinderen voor Kinderen, maar staat nu in de finale van SBS6-programma Ministars". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  31. ↑ Van den Boom, Iris (24 September 2023). "Jasmijn (14) wint Junior Songfestival: 'Ik kon alleen maar gillen, huilen en springen, alles tegelijk'". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 August 2026.
[edit]

Category:Schools in Amersfoort Category:Secondary schools in the Netherlands Category:Protestant schools in the Netherlands Category:Educational institutions established in 1971 Category:1971 establishments in the Netherlands

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