Art

Art at the gymnasium? Absolutely! “In art, you learn a lot of important things: experimenting, creative thinking, collaborating, and coming up with solutions. Everyone has art in years 1, 2, and 3. After that, it is an elective, and you can even take an exam in it. We draw, paint, make collages, etchings, and 3D work, for example with clay or papier-mâché. If you choose Art as an exam subject, you will also have photography, film, and textile lessons in the upper years. The art studio is the coziest classroom at the Murmellius, where people work hard, but also chat and laugh a lot!”

Biology

Biology is the subject where you learn about everything that lives, such as plants, animals, and humans. You discover how your body works, how animals and plants adapt to their environment, and how they grow and reproduce. You also learn about the environment and why it is important to take good care of nature. In the lessons, you conduct experiments to investigate things yourself. Biology helps you understand how everything in nature is interconnected.

Chemistry

Are you a bit of a curious person? Do you want to know how this green rock gets its colors? Its hardness, its luster? This is an example of what we learn and investigate in chemistry, a subject that is always looking for exactly why substances possess these properties. To that end, we also conduct practicals ourselves, and you learn how to handle glassware and work safely with chemical substances. Does that sound fun to you? Then we look forward to seeing you in our chemistry classes…

Classical Languages

Did you know that ‘school’ was originally a Greek word? σχολή (scholè) meant free time… Crazy, right! You learn these kinds of things in Classical Languages, a combination of the subjects Greek and Latin. You learn the Greek alphabet as early as Year 1, you learn how to translate sentences into Latin or Greek (Greek and Latin work very differently from Dutch: the order of the words doesn’t matter, you can tell by the last letters of a word whether Livia sees the cat, or vice versa), and you learn about the customs of the Greeks and Romans. In the first year, of course, you will also hear many stories about the Greek and Roman gods. Gods?! Absolutely! But you’ll just have to discover how that works in class!

Dutch

Dutch at Murmellius is the subject called ‘language’ in primary school, but much more fun. You still have spelling and reading comprehension, but you also get to write stories, and read poems and medieval knight tales. You will learn how to make sounds with your throat, the origins of language and how language really works, and how to turn an ordinary sentence into a little masterpiece.

Economy

• In Year 3, every student takes Economics

• From Year 4, Economics is a compulsory subject within the Economics and Society profile

• From Year 4, Economics is an elective subject within the other profiles

English

Welcome to Murmellius Gymnasium. Because most English lessons at our school are taught in English, you will get the best English education you can get. In the lower years, everyone starts English at the same level. After that, you're placed in a Cambridge or a regular class, depending on how you're doing. Reach C1 level by year 3, and you can work towards the highest Cambridge qualification there is, Cambridge Proficiency English (CPE), taken in year 5. In every class, though, lessons go beyond grammar and vocabulary: we explore literature, culture and history, and each year brings a trip to the United Kingdom!

French

At our school, immerse yourself in everything related to the French language. Through our digital and printed methods, you will be able to understand and read French increasingly well, as well as write and talk about yourself. This comes in handy when you join us on an exchange trip to France in the first year! In the fourth year, we visit Paris. Are you starting in Intermezzo? Then you will playfully get to work on a real French play.

See you soon!

Geography

In geography, we travel all over the world! We start close by in our own neighborhood: why does Alkmaar actually look the way it does? You will also learn why it is warmer in Spain than in the Netherlands, why much of your clothing comes from Bangladesh, and how the people there actually live. Of course, you can do this from a book, but sometimes we also go outside to explore on our own!

German

Good day! In German class, you learn the most spoken native language in Europe. Approximately 90 million people in Europe speak German at home – and most of them live relatively close by, too! Perhaps you go on holiday to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland sometimes, or you encounter many German-speaking tourists in the Netherlands during the summer. But did you know that many well-known brands in the Netherlands, such as Volkswagen, BMW, Adidas, Haribo, Siemens, and Lidl, are also German? German is everywhere! In German class, you learn to speak, understand, read, and write the language. We also read a few of the most famous stories from world history and visit Berlin (a city you really must visit!). Auf Wiedersehen bei Deutsch!

History

History is not just about the past, but also about the present and the future! By learning where you come from, you can better understand the world around you and also better determine how you would like to shape the world (or how you would prefer not to). What are your options in times of war, when you live in an occupied country? You will be grappling with these kinds of questions. But you also look critically at historical texts and learn to judge the reliability of a source: quite important, especially NOW! Welcome to history, the most beautiful subject.

Mathematics

Everyone learned to do arithmetic in primary school. How do you add fractions? How do you calculate the area of a square? How do you read things from a graph? In mathematics, this is expanded upon slightly. What if you don't know the whole sum, but only the answer? What should you do if you need to calculate the area of a triangle but don't know the lengths of all the sides? And what should you do if you have the formula associated with a graph and need to draw that graph? These are all things you learn in mathematics.

Mentor lesson

At Murmellius, every student has their own mentor. In Year 1, in addition to a mentor, you also have a junior mentor—an upper-level student who can provide further guidance. The mentor is more than just a point of contact: he or she monitors your development across the board and acts as the link between everything and everyone who contributes to your time at school.

Do you have questions about your grades, are you struggling with something, or do you just want to brainstorm? Then your mentor is the first person to turn to. The mentor is also the fixed point of contact for parents.
In addition to this guiding role, the mentor also helps you with skills that you do not learn in any subject, but that will stay with you your entire life: planning, reflection, and self-reliance. In Year 6, you choose your own mentor.

Music

Music at Murmellius is a truly hands-on subject where you mainly get to work yourself! In the lessons, you sing together with your class, learn to play instruments such as bass guitar, guitar, ukulele, drums, and keyboard, and discover how fun it is to compose and produce your own music on the computer. Whether you already have experience or not: everyone can participate.
Moreover, by being actively involved with music, you develop important skills. You learn to work together in a group, listen carefully to each other, and plan an assignment over several weeks. Music is therefore not only creative, but also educational and incredibly fun.

Philosophy

Philosophy is all about wild questions. These are questions that are very important, but for which there is no fixed answer. Questions such as: what is happiness, really, what do we know for sure, do we have only a body or also a mind, or is it permissible for a poor man to steal a loaf of bread for his children? You won't find the answer to such questions on Wikipedia. So, together with other students, you will have to think about them yourself and see what smart women and men said about them in the past.

Physical education

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Physics

Physics deals with all the forces at work in nature. For example, you learn why it feels like the wind is suddenly blowing much harder when you cycle very fast to school (because you left home too late again). You also learn why you aren't flung off the earth even though it rotates at about 1670 km/h! Physics is taught at our school starting from the second year.

Social studies

In Year 5, everyone takes Social Studies. You acquire a great deal of factual knowledge about the rule of law, democracy, and politics. How does the House of Representatives work? What does the government do? What are your rights and obligations? And why is the rule of law so important? But Social Studies is more than just knowledge. It is also about citizenship. You reflect on your own role in society and discuss current social issues. Following the news is a major part of this subject! You learn to look at the news critically. You learn how to properly substantiate your viewpoints and how to engage in respectful dialogue with others. Social Studies essentially forms the conclusion of the citizenship lessons that were already covered in other subjects in the lower years. Everything comes together: knowledge, skills, and your own opinion. After these lessons, you can exercise your right to vote with peace of mind!