The bridge period

Pretty exciting, that transition from elementary school to high school. We make sure you get a good start with us. It is important to us that you quickly feel at home and safe, and that you join a good class. What is important to know about the bridge period? What fun things can we tell you about it? Below we have listed some important things for you.

Starting at the Lorentz Casimir Lyceum

At our school we have 5 opportunities to enter, so there is always one that suits you:

  • Havobridge class: we try to keep this class(es) small so the teachers have all the attention for you. You will enter this class with a havo recommendation.
  • 2-year havo/vwo class: classes start at havo level and gradually build up to vwo level. So after the first bridge year you don't have to choose 2 havo or 2 vwo, but have another year to find out what you have in store for you. After the 2nd year you will continue in 3 havo or 3 atheneum. You will enter this class with a havo/vwo recommendation.
  • Athenaeum bridge class: if you have received a vwo recommendation from your teacher, you can choose this class if you do not want to do classical languages.
  • Gymnasium bridge class: with a vwo recommendation you can also choose a gymnasium bridge class if you are interested in the classical languages. You start in the first year with 2 lessons of Latin; in this subject you learn stories about antiquity, gods, temples, etc. and of course you also learn a lot about the language itself. In class 2 you will also learn some Greek.
  • GymnasiumPlus bridge class: if you are highly intelligent or gifted, this class is for you. You go through the regular material faster, leaving time for project learning where you and your classmates research questions you find interesting. You'll also learn programming and take philosophy.

Laptops

Starting with school year 2023-2024, we will start "Bring/Choose Your Own Device" and work with laptops. This does not mean that you will no longer need books, because we will continue to use those as well. So it will be a combination. The laptops will be for support.

Subjects in the bridge class

All subjects in the different bridge classes are the same. Gymnasium has Latin as an additional subject.

  • Dutch;
  • French;
  • Cambridge Pre;
  • Math;
  • Geography;
  • History;
  • Biology;

  • Drawing;
  • 3Design;
  • Physical Education;
  • Music;
  • Study lesson;
  • Quest;
  • Latin (only at Gymnasium and Gymnasium Plus);
  • Programming (Gymnasium Plus only);
  • Philosophy (Gymnasium Plus only).

45-minute schedule

We have a 45-minute schedule at our school.

  • First class hour 8:30 - 9:15 a.m;
  • Second class hour 9:15 - 10:00 a.m;
  • Third class hour 10 a.m.-10:45 a.m;
  • Break 10:45 - 11:05 a.m;
  • Fourth class hour 11:05 - 11:50 a.m;
  • Fifth class hour 11:50 - 12:35 a.m;
  • Break 12:35 - 1:05 p.m;
  • Sixth class hour 1:05 - 1:50 p.m;
  • Seventh class hour 1:50 - 2:35 p.m;
  • Eighth period class 2:35 - 3:20 p.m;
  • Ninth class hour 3:20 - 4:05 p.m;

 

In the bridge class, in principle, you do not have an 8th grade hour, except if you receive extra guidance, for example; think language support, RT, or the like.

Mentor and minor mentors

Each bridge class has its own mentor (teacher) as well as the two mini-mentors. These are students from class 4 who know the school well. They go along on bridge camp, help with study lessons and go on excursions. Because they have been here at the school for a number of years, they can give you good guidance and answer your questions.

IMG-20230908-WA0009

Intro days in the bridge class

With a group of enthusiastic subject teachers, mentors and mini-mentors you will experience "the intro days in the bridge class. The main goal is to get to know your classmates well so that you quickly feel completely at home in the group. In addition, you can also make new friends in the other class going along.

IMG-20221111-WA0004

Quest

Quest is an entirely unique form of education in which you learn to collaborate, research, present and evaluate in projects. In these projects, the process is paramount. The projects start from a current or relevant issue. Starting in school year 2023-2024, this will be one class hour per week.

Latin in the bridge class

For the interested students there is the possibility to choose the gymnasium already from the bridge class. In two lessons per week you then follow the subject Latin. Students with a vwo recommendation are eligible for this. Our school in Eindhoven can count on a great enthusiasm of gymnasium students. Every year an average of three classes start the classical program.

Lorentz Casimir Lyceum Brochure social media 2024-2025 - Photo Dave van Hout -2473

Separate break room

With us, the bridge class students have a separate indoor break room so you have your own place within our school. This will also be the case soon in the new school building. Every first-year student also has their own locker with charger in this room. Of course, you can also spend your break outside in the schoolyard in the beautiful nature surrounding the school building.

Class schedule and homework

In high school, you change classrooms for each lesson. You have a class schedule in which you can find exactly which classes you have each day and, more importantly, in which classrooms. Our classes last 45 minutes. Your homework and other important things (such as grades) can be seen on the app Magister. We explain very well how it works when you start at our school. You become familiar with it very quickly. What we find very important is that you also write down your homework and learn to plan well. For this you get a special agenda called PLENDA. You must have this with you every school day.



What do bridge students themselves say? See what Marlin has to say here

Note: This video was shot in our old building. We have since moved to our new, modern building, but the content and core of our message remain the same. 

Classrooms

You can have classes in the Lorentz Building (L Building) or in the Casimir Building (C Building). These buildings are connected by an intermediate building. In the new school building starting in school year 2024-2025, everything will be combined in one school building.

BrainSport Junior

BrainSport Junior is a program for the highly gifted and more gifted in junior high. Students are given challenging lessons and work independently on projects on topics that are not or rarely found in the regular curriculum.

Classes are taught using the Big History method, a class series that traverses the history of the universe from the Big Bang to the future. The lessons are taught by a variety of teachers on topics including art, social psychology, astronomy and philosophy. Students who participate take 1 or 2 lessons per week during their regular classes.

In addition, there are excursions outside school. Participating students are selected by taking the IST, the so-called Intelligence Structure Test, conducted by the Center for Giftedness Research in Nijmegen.