Stedelijke Handelsschool

OUR SCHOOL

Our school is located in Turnhout (bELGIUM), near the ring road and along the city park. We offer academic (ASO - as from 1st September 2015), technical (TSO) and vocational (BSO) secondary education. Within the Flemish educational system we are one of the few schools that belong to the urban education system. 

Our study programmes focus on the domains of trade & ICT, sport, publicity and tourism. We aim to offer quality education through which we guide our students as efficiently as possible in their learning and living attitude. In addition, we create a pleasant and open school climate by focusing on each student’s talents and by allowing them to make their own choices in their learning process. We also pay extra attention to special care and foreign language speakers. At present, our school has 554 students and around 95 enthusiastic teachers.

OUR SCHOOL IN ACTION

Entrepreneurship has had a high priority for many years now and we value the importance of it for every student at our school. Since 2012 we have proudly used the title of Vlajo Ambassador School. At our school, entrepreneurship is fully integrated from the first degree to the third degree, in both economic and non-economic study programmes. 

Below is an overview of the most important activities with regard to entrepreneurship education: 

• First degree: Our students take part in small company visits and project work in their classroom (e.g. budgeting).
• Second degree: Our vocational students play the online game Vlajo Challenge. In this business game they become the owner of their own virtual store. Our technical students take part in the Vlajo project Jieha! in which they establish their own mini company with a focus on ecological, biological or regional products. 
• Third degree: The students start their own Vlajo Mini Company and choose or make their own products or services. They manage their own company according to real business rules: brainstorming about an idea, defining the mission and goals, doing market research, determining the product range, gathering start-up capital, writing the business plan, planning sales activities, organising shareholder meetings and so on.  This school year there will be as many as 12 Vlajo Mini Companies doing business with students from different study programmes: 6th grade Trade, 7th grade Sales, 7th grade Business Support, 6th grade IT-management and 6th grade Physical education and Sport. 

We regularly invite entrepreneurs to our classrooms. That way our students can ask their burning questions to the business managers. Our teachers stay up-to-date through regular company visits and trainings regarding entrepreneurial education. 

"We are strongly convinced of the benefits of the Vlajo mini company. Through the ICEE research project we can concretely identify the impact of the mini company on the learning process of the students. In addition we find it particularly interesting to get to know better the field of entrepreneurial education across borders. With the results of the project we hope to convince our government of the benefits of entrepreneurial education and obtain more room for it in the attainment goals. That way every student will get the opportunity to develop his or her entrepreneurial skills within the secondary school curriculum". 

SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://handelsschool.ego4.turnhout.preview.anaxis.be