Ouderavond loopt uit de hand door seksuele voorlichting

What is an “ouderavond” in Dutch?

A school meeting spirals into a marital row over sex education, and one parent has to remind the other where they are: «we zitten toch bij een ouderavond» (“we’re at a parents' evening, after all”). An ouderavond is a parent-teacher evening, ouder (“parent”) plus avond (“evening”).

It’s a fixture of Dutch school life: an evening when parents hear about the curriculum, the grades, and the dreaded seksuele voorlichting (sex education). Dutch loves stacking nouns like this, ouderavond, schoolplein (playground), rapportcijfer (report grade). For learners it’s a tidy peek into how Dutch builds words and runs its schools.