So what about hours and holidays in a local school?

Depends on the age. Kindergarten is usually 5 half days then it goes up from there.

We send our son to a Tageshort (Zurich is well served by them) for the afternoons he's not in school. They pick up, feed, entertain, etc., until you pick them up after work. They usually close at 6pm.

Holidays are also covered by a Ferienhort and you can book them in for the full week or part of it. I've found they will only take them for a full day, which is fair enough because often they are out and about on a day-trip going to the forest, badi, circus, cinema, zoo, etc.

The costs aren't bad if you compare it to the equivalent daycare (the costs of which I am still having nightmares about!)

As an international School educator I have quite of a lot of experience with this type of situation. Here is what you need to consider. If you do not plan on staying long term (10 years or more) I would personally go to an international school. When you move, it will be much easier for your daughter to transition to either a state school or another international school. Swiss schools are excellent, but they are VERY different than most other school systems. It can be hard for kids integrated in the Swiss system to adjust to other systems.

Another thing to consider is the language. Whilst Swiss schools teach reading and writing in High German, the reality is that conversational language between students and teachers is in Swiss German. As much as I respect the local language, Swiss German does you no good anywhere outside the Swiss German cantons of Switzerland.

If you are concerned about integrating with local kids, try finding activities in your town/city where they can socialize with Swiss kids.

We have seen MANY kids who start in Swiss schools and come here because the parents realize how different the systems are. If you are here for the long run, Swiss schools are a great option. Short term, however, you would be better off in an international school.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me

A lot of the success can depend on your own (Parents) values, and where you come from culturally, and the area in Switzerland you choose to settle. Parental input and enthusiasm feeds into the system a lot. Coming from the UK, having holidayed in Switzerland pre teen, and totally loved it, for me this was in many ways a voluntary lifestyle change I partially initiated.

I think learning any foreign language at a young age is a real benefit for a kid, in terms of confidence, etc. It is a great boost for parents when you are travelling, stuck for language and you turn to your kids for help. My kids can communicate with Germans when we are on holiday, no problem. They might be a little clunky, but it works. Business wise it might take some adjustment, but that is a long way off, we may even move before then.

Agreed about the short term stay. I am interested to know though, how do those kids get on that come to you after an unhappy or unsuccessful stint in Swiss schools? Do they develop an insular reaction against the local community, do they benefit at all?

The reality is that the conversational language between everybody this side of the Röstigraben is in Swiss German -- not just in schools. If you're going to live here for a reasonable period of time and want to make friends, it's best to learn the local language -- and that's not English or Hochdeutsch. Anecdotally I hear that many international school children do not master German, let alone Swiss German, even after spending their entire school career in Switzerland.

The same applies, of course, to students in Romandie or Ticino -- it's best to learn the local language.

That would be really interesting, learning Romanish in particular. There doen't seem to be much in the way of Hi Tech for Auslanders. Do the expat kids from this area pick up Italian, and oither languages quickly/more easily?

That's no longer correct. Schools in Zurich, at least, teach in High German both written and conversationally. There was a vote on it a few years ago and it has been like that ever since.

In my son's school, for example, the teachers speak to the kids in High German. The kids, of course, speak dialect in the playground but are encouraged to speak High German in formal lessons.

I confirm, the younger teachers speak high german and encourage kids to do so. Authorities have realised that the level of written german is relatively poor and that many kids have difficulties with grammar.
my son as a german native speaker had difficulties at first, but kids tended to switch to high german speaking with him. thankfully this did not mean that they avoided him because of the extra effort!
same experience (a bit more obviously) for my daughter at gymnasium.

The opinion of an international school teacher:

If you plan to be here long term, put your kids in the local school so they can speak fluently, integrate culturally, and go to a Swiss University. (otherwise they may have to leave to go to a university in Canada or the United States, or wherever you come from.)

If you see yourself here for only a few years, the international schools offer a progressive program, and the children will integrate more easily into their next school community when you do move again. They also tend to offer more pastoral care, and better programs for learners with special needs.

I always have to smile when we tell people we lived in Germany for 2 years before we came here - and that is when my kids learned German. I almost always hear "ah-so that is why they speak Hochdeutsch so well!"...

International schools are great. So are their fees. The most recent question was asked by someone with 4 kids. I personally wouldn't put 1 kid in international school and the rest local as somehow it seems a bit unequal. Anyways, I wish you the best in your decision. The local schools do need a bit of getting used to, and if you are 2 working parents, you will definitely need that nanny or other care to help with the weird hours. But I love it!

We were in the same situation when we moved to Geneva 2 years ago - at that time we were on a 2-year temp contract so we didn't know how long we were going to be here for (luckily for us, we are still here!).
At that time, our children were 2.5 and 4.5 yrs old.
We chose local schooling because
1. So the kids can pick up the language - and to report, they have both picked it up marvellously. Yes it was hard to start with for about a month or two, but that is soon forgotten and they both love their school, teachers and their friends.
2. Although our employer would pay the International school fees, when you looked at the fine print, it was only 75%, though this may not be in your case.
3. Our kids are relatively young and we will contemplate international schooling later, only so that they can integrate easier when we eventually head back home but we will decide later.
The unexpected upside to this is that the kids now have friends that they bump into in the neighbourhood and it gives them a sense of 'belonging' in the community.
Good luck. whatever you choose, will be the right choice for you.

to be very honest, I am always surprised to see how foreign kids learn hochdeutsch in swiss schools - but somehow it works here, too!

True, true - even in Germany as we were living in the Munich area so most of the other kids and parents spoke Bayrisch

the force of the written word!

High German is taken more seriously now in Swiss schools than even ten years ago. It's the normal expected language form in teaching environment, it be there is a good reason to go for the dialect(s). It used to be the other way around, having to justify the use of high German and argue about its use outside German class.

There is so much academic content that simply doesn't exist in dialect (and is not suppose to either) that academic thinking is to a large extend linked to the use of high German. One can be smart in dialect, but not sure one can articulate it so well because the dialect is not made for it whereas high German is. It's the best tool approach...

The kids who come to my school after "trying" Swiss schools often say that they feel like outcasts. We do get a lot of German families who do not want their kids speaking Swiss German. Very interesting to see the different points of view. The main thing that we hear is that they feel that Swiss schools will not do a good job of keeping up their academic skills for when they move to another post in another country. I don't think they feel insular, but they don't feel like they are welcomed.

By definition, only the ones feeling like outcasts will be changing schools, the other ones stay happily where they are. In my opinion, a society needs a variety of schools, one-fits-all doesn't work for clothes so let alone education...

Among Germans, there is sometimes a fear that the dialect will destroy their children's brain cells (I am not exaggerating, I deal with them ) but if the high German policy of the school is clear enough, fear level goes down within days. I must admit that, in older classes, I am thankful for German students who only speak high German, that puts the dialect speaking students under pressure and (healthy productive positive) pride does the rest.

I have to ask what kind of a message is this giving to kids? Parents that pull them out of one school perhaps without making any effort to integrate then sticking them into another system. Maybe some do try to fit in but I bet a lot don't even bother to try.

If Germans aren't able to fit themselves into the system, by that rationale, there's sod all chance for those families with kids who have neither dialect nor High German as a first language.

I agree with Faltrad that there isn't (and shouldn't be) a one-size-fits-all system but I feel that parents should make their choice and encourage their children to stick at it, make friends and adapt.

Woolly reasons such as "not wanting their children to speak Swiss German" sound a bit defeatist in the grand scheme of things.

Surely if you don't want children to learn Swiss German, you really shouldn't come to live in the Swiss German part of Switzerland!!! I had a French neighbour in the UK, married to a Brit like me, who would not allow her toddler to play with other children or to go to play-school, because she wanted her daughter to only speak French. By the time the child went to school, she went on massive French strike, and only wanted to speak English - and this went on for years.

Personally, and I am fully aware many will disagree, being in another country is a huge opportunity to experience something different - and I'd always advise local school for that reason. What a child will learn from the experience, even if it seems hard at first - will never be forgotten and always remain something very special. It might mean, that on return 'back home', the child might have to go back one year in order to make a good transition, or get some external help/tuition - that the positives far outweigh the negatives, even short term.

in our school the few germans seem quite happy and have fit in well. and it would be surprising if they weren't, given the higher level of schooling here compared to germany (at all levels I know).
due to the massive german immigration the swiss school authorities on their part have finally noticed how poor the written skills of swiss pupils are and are reacting efficiently by starting to teach hochdeutsch earlier and giving more attention to writing.
as long as both parts learn from each other and improve - where is the problem?