Hi,

I will be moving to Schaffhausen in June 2013 from India. I have two kids. My son 8 yrs & Daughter 6 yrs old. We don't know german. Children can speak english. Trying to browse Schaffhausen schools & found that international schools are not affordable.

1. Can any one suggest details about local schools in Schaffhausen ? Whether english is one of the subjects ?

2. Our proposed stay in Schaffhausen is 3-5 yrs. Is it a good idea to join local schools for class I for my daughter and class III for my son ? Will kids be able to adopt/adjust in local schools ? Will there by any problem after 3-5 yrs once we come back India ?

Thank you in advance for your valuable advise.

Regards,
Pavan Kumar Vitta

1. In local schools, even if English is one of the "language" subjects, it will not be the medium of instruction. So maths, science etc will be taught only in german.

2. Local schools are good only if you plan to come here and settle permanently/long-term(10+ years).
For 3 - 5 years i would recommend international schooling and if that's not possible i'll advise against coming over here (or as a matter of fact anywhere where english is not the main language)

If you are coming for a minimum of 3 years then definitely think about local school. Search the forum and you will find lots of threads where people have had exactly the same questions, fears and doubts that you are probably having about sending them into a school were they don't speak the language. They will get support with the German (especially the 8 year old) and may be in a separate class for several months until they have picked up enough to cope in their normal class. All this is free , they will learn another language and have friends who live nearby.

I would suggest international school if it was only a year or two but you could be here for up to 5 years and it would be harder to change to a local school after a year or two. If they went local straight away they would be fluent in that time.

Thank you for your valuable advise.

Thank you for advise. Will look into more forums as you suggested. If kids join in local schools, even if they get adopted with separate german classes, will there be any problems once we come back India ?

They would very likely have problems at school when they return to India.. The medium of instruction in Schaffausen is German and also the whole approach to education is completely different to India..give it a good thought ...read all the threads it will give you a good picture... Pm me if you need any other info

Problem if you go back to India - A BIG YES.

Education system here is very different to that in India. Your children have to adjust once when they come here and second when they go back.
Remember adjustment needs TIME (months if not years).
Your decision after all.

hi,

i too come from India and though my kid go to an international school i see that the Indian schooling is way way ahead then what it is here and i have to teach him at home so that once we are back he is not left behind .
as of what i have heard its Maths in which they really get behind once they are back in India ... Rest all subjects can be covered up easily.

Difficulty if you go back to india at the stage suggested = absolutely as the kids will struggle to think in english after being in a german instruction during formation years. International school would avoid this issue for you

Hi,

A little late in reply...We had our children in ISSH, moved them to the local schools. You will get huge support in the german language. To be honest, I asked my kids after 3 months, where they preferred, without any hesitatation...local school. We have seen there grades go back to pre international school, and they are now excelling themselves.
An additional language skills (German/French/English), what a start...

End of the day your choice,