Can anyone tell me about the local schools in Vaud - are they good? Will my son who has just turn 9 find things very tough (with only very basic French)?

Also, do they have to come home for lunch everyday?? I come from London where I don't see him from 8.30am till 4.30pm! Bliss
I wasn't planning on working to begin with but I can't bare the thought of these long lunch breaks. My son would rather hang out with his friends. Happy to pay for the service, but I think it is only for parents who work - correct?

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks

My son is only in the enfantine so I can't comment on how difficult good the schools for the older kids are. They do come home for lunch he normally finished at 12 and they go back to school for 2pm and finish at 3.30. There is the option of a school lunch club at his school you had to pay a registration fee was about 50chf to register and then each day was 12chf. If you dont want him to come home for lunch some of the mums here use the maman de jour and she picks up the kids and then does lunch and drops them back again to school.
Im sure one of the other parents on here will be able to give you more specfic info for older kids.

Thank you very much for the info. I will try and found out a little more info at the school. We are putting in a rental offer on a house etc on Monday, and then will ask the local school.

I know my son, he will not want to come home at lunch. He has always loved being at school and being with this friends.

Regarding the mama de jour, is that the same as a childminder in the UK?

Yes, maman de jour is the same as a childminder.

Regarding the local schools in Vaud, our experience has overall been positive. Our then 8yr old daughter was "thrown in" to a local school where no one could speak English and she did eventually manage to get on even with dyslexia. The funding that they have is on average better than the UK and therefore the facilities and support is better although the sympathy perhaps is another subject.....

Lunch clubs are few and far between although Vaud has agreed to have these services at a given number of schools within the canton, mainly Lausanne area and as we live in the sticks, asking for a lunch club wouldn't go down well.....

By the sounds of it you'll need a MDJ unless you can commit to spending most of your day 2 and from the school with a max 2hr window at home !

It is the norm for Swiss kids to go home for lunch. What happens in Vaud, do they have Wednesday afternoon off too (as here in NE).

Depends on the school and the age, some are Friday half day as well.

But it'll be different, as his friends will mostly all be going home for lunch - there'll be no-one to play football, etc with anyway (until the summer term, when a few might bring a sandwich and hang around the sports field).

At my kids' school, MDJ and lunch clubs were only used by kids up to about 2nd grade; older kids went home, even if they were latchkey kids looking after themselves for 2 hours. If you're going to use such services for your son, check the age group so he's not stuck with a load of under 6s.

Yes here our daughter had to come back for lunch on the train which was a 15mins ride plus the 15mins walk, she was here for 40mins max before needing to return. Worth checking with the local schools and it will also depend on how close to the city you are.

My children are all in local Vaud schools, including my 8.5 year old boy. I am very happy to have them coming home for lunch. It's great to have the opportunity to check in with each other in the middle of the day. Especially for the young ones.

Starting school in a new country is no small fete, and especially in the first year it was important for them to have some down time. I was also so glad to hear how everything was going without having to wait until the end of the day.

Schools aren't supposed to be babysitting services for parents who want to be free of their children for the entire day. The Swiss school system is organized to welcome children at the hours of the day that they are most able to learn, and sends them home when they need a break. I don't adore every aspect of Swiss schooling, but this one I applaud.

This is an excellent point. When my kids started, with no French whatsoever, it was such a break for them to come home and actually be able to speak to someone. My son was a very chatty 8 at the time, and he didn't stop speaking for the whole two hours. It also removed the stress of having to cope socially in a new environment with no language skills - being in the structure of the classroom, managed by the teacher, is far easier at first.

Entering school here at 9, he would likely be in 4eme (depending on when birthday is during year), however do not be surprised if they put him back one year, it is quite the norm at that age without the language skills to hold back a year. Keep in mind it will likely be a lot of work to get up to speed with French, then German will also be required, because at 5eme and 6eme the CYT (cycle transition) things get very serious because of the streaming decision that takes place during those years. If he is not ready and near perfect in the languages at CYT, the ability to continue to higher education will be significantly difficult if not impossible.

Keep in mind things are vastly different here. It is the norm to go home, and he will likely be the minority if he stays at school (if it is even possible), so when he sees everyone else going home, it will likely be the opposite effect, and he will want to do the same.

Also, the infrastruture and the possibilities to have lunch at school is very diverse and really depends on your exact local situation. It is a very recent phenomena here to even offer this, so possibities range accordingly. They may only offer the possibilitiy of a packed lunch to eat in a classroom, take children to a nearby church for food, or offer hot food (shipped in) to say max. 5 children, who are proioritised based on single parent working family, etc. The shcools were not built with cafeterias, and I don't know one school that has a proper infrastructure to cook a hot meal on premises, so the facilities and the possibilities are often hindered by this as well.