Hello.
I have mentioned to a few of you either on posts or private messages a group/centre called WAC.
Its in Uster and has various activities for parents and children of all ages and gives you the chance to meet up with other english speakers.
Toddler groups, german lessons, pre-kindergarten, boys/girls clubs and various activities in the evening for parents.
A very useful place if you are new here or even if have been he a while but wanting to expand your social activities.
They do have a website: www.wac.ch
Its worth having a look, they are holding a BBQ at the end of June for all new members and existing members.

Will upload some events onto the calender for those who may be interested in some of the evening classes but are not members. X

My daughter used to go to the preschool at the WAC and I used to go to German lessons. It really is a fabulous organisation. We'd still be there if we hadn't moved further away.

There are so many people that dont know about it, such a shame. Its a great little place!

Doing a search for WAC on here turns up 86! posts so it seems a bit odd that folk still don't know about it.
Perhaps a thread title which is more descriptive would help folk looking for something in the region to see it more easily. Mentioned within a post it just doesn't catch the eye of newcomers scanning quickly through Family Matters/Health. The title doesn't say where the group is situated and doesn't really make it clear that it is a recommendation either. I know that an advanced search for Mums+Uster would find WAC soon enough, but presumably folk don't use this feature with the options 'Search Entire Posts' and 'Show Results as Posts' selected.
What about changing the title to something like
'Uster WAC - excellent opportunities for English speaking Mums to meet up'.

But i suppose if they dont know what WAC is they wouldnt search for that, just thought would put it out the for any new families who have moved over. X

Does anyone know if they offer childcare while the parent attends a German course? I looked on their website but couldn't find the answer.

They did when I went there. I went in the afternoon and a really lovely lady was employed to look after the kids of those doing the course.

The only thing is that I don't know if they are offering many German courses at the moment, as it depends very much on demand.

I do know, though, that the woman who was teaching (Elizabeth was her name, fantastic teacher!) also teaches other courses in Uster that offer childcare. So even if there isn't a course that suits you, get in contact with her directly and ask if she has something suitable.

For anyone thinking that Uster is too far away, we lived in Zurich when we went to the WAC. It's a very quick direct train from Stadelhofen and then a very short walk to the WAC.

Yes they offer child care, courses are monday mornings at the moment.

As the majority of members, certainly new ones, do not seem to use the Advanced Search feature or search for tags, the best way to make anything easy to find is to put the maximum of relevant words into the title, where it comes up in a simple search and catches the eye when scanning the Threads.
Location, readers targetted, subject, recommendation/warning/question

Using quick search:
'mums meet' = this thread will appear, but, seeing just the title, might not be recognised as being applicable to Uster and might be missed.
'Mums meeting' = it will not find any threads at all.
'Uster Mums' = will bring up a Thread about expectant Mums with WAC in a reply, but doesn't look relevant if you have three children and are not expecting a fourth - so a member might not take the time to look at the posts.
'Uster meeting' = brings up nothing.
My suggestion might just improve the chances of someone seeing your Thread and the useful information therein.
When Moddiing I occasionally altered thread titles to 'improve their chances' usually with the desired effect. However, I'm not a Mum of small children, I am not looking for meets and I don't live in Uster... and I know how to search on here so if you prefer not to have it changed it's not really my problem.

Hi there, does anyone know if there' anything like this WAC in Geneva area

Hi - Just an FYI: The Mothering Matters journal has been supporting the WAC in Uster for a VERY VERY long time (the journal lists them in the Zurich group page) - the MM journal is currently in it's 20th year....If you don't know about us, then please go to: www.mmjournal.com

You could also go to Hands-On International Preschool (formerly Hands-On Kids) in Effretikon. They have Coffee, Tea and Me on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Its great!

I can see why they changed their name

Thanks to this post, I have discovered WAC and have arranged to go along to their groups when I move out to Uster at the end of this month!

I would be interested to hear about other clubs/groups in Uster and the surrounding areas that I could go along to with my two children. Also, if anyone has any other information about German classes that have childcare attached.

Thanks.

Are there any English speaking activities on weekends around Zurich?

There are so called Gemeindezentren (community centres) around Zurich (http://wwv.gz-zh.ch) and some of them offer English play groups, singing etc. I know the one in Oerlikon does.

In Winterthur they have the Familienzentrum, a great place to meet (international) mums. They have an English singing group every 2nd Wednesday and also start German courses with babysitter included.