Hello all, and Happy New Year!
I am writing to ask advice about schools. I have 2 children who are 3 and 6 years of age and I was wondering which schools in Zurich people would recommend. My husband and myself are coming out to Zurich at the end of January and I would like to make some appointments to look at schools during that trip.
Thankyou in advance.
Swan

Sorry, I should have said that we were looking at International schools.
Swan

Hi,

You can try the international school in Wallisellen, opposite the Glatt centre, which I believe is the biggest shopping centre in CH, its also close to the airport. We have two children there who are three years old (twins) and they are progressing well. www.international-school.ch

I can also recommend WAC, for families with children. http://www.wac.ch/ our twins have english ski-ing lessons arranged on each Sunday morning from next week onwards, snow permitting!

Andy

Thanks Andy,
I have taken a look at their website and it does look like a nice school. Could you also give me any tips on nice areas to live in with young children.
Thanks again
Swan

Hi

MY son goes to the Swiss International School www.swissinternationalschool.ch in Seestrasse, Zurich. It is a dual language school so the children get to learn both English and German.

Just a few months ago, I had the same questions in mind, where to live and which schools to choose from?

I have two children (41/2 and 2 yrs. old). My older one goes to Swiss Int'l School in Wallisellen too. We like the school because it's smaller scale and feels more intimate. Because of the school location, we choose to live in Wallisellen. It's very convenient. We have a small Migros and medium CO-OP(two major supermarkets here) in town. 3 minutes walk from the school, there is Glatt Centre (big shopping mall and there has a big Migros in it). We walk to school and shops; especially when you are new here, I think it's a great town to live in. It's only 10mins. train ride to Zurich city.

Hope it helps. Good luck.

You could try Zurich International School (ages 3 - 18) www.zis.ch, which I believe has something of an American bias or the Inter-Community School (also 3 - 18), www.icsz.ch. There are a number of bilingual schools that cater for the primary years. You should be able to find them easily with a bit of Googling.

As for areas to live, you should probably think about the school first and then look for somewhere to live that's relatively near to it. ZIS is on one side of the lake, ICSZ is on the other. You don't want to be travelling through Zurich from one side of the lake to the other every day.

If your older child has already been in school in the UK (which I assume to be the case) you may find the lower grades to be a bit of a shock. My own youngest child was reading when he went to an international school here, aged 5, but the work in the classroom did not challenge him at all. Most of the other kids couldn't read as many other countries don't start their proper schooling until 6 or even later. Be prepared.

Also, some of the schools have waiting lists. You might not get in straight away. If you or your husband are working for one of the big, international companies that have some kind of "donation" arrangement then you might have a better chance of getting your kids in. The sooner you do it the better.

Also a small note on the marking system: When I went to the UK I was shocked that grades as low as 70% still could get you an A. F, obviously, was a fail.
Here we mark from 1 (abismal) to 6 (perfect) with half and quarter marks being used and a lot of people think that 6 is an A, 5-6 is a B, 5 is a C and so on, meaning that a 5 is felt to be a disappointing mark.
But the calculation of the marking is handled rather differently here, it's usually a case of 100% right gets you an 6, no less. So if your kid comes home with what in your mind is a B or a C, he still has done quite well...

I think that the primary school level is fairly easy here as everyone is together but from age 12 you really start to feel a difference when it comes to the workload and what is expected from the kid. Obviously, if you are doing IB or A-Levels, it's not quite so dramatic but the matura is blooming hard. I had to finish my schooling in England because I couldn't cut it but ended up taking 5 A-Levels and being invited for interview to Cambridge and receiving a place in Durham.

our son goes to the international school in schaffhausen...very nice town. the school is located right at the river rhine. small school, we are very happy there.
by train 40 min. to zuerich, so only if you prefere not to live in a big city put still close to all.

www.hullschool.ch
I think this one may only be for older children but i knew a girl who went there to brush up on her french for her CFP exams (19 years old)...
PS. I wouldent bother with swiss state schools as they tend to be ****!!!

It would be helpful if you could substantiate such sweeping statements.

Firstly, Hull School is a language school for adults. This thread is about where to send children of expats.

Secondly, what do know about the Swiss education system to be able to advise parents "not to bother" with it because Swiss state schools "tend to be ****!!!"?

Please either provide evidence from either your own experience in the Swiss state-school system or some online articles to back up this advice...

My three children go to the Zurich International school. One in Wadenswil, one in Horgen and the other in Kilchberg. As its such a big school they have four campus for the different levels. preschool, primary, middle and high. I have been very happy with the schools and the social life it provides for me too !! There is a very active Parents Association which ôffers many social events for Moms and Dads. Great when you don't know a soul !! As already mentioned you should look quickly as the school fills up quickly.

www.zis.ch

Good luck !!

You want to elaborate on your opinion of Swiss schools? I'd be very interested to know why they tend to be **** as our children are at one of these.

I'd be curious too because I spent roughly 11 years in those **** schools as did most of my friends. If **** means "considerably harder work than what you are used to from other countries", then yes, the are absolutely, massively ****.

Would it not also depend upon which track they are directed towards? I am not entirely sure how much I like the idea of such disparate tracks. Originally it sounded good, but the more time that goes by the more skeptical I become. Gymnasium, though, is excellent, and they offer an English-language program as others have said on here before. Obviously that wouldn't exist for younger children.

I worked at most of these schools as a substitue teacher. It may be a good idea to contact American Women's association. The number used to be available through the US embassy. I am not sure if you mentined how long you intend to stay. The provision in schools is politically driven. this can be seen by looking at the percentage of children in each area that go on to Gymnasium or Uni. Farming areas school farmers. If you intend to move on the student needs to obtain the international baccalaureate. The big problem with International schools is that in order to finance themselves they take in a large number of non-English speaking students. I would ask about the percentage of ESL children in the school/classroom and how their needs are addressed. It is an excellent place to socially network though. If you are not staying permanently, I would place the student in an international school, but also pay for individual private tuition.
Long-term if the student can get into Gymi this is the best route, the student must be strong enough however to deal with transitions if they are to switch back later on. The International Bacc. and private lessons are still necessary.
for younger children sending them to a swiss preK or Kindergarten will give them an excellent advantage with language, also it's nice to have them close to home, however they will not learn at the same level (cognitively)as the UK or England. It is also a matter of socalilaization. Swiss schools emphasize adherence to the norm. Whereas US schools emphasize individualism. Swiss schools do not expect parents to be involved in school activities, you hand the kids over, they do expect you to stay home the timetable can be erratic. American schools rely heavily on parental input, which is a great way to integrate in an ex-pat organisation.

This "lot of people" are in need of some education themselves: if you mix the concept of a grade banding A,B,C,D,E etc with a system of absolute marking, then you obviously can't compare the top grade band with a perfect mark.

I remember when I was a lad (and all this was green fields) they introduced a grade for performance (A-E) and a number to represent the effort made by the student. The ultimate street credibility was achieved by someone who got a result of A-5. Maximum performance-Minimum effort.

dave

A boy at my school managed to persuade his mother for at least a couple of years that the British school grading system meant:

E Excellent
D Distinguished
C Common
B Bad
A Abysmal

It was only when he stated to improve his grades that he had to tell his mother the truth and stop her nagging him...

A friend of mine persuaded her mother that grade "U" (so bad that it is Unclassified with any grade) meant "U genius".

dave