Hi,

No I do not pay tax at source and this is one of the many bills that are submitted to my accountant, along with the Mortgage details, repair/maintenance costs, travel costs etc... But I thought the allowance was just 2K per year, even if it's 4k it's peanuts compared to the costs as it is over 2K per month. But with both of us working, this is affordable (but I sometimes wonder what we could do with the extra dosh).

Hi
One thing I think that needs mentioning is how English speaking parents also need to integrate when you send your kids to a local school. We`ve been here 5 months now and decided to put our kids in a local school, my daughter (7) is doing really well, wheras my son (11) is struggling a little more.

The problem I find is that the parents also need to dedicate time to learning German to be able to help the kids with homework or to understand the letters sent home by the school, my typing skills are improving as I get to practice by typing school letters and homework assignments into google translate so that I can understand what they/I need to be doing.

In short, a local school is not only effort for the kids........but I still believe it is the better option

T

I join the chorus of those who recommend immediate entry into the local schools. There is plenty to gain.

So what is the worst case? Your children may have to repeat a school year. That sounds bad but is actually good. They will be top-of-the-class having heard it all before. And they will have time for hobbies, making friends and generally feeling good on top.

If you intend staying in CH for some time, then send your kids to the local
school - better for them and good to get you integrated into the local community.
My daughter (14) is Swiss at school and British at home; she has the best of both worlds!!

I dont know. I do not have kids but have friends both Swiss and non-Swiss with children.

The non-Swiss parents say they fear their kids will fall into the vocational route simply because the Swiss would prefer to keep the gymnasium to the Swiss.

However, my Swiss friends say that it is just as hard to get their kids to pass the university route. A simple thing like the teacher not liking the child could affect the outcome.

I think it is horrible to have this route system for children so young frankly.

Looking back on my educational background in America...thank goodness I had the option to change to what I wanted although it was university.

I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up ...and I think students should have the option to TRY and then be assessed depending on their skills, motivation and success.

This is a very good point. I have intermediate level French, which is good enough to understand school letters and translate all my son's homework instructions. But it's a lot more work for me than if he was in an English-speaking school. He's good at maths, but sometimes needs me to teach him a concept because he didn't understand exactly what happened in class (had this last week with column subtraction, where you have to carry over 10s and 100s - that took me back!). Obviously I have to really help him to do his French - he's getting the same homework as the other kids, so I've been using it as a base to explain verbs, how they conjugate by subject and tense, which led onto what a subject is, what a pronoun is, etc etc. All this has to be done in English - 8yr olds in UK schools do not know how to parse a sentence to identify subject, object, etc - before we can even start the French.

But, like Tazylack said, despite this I still like this option. His teacher is marvellous - very motivated to help him; in fact I've had to ask her to STOP giving him individual tuition in English, which she speaks fluently. She is now using a lot more French with him and is, I think, giving him this level of homework based on the fact she knows I speak French and can coach him a little, as she still has 20-odd other kids to help. I don't know if it's normal practice to expect kids who don't speak the language yet to do homework like this!

I see it as a short-term pain thing - mostly for me, I hasten to add; he's perfectly happy - that I'm trading off all this extra effort for a second language for him for the future. To me, that's worth it.

kodokan

for me, i would wonder if my kids would continue in the Swiss school system until they were 18.

if so then i would prefer they integrate eventhough it would be tougher for them. however, if there was a chance of only staying here for a few years, if you can afford it...send them to international schools IF you want them to be able to continue their higher education elsewhere...

Your posting confuses me. If I understand correctly, you teach in a private school but put your own kids into the state system.

Does this mean you don't believe in the private system although you work in it yourself? Of course I understand that you may not wish your kids to attend the school where you teach, but surely there must be similar schools you could send them to?

Sorry for asking. I'm just curious about how people pick schools.

Also, on a different topic, does anybody here have experience with Steiner schools? Would you care to share any opinions? I gather they are much more popular here than they are in Britain. I wonder why?

Our kids are in a fee-paying school. My husband is a teacher at that school. There is no way we could afford to send our kids to the school where he teaches unless they offered us a big discount on tuition...which they do, and even then our school fees are more than our rent...and we have a third child who will need to go to school in a couple of years...

However, I go on my father's advice -
- invest in the early years, they are the foundation for life
- and if you have any cash left over, save it to buy your kid a place at university in whatever course they want to do...

We are happy with our choice of a bilingual school for our children because we are planning for the eldest to go to do secondary and tertiary education in English...and our middle child is in 2nd class with a native (high) German speaker and a native (Canadian) english speaker...

However, as everyone else has said, if you are planning to integrate, that means doing secondary and tertiary studies in one of the national languages... or save a lot of pennies so they can study outside of Switzerland...

Oh, yes and as the daughter of a teacher as well as the wife of one, there are LOTS of good reasons why not to put your child into the school where you work...

Yes. I teach at a private school and our daughter goes to the local primary school. Our reasons:

1. We can't afford the school fees where I work (We also can't afford to live near the school)
2. I'm not sure I'd want to work at the same school as my daughter was attending (it's a small school)
3. Our daughter is trilingual (including English) so does not need to attend a private bilingual school
4. We want our daughter to attend the local school, to have friends who live nearby, to integrate as a family in the local community, for her to be able to walk to school
5. We have been, up till now, very happy with the local schools (we moved this year, so have experienced 2 different ones so far)

It's not a case of not believing in the private system - as you say, I do indeed work in it, and generally am very happy The question is: why send our child to a private school when there is an excellent local state school?

My sister went to a Steiner school in Sydney. She got to choose her syllabus each day and she was reading the entire newspaper by age 8 It ended up being too far from home so the daily school run so she left to be homeschooled.

I believe in choosing the school closest to your home. All the kids in my neighbourhood walk themselves to school and home for lunch. No school run for the parents who can be at home (from working too) with lunch ready.

Hello all!

My child (15-years old English-speaking lady) is going to move to Geneva and we try to find a school for her.
She does not speak French, but is very good in mathematics, chemistry etc.
In public schools "Classes d`accueil" are organised for non-french speaking pupils, do you have any experiences with this system? Could you recommend others to start with these classes?
Is here any option to start directly with normal classes?

Thank you for reply!
B.

Lots of good points made in this thread. I agree that many International Schools are monolingual English all round the world, but I teach in an International School in Vaud that tries very hard to promote bilingualism, and many native English speaking kids have excellent French. Staff are encouraged to improve their second language (English or French) and are offered free lessons.