Here I go again! Sorry Mark did not read the comments you made about the Introduction Protocols.

I would like to know if anyone here has teenagers at a International School. We will be living in Zug and the Riverside International School seems to be the one where we want to send our girls.

Problem is, even though my husband is earning an excellent wage, the annual school fees are horrendously expensive. The girls are going to a private all girls school here in Perth (Australia) so the fees are expensive here, but SF30,000 a year per child takes the cake.

My husband has just been offered a permanent position within his company (he was on a 3 mnth contract) and now we are looking at relocating back to Switzerland for 5 yrs or so. Is there anyone that has had their childrens school fees at an international school included in their relocation package. If so, how did you go about it?

Looking forwards to your feedback!

Hi Micky-

My older son goes to ZIS (he is in 6th grade) and as my husband is a teacher there the tuition is included as a benefit. I don't know much about Riverside other that my husband's former "boss" and colleague is the headmaster there.

If you don't get much feedback here, you could join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Expats-in-Zug
and ask your questions there. I know that there are members there with their kids at ISoZ. Perhaps there are those who could contact you with the contract questions.

Good luck with your information gathering!

Hi Carmen

Thanks for the feedback I will check out the link.

hello,
my two kids went to the ,what was then ,the American Int of Zurich in Kilchberg.My son was 14 and so did 4 years to graduation and my daughter 16 and 2 years to graduation.They thoroughly enjoyed the experience meeting kids from mainly expats ,British,American,Finnish,Swedish all with their parents working here.There were also Swiss kids there from wealthy parents as the fees are quite expensive. In my case the fees were paid by my company as part of a relocation package and you should strongly push for this as part of your package.Most of the big companies provide this.The teaching was great and the opporunites endless.My son for example went playing rugby in Brussels at weekends! Not much chance of that in the UK.
They both got good grades(recognised in the UK) and went on to Uni in the UK and have done well.
Push for the package as your kids education is THE most important aspect of a move especially if you move on after 5 years(don't know how old yours are).
all the best

Hello,

I have myself tried very hard to get this as a part of my package but being "locally" hired I was told that the company could not pay that fee. Had I been relocated by the same company I would have had the fees covered.

I know that you could try and push, but in my case they have been very generous otherwise so the fee should be at my expense. I was about to ask whether their grades are equivalent to the A's levels as I would like my son to study in a UK University and I liked the fact that they obviously are.

Cheers,

John

Hi Cricketer

Thanks for the input. Talked to my husband last night, and he said he is not actually on a relocation package, as initially he was hired on a 3 month contract basis and then they asked him to stay on permanently and gave him a promotion. As far as I am concerned they knew that he was from Australia and that his family was staying here while doing the contract. Anyway it will give him something to bargain for. My girls are aged 16 this year and 13. I dont really understand the American/Swiss/English curriculum as I think it is different to Australia. Here my eldest daughter would be doing her last year of High School (yr 12) next year and then she would be eligible for Uni if of course she has the grades. So basically the kids here finish school the year they turn 17. I believe that over there they finish school the year they turn 18! Is this correct?

Hi John

I really cant help you with schooling and university entrance in the UK, as I am myself a bit confused about all the different curriculums. I believe that the Australian Curriculum is similar to the UK and they do work on A levels. From what I also understand is that my daughters will be quite a bit ahead academically then over there as my oldest daughter who will be 16 this year is already streamlining all her subjects for university entrance over here.

Sorry that I cant help you more!

Hi

Just to let you know that I am really thankful for all your posts.

I am going to Phuket on a holiday this afternoon and meeting up with my husband. I will be away for 2 weeks, so if I dont reply, its not that I am rude, I am just not here. Look forward to chatting with you all later.

Hi Micky,

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth - I'm an Aussie teacher, but have been teaching in the international school system for about 5 years, so I thought I would add in a few things.... sometimes the age difference is simply due to different starting dates/ages back in primary school, although of course it will also depend on birthdays/timing etc, but there should be no problem moving from the equivalent year in Australia to the equivalent year over here.

From the ages and what I can gather from the Riverside website, your eldest will have the opportunity to do AP course, which is the American advanced placement. I would suggest, if your daughter knows where she would like to go to university, or what course she would like to do, it might be worth a call to some of the Aussie unis to get their entrace requirements for non-Australian high school diploma, and find out what kind of recognition the AP program has - most of the unis should have an AP policy, often it is a recognised course for university entry in Australia/UK, while in the US often students can gain college credit, so it is worth checking out with the relevant universities. The college counsellor at Riverside should also help with this, so it might be worth setting up an appointment with them, even on a visit before they start school, if you have the chance. Your youngest, however, will do the IB Middle Years and Diploma programme, which is recognised pretty much everywhere.

Another thing woth considering is the 'when' of your move in relation to what year the girls will start at the school. Often students from Australia will 'redo' half a year, because of the difference in the school year/calendar year. If you are moving around the May/June/July time, it would be worth contacting the school to see if there is any work your eldest girl can /should complete while she is in Australia or over the summer holidays (over here). Often schools have their course descriptions available for email too, which can help to get an idea of what will be studied, or even what has been studied in year 11, and let you get an idea od any differences in the curriculum between what she is studying in Australia vs. over here.

Hope this helps a little!! Feel free to get in touch via email or PM if there is anything I can help with! Hope your move goes well, and that you had a great holiday in Thailand!

Thanks Micky!

I appreciate your reply!

I am going to drop Mepriana a line to ask for some details.

Good luck and let us know how you have progressed on this VERY important matter.

Cheers,

John