Hi,

Could really do with some advice on the Swiss school system. My boys are 10, 8 and 3, were looking to move to Genea/Vaud in May 08. My younger boy will go to a Swiss local school the issue is my eldest boy who is due to start secondary school in Sept 08. My partner went to the Internaional schoolin Vaud which he enjoyed but he feels the kids should go to a Swiss school because of the cost of fee's. I have been told I can earn about 160,000ch a year but I'm concered with the cost of living in Swiss that once schools fees are paid and housing and bills not alot will be left.

Can anyone advice if they have been in the situation with kids of a similar age to mine and if they opted for local schools or Intenational. I don't want my boys to feel isolated in a local school or fall behind.

Thanks.

Hi,

I'm also curious to hear the latest on what people have to say since we're considering a move there, provided the job comes through. While I've read lots of negative things about the public schools on various threads, I haven't been able to find many impressions specific to the Geneva/Vaud public schools. Our kids would be 4th and 1st here in the US next year.

We're not sure that we'd have the salary to pay for bilingual school anyway and unless we really don't like Switzerland (which I find hard to believe could happen), we'd probably be there for awhile, so public school seems logical. But our kids are in "gifted" programs here in the US (basically they get 2 years of math crammed into one year (from 3rd grade on up) and supposedly more "critical thinking" activities, so the slower pace may be a concern once they learn the language. It's so hard to gauge.


Hopefully you'll get some responses. Have you joined the Yahoo group called Swiss Schooling? That's another spot where I read lots of negative comments but many people were in German speaking parts of the country. I'd like to post the same question there and see if there are any new responses.

Nancy

TBH, I think it depends on whether you are planning to stay for a length of time. It would be pretty disruptive to start at Swiss school then return to your home country. If you are coming forever, it is a route I would consider strongly. If however you are only coming for a couple of years, it would make more sense to continue his education in a model he is familiar with.

Hi

yes try the swiss schooling website
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Swiss-Schooling/

I've only got experience with the local schools in the Zurich area, so can't really help with the area your looking at. Hopefully you'll get some helpful info on the above site from others who've been in the same situation. Good luck Catherine

When we first came to Switzerland and I was working as a contractor, we put our three children (aged 10, 8 and 8) into an International school. Even working as a contractor, the fees were very high. It was good, however, for starting your circle of friends here. The other side, that you need to remember, is that the majority of children in the International schools will be relocated elsewhere after a couple of years and so your kids will loose their friends.

After the first year, we took the decision to move our children to the local school, in our village. The toughest part was, actually, making the decision in the first place. Telling the children was tough for my wife and I but they just said "ok". The school president arranged some extra French lessons for them and they started in the local school at the end of August 2006. My Twins finished their French lessons at Christmas 2006 and my eldest finished at Easter 2007.

Now they can switch between English and French without even thinking about it and are fluent. My ten year-old is also learning German, as is complulsory from age 8 in Canton Fribourg.

The bonus is that now they have friends in our village who will be with them for many years. This has also helped us to be accepted into our village - or maybe this was just owning the big (55Kg) Swiss dog! :-)

There have been numerous discussions on this topic which I sure you will be able to find on the forum. My experience of my kids in Geneva was to put them in the state system. They intergrated into our local community, were fluent within months, made really good friends ( and I did too!). Geneva is a place where people are coming and going all the time . There is nothing worse than your kids best friends moving to Dubai or somewhere. That is just my opinion . Plus if it is you who picks the fees up, you will save yourselves loads

Hi,

Have just finished describing our decision on a previous thread, but as you want to know specifically about International school fees....

Of the four children we brought with us to Switzerland, we only sent the oldest (aged 12 at the time) to the local International School. The other three went to the local village school and have done really well there, learning German/Swiss German, playing with friends in the village and having a fantastic time.

Although we have a substantial income, the International School fees have nearly crippled us over the two years that our son has been there. So we have taken the decision to send him back to the UK for the next academic year. Although there were other factors in the decision, the cost of the fees had the greatest influence, because they increase as the child moves up the school.

For people who don't get relocated by their company, and who therefore do not get their children's fees paid for them, it is extremely expensive, and there is no significant reduction for child no. 2 or 3, either.

On the upside - as mentioned already by others - I was very isolated here and have made no real friends in the village. Everybody I have met has been very friendly, but the people I have grown closest to are all people (both Swiss and foreign) who I have met through the International School.

The other point to mention, is that here at least, it is very difficult for mothers to earn a good salary if they are also responsible for childcare. Of our three children in local school, they only attend school from 8.20 to 11.50 every day. In the afternoons each class only goes to school for one day a week, so I have at least one child at home from midday every day of the week. Parents who choose the International School are more flexible in that respect, as the hours are a straight 8.20 to 3.15 every day except Wednesday. But many still need to employ a childminder or nanny to cover the rest of the full-time working week, which combined with the school fees probably covers most of your earnings.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.