Just curious if anyone has any experience with the La Cote international school. We will be new to the Vaud region this year and my son will be entering year 3 this year and we were accepted at the school.
thanks
Hello All,
Its a very new school, just started a few years ago in the area. I'm not sure it has the facilities to compete with the other international schools in the area, but I know some parents who sent their children there who seem reasonably happy with it.
Thanks LR!
Per their website they are opening a new facility in 2012, but for now if they are at least in a nice neighborhood and the children seem happy and safe I could cope with some growing pains.
hello. I am considering this school called La Cote International school in Gland (near Nyon). I was wondering if anyone has had a child go there or have heard anything about it. I visited the school and thought it was nice, but was just wondering... Thank you
Hi Camille,
not sure how much it will help but I posted the same question a couple of weeks ago and got the following reply from LRINGENEVA (sorry, don't know how to create the links yet but this was the only reply)
"Its a very new school, just started a few years ago in the area. I'm not sure it has the facilities to compete with the other international schools in the area, but I know some parents who sent their children there who seem reasonably happy with it."
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about the visit in more detail as we will be visiting the week of July 18th looking at housing/schools in advance of our mid august arrival and Monts-de-corsier and La-Cote are two of the school stops on our agenda (St. Georges, Champittet and Haut Loc will round out our tour (based on a collegues review, ISL and ISG La Chat were our first choices but they did not have space for us).
good luck!
Thanks for the response. I toured the school (cote) and found the students really nice. Corsier is only for primary grades I think. It is also 70 k away from the other school. Corsier is in a beautiful setting. La Cote is a small school, but I like that, as my son is shy. Both had a friendly staff. Are your children in middle school?
Camille,
It would have been nice to tour the school whenn it was in session but our timing did not work out that way. Corsier would be closer to where my wife's office will be (Morges) but we have only been provisionally accepted to La Cote. I too like the idea of a small school because it makes it a lot harder for kids to get lost in the shuffle and for the more quiet kids (ours is too) they are more often prompted to be part of the class which is helpful (IMO). Our kids our 7 and 2 so primary and not just yet. Let me know what you decide.
good luck
Not sure if you've tried the search function, but these threads have already discussed the school.
Hi Camille
Just to let you know our daughters spent two years at La Cote and our son 3 months before we returned to the UK.
The two girls were year 6 and year 4 and my son was foundation 1 when we left.
The girls will tell you its the best school they've ever attended and my son loved it.
We personally loved the school. The teachers were amazing, the pupils and parents equally as nice.
Since returning to the UK both daughters were achieving above expected grades for their years and their UK school were very impressed with their education in Switzerland.
Good luck for the new school year.
Hello--
My two children have been going to school there since it opened 3 years ago. My son is in Year 5, and my daughter is in Year 8. The have recently inaugurated the MYP program in preparation for the IB. The teachers are excellent, and the students and families are lovely. Primary class size is limited to 18, but the MYP program is just getting off the ground, and the class size is much smaller -- almost like private tutoring (they have different teachers for each subject). It's true that the school facilities are tight, and it has some of the mild growing pains you would expect of any school getting started. But the headteacher is fantastic and responsive and hardworking. The students get a lot of personal attention.
Hi JFortier (and others with children in La Cote),
How is the afterschool programme? I can't seem to find any information on this. Only that school ends at 15:30. Do they have a programme until 17:00 or 18:00?
Thanks
Hi all,
I have just visited this school "La Cote International School" that is just outside Nyon. They were part of three school cooperation, but have since been purchased by another owning company that also owns schools abroad. They have concrete plans to move to a new, purpose premise in 2 years time (expected sept 2014) and for now its situated in a kind of converted house/farm. From the outside it doesnt look all that, but inside the classes are nice and the atmosphere is pretty positive. The teachers and staff seem very competent and gave me a good impression. Fees are similar to the other international schools in Lausanne and Geneva,which for the current facilities might seem a bit steep. But if they do move to their new building (situated in Aubonne) they it would be well worth it.
Classes are I believe from age 4 to 15 but they are adding the year as the current most senior class goes up a year so it would support younger children growing up through the classes.
I haven't really heard anything good about this place. The location is quite shotty and from what I hear they promise this and that and not much comes to fruition.
Hi Nina. Has this viewpoint changed at all? I only ask as my wife and I were at a music concert on Thursday evening in the 'new building' in Aubonne and it seemed a rather lovely place. The concert was great and the post concert nibbles and drinks with other folk (I assume parents and guests from the school) was very convivial. We have an 11 year old daughter (eldest starting university shortly) and would want to delve a bit deeper into what La Cote has to offer. They seem quite big on the creative arts which is something we have not seen from other international schools nearby (except Rosy which is financially beyond us)
I believe it has been in its new building for over a year now I think - owned by the Nord Anglia Education Group (who also own College du Leman, Beau Soleil and Champittet according to their website).
We went to a function there last year and were impressed. My wife also saw them featured on Swiss TV the other day involved in the 'Champions' celebration in Lausanne with Bastien Baker and Stephane Lambiel (skater). Their choir is performing? Seems to be doing rather well in what must be a very competitive market at the moment.
Edited to add: Apologies, this was an old thread and I didn't realise
We recently moved our son to this school, which uniquely,on top of the normal IB programme, also offers a bilingual Swiss maturité stream. Our experience is nothing but positive, a relatively small school hidden in the apple groves of Aubonne, but with a global outlook - well worth a visit, to experience the new building, and see first hand how passionate they are about education. I am sharing our experience as I know how hard it is to decide upon a school... we are glad we did.
Er..no it doesn't. It allows students between the ages of 10 and 12 to follow a programme which would allow them to access the maturité at a suitable age. Since it doesn't actually offer the maturité, according to the school website, that would have to be done elsewhere.
Is there anyone out there with more up to date info about the school? We are moving to the area for September and from info online were considering for our kids. Was out in early December and got talking in a bar with a former teacher who was certainly not positive about the senior end of the school. Any advice on this or rival school Gems most welcome.
Just giving this a little boost? Looking for objective info about these two schools.
Hi DylanD. We (wife and I) have heard both favorable and less favorable comment about both schools. Certainly if you have kids of school age a visit is advisable.
La Cote has had significant change in its ranks recently, from the Principal and Head of Secondary ‘moving on’ and staff resigning/leaving - mainly across the high school end (secondary in Brit speak) as we understand it. Many staff left (sone good ones we have heard) and around 20 staff moved on in the summer. Primary seems more settled but can’t comment with experience of that age group.
GEMS has also seen change with a new head recently (2 years?) and it has more facilities than La Cote but has struggled a bit with numbers but is now growing.
Both have their merits and as I said, both should be visited....but do so with ‘eyes wide open’ as there is still much dinner table gossip (the most dangerous type...) going on.
We see socially parents and some staff in the area and its interesting times in International Schooling currently; much choice and seemingly a considerable sea of mediocrity and excellence out there. If you can find parents who have their children at one around the lake that’ll be a good start to get some inside information.
Oh, and pubs always a good starting point
Good luck with it.