day in the life of a student in swiss schools

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Hi,

I am a middle school student in NC. I am working on a year long project on Switzerland. This month I need to detail education and school life in Switzerland. I have lots of the formal stuff about the types of schools and levels. What I need is to get some info about what a kid does at school. What courses does a 12 year old take? How long are they in school each day? Do they take physical ed, music, art or computer courses? Is lunch at school or at home. How much homework do they have every day? Do they go on field trips? If anyone has a son or daughter who would like to answer me that would be great!!!

Thanks!

msk

2
i think you'll find that enless you are willing to pay, the swiss schooling is pretty basic... Thats just what ive heard but im sure... some other members on here will be able to give you some detailed info im sure.

3
That information is totally incorrect . It would be a better idea not to post, than post rubbish you nothing about. Or even educate yourself by searching these forums for more info on the Swiss school system...

4
Well ab fab, perhaps you could tell us why you think that the information I gave is “totally incorrect”??? I've heard different about the way the education system works here. I'm sure it depends on the school and the teachers but primary and secondary schools don’t stick to a national curriculum, instead they have guidelines as to what they should teach. Whereas in the UK children will do their Key stages then move onto GCSEs and A-levels, in France children do the “brevet” then move on to the French “BAC”. In Switzerland??? I personally haven’t been to a Swiss school so I can only tell you what I’ve read and heard but if you could tell me why you think the information I’ve given is totally incorrect, would be great to hear from you...

Regards

CM

5
I tend to agree with ab fab. However, it all comes down to the teacher in the end. Personally, we have had great experiences with the Swiss school system so far. Musical tuition, for example, starts at Kindergarten age and is free of charge! My older son's school class went to a music/orchestra project at the Zürcher Tonhalle last year, met professional musicians, was given the opportunity to play their instruments and they put together a concert on the third evening. Cost? Zero. There are numerous activities (from computer workshops to acrobatics, dance and, and, and..) for school children throughout the year and during the school holidays - at good prices. My son (8) goes to English lessons at his school and the teacher is willing to give him extra work during these classes, suitable to his level. That's what I call flexibility and adaptability. This is in Zurich City - I'm sure other families have had similar or other experiencees.

6
Well, I think too that the first posted reply is rubbish - mostly posting from hearsay, rather than from experience.

my kid - she is 11 - went through a few years (pre-K, then k and grade 1) in the US, and when moving to french switzerland she joined local public schools, quite seamlessly. Of course, she speaks french, but when we moved it was a lot less refined.

Truth is that the responsibility for education in Switzerland rests on the cantons, not on the confederation - there are large regional differences (3 languages, remember), and this is a way to keep the into account. However, if cantonal differences are easily found, standards are uphelp: 3 main education path, starting from about 12 yrs old (age of differentiation vary by canton): one is the "baccalauréat", so future university, second is "generic", so less complete but still covering most subjects but at a lesser level, third is "options", a more limited one where subjects are divided in mandatory and optional to lessen further the load - this one drives up to the "apprentissages" - so in fact to trade jobs. Bac is recognized internationally.

Note that 2 (and in case of the Bac option, 3) languages are included on top of the local one... so that most of the population can speak at least 3 languages... CM, I don't think that public schools in UK (nor elsewhere!!!) get anywhere close to that!!!

Finally, some extra-curriculum activities are included in the school year - typically ski trips. Every year, every class has a week off with school teachers in a chalet, learning some basics - my daughter this year learnt x-country ski and tried out snowboard... for a price of 50 pounds for the week to ensure that all kids get a chance at trying it. unbeatable, frankly.

Now, for the day in the life of the student:

Most kids still come home for lunch. It is a big problem for working moms (there are currently initiatives to change that). School day goes from 7h30-8h00 to 12h00, then from 13h30 to 16h30 (actual times vary depending on age, youger children start later and finish earlier). In this are included hours of gym, hours of swimming, crafts, and in the later year even basic cooking. The key subjects of the curriculum are Local language (so in our area, french), math and 1stforeign language (in our area, German, studied as early as 8 yrs old). As of next year, the 2nd language will be added (Italian or Latin), English will come later.

I would not put my kid back in international schools or in other ones... these are waaaaay better, if not perfect.

7
You can read about Swiss and international schools here for a start:

www.englishforum.ch/family-matters/2955-confused-about-schools.html?highlight=swiss+schools

The Swiss state system is old-fashioned and excellent. The equivalent of grammar schools (Gymnasium) and secondary modern (Sekundar) still exist. Every canton has its own version - like most systems here - the political system here is federal, not national.

In a nutshell, parents only send their children to private school, if there is a problem with the child, not as in the UK with the school system.

8
thanks for that Ab fab.... will try and read all the posts on the subject...

9
Having worked in a university in the UK where I interviewed students who had come out of school having done their Key Stages, GCSEs, A Levels and all the rest of it I used to despair at the level of literacy - basic literacy such as being able to spell the name of the town that they lived in - complete inability to recognise what the purpose was of an apostrophe or any punctuation for that matter. Not only did they struggle with the English language the thought that there could be a language other than English was alien to them. I worked for a real university too and not just a polytechnic in drag. My friend's children are in a Swiss school and every child speaks German, English, Swiss German and French with varying degrees of competence and that's something that you don't find as a matter of course in the UK.

10
Schooling in the United States does not build up to anything like in these other countries. Most students take the SATs, but these are organized and administrated by a private company, and are not required for graduation. In addition, schools are the responsibility of the local and state governments -- the federal government only began to legislate national standards under President George W. Bush with NCLB. Curriculum is, as far as I am aware, primarily determined by the local school boards. Teachers and these boards have lost power as of late due to the desire to introduce standardized, state-administered tests at different levels (a la MCAS in Massachusetts).

If you then take this into consideration, it is surprising that the different schools systems are sometimes so incompatible with one another in Switzerland, because despite the lack of centralization in the US one can easily move between districts and states (or from how I understand things). The different cantons and federal government have been attempting to change this during the past decade, in order to promote inter-cantonal flexibility, so that children are able to change cantons without as many problems.

None of this, however, answers the question about how school is for a 12 year old. What a 12 year old does depends upon what "branch" of schooling he or she is sent to. My wife tells me this is the first year when everyone is really split -- and a large part of their life is already being determined for them. The classes, their difficulty, and the amount of homework varies based upon the branch / type of school and in which canton one lives. I hope this helps a bit. If you want a real description send me a private message and I will ask my wife for information on her experience here in Aargau.

11
This absolutely determines a child's life and future, and once this path has been set it becomes extremely difficult for the child to switch paths. Your whole life can be completely decided at the age of 13. Attending University later in life isn't a possibility without going back to the equivalent of high school (matura) and starting all over again. This is probably the biggest difference between US and Swiss educational systems, IMO.

12
Yes - the lack of university education is what really struck me about Switzerland. Comapred to the UK or Ireland there are relatively few people going to university, many seem to end up in apprenticeships really early on and their life is then fixed.

I know quite a few very intelligent Swiss people who had never been to university but instead had ended up in various undemanding (ie less than they were capable of) careers purely because that's the way their path had been determined at school. I asked them why they didn't go to Uni but they said that their career path was just fixed as a result of their schooling quite early on (?) I have to admit, I never really understood that process but I know for sure that these people were easily bright enough to have done really well at university.

Many of them ended up spending years studying part-time in their late 20s/early 30s, giving up every weekend for 3-4 years in order to get the sort of educational qualifications that they would surely have had by age 21 in many other educational systems. To me, that can't be the right way to go about things.

I'm sure that the 'basics' are covered pretty well by the Swiss system, certainly as well as the UK one (the same caveats apply regarding the luck of getting a good/bad local school). However, higher education is a real weakness it would seem. You only have to look at the huge demand for educated, skilled foreigners for high-level jobs in CH. Plus I remember reading in another thread here how more than average numbers of foreign students are brought in for postgrad places in Swiss universities as there isn't enough local graduate talent to fill them.

The Swiss system seems to me to be very much geared at churning out people to fill the various vacancies in society, not to enable the maximum potential of the individual and to give them a chance to realise their aspirations.

Maybe the solution for expats is to educate the kids in the state system until secondary level and then look at what other possibilities exist privately?

Gav

13
Gav - you certainly have an excellent point there - especially if the question is: what is better from the individual's point of view.

I want still point out that a society MUST ensure filling of vacancies and usefulness of most individuals before it tries to get the "maximum potential of the individual". I also think that pushing kids in a path or another of life at 12 or 13 (or 11, as it is for my kid's, as she is 2 years early in her schooling) is too early - way too early. I also think that university is not needed by much of the population, and that many of the "college" or "university" titles that I have seen in the US do not provide any knowledge - just a few more years out of working world. Frankly, the "apprentissage" system is quite good: what the Swiss society manages to do quite beautifully is to impress that there is no shame in choosing a different path than university. I've known and I know many very smart people successfully working as cooks or nurses or managing the purchasing for fresh fruits and vegetables for Migros (talk about a challange!!!). I also know sadly university graduates out of a job, because nothing is "at their level"...

Let's remember that University here is close to free (about 400 CHF/semester), while the cost is sometimes huge in other countries. Isn't it better to select on a merit base, rather than on money and tuition? Of course, I still agree that 13 is too young.

In the end, all systems contain good and bad - sadly. If one could find a perfect one... let me know...

14
I don't see this as being too different to the UK system of the 11plus taken at 11years of age, and streaming of kids to either Grammar or Comprehensive school, effectively the grammar school boys went on to Uni and the comp kids didn't. Although it has changed today this system of streaming is still in place (as far as I'm aware) good grammar schools are still sought after. The big difference in the UK is that they don't have an effective apprentiship system in place to prepare children for life after school.

Nick.

15
Hi,

sorry off topic-I have to take issues with this. many nurses have university degrees now, the norm in the UK. many myself included have masters level also ( I have 2 masters degrees and teach at university level too)

Quote !! " very smart people successfully working as cooks or nurses "

Most nurses are very smart and pretty well educated,. because we decide not to go into a lucrative profession eg bamking does not make us any less smart- or maybe>> some one mentioned this in another topic- sorry I get quite cross when people assume we ie nurses , are all stupid!

Jo

16
You guys might want to be careful in the use of grammar school here. The OP is American - grammar school in the US is the first 5 or 6 years a child attends school.

17
With the utmost respect I would submit that the honourable gentleman is talking through his rectorum glorianum.

Most of my university contemporaries (1986-89) of any worth came from comprehensive schools. The grammar and public school escapees were often the least able students and spent most of their university careers propping up the Union Bar at Bob Marley House safe in the knowledge that Daddy would find them a nice job in the city as a swinging-dick financial manager at a merchant bank.

Cheers,

Nick

18
Please try to remember that the OP is a 12 year old school kid wanting to know about the Swiss education system. Keep on topic & for this thread try to keep at least PG rated.

19
Now who's talking through their backside? Since when did Grammar school parents have two brass farthings to rub together - or even know what a merchant bank was? They didn't up north. Get it right...

20
Maybe you could provide some information on what you personally think or have experienced instead of criticising everyone else.