EBSR vs Ecole Nouvelle (ENSR)

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
We have started visiting some private schools in Lausanne area for our 3-year old girl (to start next Aug/Sep when she'll be close to 4). We've been living in Switzerland for many years and our daughter speaks French and our mother tongue, but not English yet. And for us a bilingual curriculum is very important as well as good teaching and a high academic level. We also thought of starting an actual school earlier rather than her staying almost one more year in daycare and go to public school.

Hence we're considering private schools. We've now reduced our options to Ecole Bilingue de Suisse Romande (EBSR) and Ecole Nouvelle de Suisse Romande (ENSR), both of which are at reasonable distance to our place. We visited both places, and while we found the academic program of EBSR better (and the true bilingual nature), we found the building, the premises and outdoor quite pale and depressing (classes on lower floors, low light and covered windows, no parking space or sport terrains, etc.). Ecole Nouvelle on the other hand looks much nicer, bright classrooms, lots of space, etc., but I've read reviews on the academic level very similar to public school (or even worse and more difficult to switch to public school afterwards?).

So my question is, is there a big difference in terms of education between the two? Are there any parents who have experienced both schools or might have had the same dilemma when choosing between the two? Would it be more difficult to switch from ENSR to public school in a couple of years? Many thanks for any advice!

2
There is a huge advantage being one of the older ones in the class rather than one of the younger ones

3
We have visited both schools in the recent weeks and have had EXACTLY same impressions. We love what EBSR has to offer in terms of academic program and we would send our little one there immediately, but we have been discouraged a bit by the lack of light in the school facilities, as u said a bit depressing. ENSR premises seemed much more “schooling friendly “, but they seemed weaker on the program. Have u managed to get more information on the quality of schooling in ENSR? Have u already made up your mind?

4
Hello Kukudrama and P-swiss

Thank you for your post. Actually you explain very well how we felt when we visited both schools in 2021. We finally choosed ENSR but still with the regret of not choosing EBSR program. Our kids have been very happy during primary. This year our son started college. To be honest we are not completely satisfied with the level of education and the classmates. So I am very curious now to know which school did you pick We are thinking to move our son into EBSR but we would love to have feedback from people who experienced the school? Despite this first feeling, as u both said a bit depressing, are the kids happy? Does this first impression go away?

Thank you very much in advance for your return.

5
Hi,

May I ask you what you didn't like about ENSR?

I really like EBSR program, but the school building is not as great as some other international schools.

But I have a feeling that the program is more suited for kids to be able to achieve the gymnasium.

6
Hi,

May I ask you what you didn't like about ENSR?

I really like EBSR program, but the school building is not as great as some other international schools.

But I have a feeling that the program is more suited for kids to be able to achieve the gymnasium.

7
Hi everyone,

We are moving to Lausanne in August on a one-year posting with our 11-year-old son. It's an academic sabbatical so no private tuition fee allowance unfortunately. The fees at ISL andla Cote seem so high and we're considering the EBSR and ENSR. We're leaning toward the ENSR due to the poor infrastructure of the EBSR as everyone else has said in this thread. Our son is fluent in English but has very little French at the moment. We thought public schools fully in French would be too daunting for such a short time. We aren't too concerned about academic performance for just a year and want him to just enjoy the experience, keep up with everyone via English and learn some French. Academically he's been quite ok and will definitely go to gymnasium and university.

The ENSR told us that they would be willing and prepared to help him with French. Do you think the ENSR would be suitable for our situation? Are the children there mainly French speakers learning to be bilingual in English? Or are there children the other way around like our son (native speaker in English learning French)? How much French and English are used in Year 6?

Many thanks in advance if any of you could answer some of the questions above. We'd love to hear your experience with the pros and cons of the ENSR.

8

If you're not worried about academic performance, put him in a local school and he will have the opportunity to learn French.

Kids pick up languages like flies stick to shit !

9
Yes, this. Especially since you know your son will be able to continue with his academic schooling when you leave Switzerland after a year, a "slow" year won't be to his disadvantage.

The local government schools are free and mostly really good enough, sometimes excellent. They provide language integration courses in one form or another for incoming children who don't speak the local language. The child is guaranteed a place and this is automatically allocated by the school authorities according to where you live. This has the added advantage that he'll have a better chance of making friends with the children around the corner, and those same local children will be in the sports or music clubs, etc., nearby. And you as parents will meet their parents, if you'd like to organise things that way (not obligatory).

With the money you save on school-fees, you could do a whole lot of extra-curricular activities, fully taking advantage of all the wonderful things on offer in Switzerland. With other locals.

10
Thank you for a different perspective. Our son is quite shy and reserved even in languages he’s fluent. Just wondering whether being in an environment with a new language at the age of 11–12 for only 1 year without being able to become proficient would affect his confidence. But we’ll definitely consider the public school option. It’d be a massive saving.

Do we understand correctly that children in Lausanne go home for lunch? And they don’t have much school on Wednesdays? We both work full time and are used to our son being in school/after-school care from 8 to 16:30 Mondays to Fridays. So this arrangement will be very new to us all. How do Swiss working parents deal with this?

11
Most schools have lunch and after school care programs. Especially in cities. In smaller villages they don't always offer it on all days of the week (based on demand) sometimes parents make arrangements with kids' friends or a maman du jour for lunch.

12
Thanks everyone for all the info! We called the local authority of the area we may rent to talk about public school. They can put him in a school near some flats we are looking at, but for extra French lessons he has to travel by bus for 30 mins to another school almost everyday. Generally she sounded a bit annoyed that another non-French speaking child was coming, saying that there were so many of them now (!), I guess that area is near universities so there are many families of foreign postdocs/profs. She also commented that 4-8 year-old children were ok to learn French but above that it was a big struggle for both the children and teachers. Additionally she mentioned that the purpose of these schools was to get children to pass year 11, I suppose hinting that these foreign children starting French too late have little hope of going to gymnasium!!???! We have to rethink the public school option, don't want this attitude of educators/teachers to rub onto our son.

So back to the ENSR option, they seem more friendly and willing to help our son with French. We have just got info from them that at year 6/7, they do about 70 % in French with only English, Geography and PE lessons in English, which is not really bilingual. We still love to hear from parents who have sent non-native French speaking children to ENSR. Many thanks!

13
Oh, I wouldn't let myself be put off by one unhappy, unhelpful person who answered a phonecall.

I do understand the part about foreign children and gymnasium, and would like to try to provide some background.

The system here is designed so that especially the last two or so years of primary school are core to deciding whether a child either gets into the academic stream (gymnasium) or goes to secondary school. In Switzerland, both routes are considered fine. This is because we have an excellent post-school system of apprenticeships (three or four years parallel school and work) and someone so qualified can go on to practice in their line of work, earn a living wage, and have a fine life.

Unfortunately, the education authorities and staff sometimes come under huge pressure from parents who don't understand this system, who believe (based on their knowledge from the other countries from which they have come, and perhaps the more so if the parents themselves are academics) and who, as a result, sometimes get upset if their child's teachers do not support the child's going to gymnasium. This pressure happens over and over because not all parents are willing or able to put in the effort YOU are now properly making, to try to understand how things work here, and to consider many options about what could be best for the child.

This is common. Not every local school has the full integration class. Therefore, the various schools from the area pool the foreign-language children into one central integration class. 30 minutes by bus is not considered unusual, here, and children quickly learn how the routes work and where to change bus.

The reason the system tends to work is because it is individual. In those classes, it's not just language, language, language but a general assessment of the child's abilities and current level, always with the aim of helping the child to need the integration class less and less and to be increasingly be able to fit into the regular, local school.

For example, a child may be advanced (relative to the Swiss system) in maths or music, but not be able to demonstrate that immediately, for lack of vocabulary in the local language. The integration class aims to discern this. On the other hand, such an integration class can help to identify and make up deficits (relative to the Swiss system) which could be in any subject, but especially history, geography or matters related to social contexts. This latter, particularly, could perhaps be of advantage to your child, if he's a bit shy.

14
With some of those savings, you could pay for your son to have some hours with his own French-and-integration tutor or mentor or big brother. That would help him to be better in the integration school, too, and in the local school and free-time groups. Since you say that your son is likely to go to gymnasium after he leaves Switzerland, he certainly already can learn. Perhaps knowing that that he made it through a year of school in French (without having the pressure of having to attain proficiency, although he's highly likely to achieve everyday fluency) would boost his confidence for all time.

15
Thank you very much for your thoughtful and detailed replies. It’s very interesting to learn about the education system in Switzerland and how children’s future career options are decided so early. We’ll take all your advice into consideration as we decide to which school to send our son. Many thanks! Fantastic forum