My family with two children aged 10 & 11 are moving to Zurich around February 2016 for husbands work for approximately 2 years. We only speak English. The children have just completed Grades 4 & Grades 5 in Australia, and we have been told that they would join these grade levels when we arrive, which we are ok with. We are currently looking at International Schools in Zurich. We would really like the children to be able to speak German, but with no current German skills, we do not want it to be a traumatizing experience. So far we have contacted two schools, ZIS & Terra-Nova. Would really appreciate any feedback on experiences at these two schools, or other international schools for children with no German.
ICS Zumikon is very popular. My daughters went there before i decided to transfer them to the Swiss system as we decided we would be staying longer term.
ZIS and Intercommunity school are both great. I heard ISZN was good as well. Kids from zIS and ICSZ often compete against each other in eg soccer matches. From my experience, it appeared that ZIS had a slightly better reputation, but I personally liked ICSZ better. Both offer similar curricula and extracurriculars.
You can arrange for your kids to attend for a week. I have visited ICS and was very impressed with the facilities and teachers. Do you want your kids to do the IB or high school diploma? If I remember correctly, ICS offered both. I was a bit disappointed that they did not offer physics or chemistry at IB level but I bet that is not an issue with most. With the IB at ICS kids pick 6 courses, 1 being some form of community service and the other sports.. But do plan visits with teachers to see which school offers the best opportunities for yourfamily. There are other schools in Zh, and I suppose your hoice will also be affected by where you will settle down.
Thank you both very much for your replies. Just wondering how fluent in German the children would be by attending the ZIS or the ICS schools? Would really like them to learn a second language and be able to assimilate into their new city, but not wanting to send them to local Swiss schools as want to ensure that their education is still in line with the Australian system. It will be a 2 year IA minimum, but it could be longer.
Majority of kids seemed to only speak basic German. Courses are offered but are not mandatory. As with most International Schools, kids come and go. Those who stay longer usually register in local schools.
We came from Sydney to Zurich last year, with kids in upper primary, for an expected 18 month stay.
After much research we chose the Swiss public school route, with the expectation of a) better language learning b) more cultural / community immersion if we stay a short time and c) more educational options here if we stay a long time, as many find themselves doing.
The deciding factor was a lengthy meeting with an educator at their Sydney school, who convinced us that capable kids can comfortably make up curriculum gaps later, but language / cultural immersion opportunities should not be sneezed at. He suggested we encourage the kids to think of it that way rather than adopting a deficit model ('what we're missing out on').
International school will remain our back-up plan, but Swiss local school is working out very well for our family so far. YMMV; I mention it only because this time last year, I was thinking exactly along the lines you describe.
This is incorrect. All students at ZIS are required to take German. Taking a third language is by choice. After two years in middle school, my son passed his A2, almost B1 level test. It's more than basic but obviously also depends on your child and how much effort they put into learning the language. If you decide to stay more than two years your children will speak German.
We went down the local school route. Kids 10 and 14 when arriving. Now two years later they are fluent in German. But we knew we would be staying long term.
If your kids go to a public school on the Gold coast, the school will send them to German immersion school in Dubendorf called Allegra for the first 6 months. This is fully funded by the local school. Meaning it is like your kids would go to a language camp for 6 months but you dont need to pay the big bucks for it.
My 2 kids are in their 3rd year at ZIS. Neither spoke a single word of German when we moved here (we are American). My son completely embraced learning the language, won a scholarship for an intensive summer study and now is extremely proficient at German. It helps that he has made many Swiss friends at local skate parks and through other sports activities with whom he speaks the language. My daughter is less enamored of the language and was more hesitant in trying to speak it. But she has also made progress. Your kids WILL learn the language. The degree of expertise will frankly be determined by how willing they are to work at it. My 2 rappen...
I was referring to inter community school. Kids I talked to were 11 and 12 graders. They told me they were not required to take German in the last years of school, but could id they wished. They barely spoke enough to get by on a daily basis with things like talking to the cashier. At the same time. it appeared most were there for rarely more than one year so I can see why language training was not their priority.
From my own experience I would say that there is a lot of difference between 'having German' at school and having to cope with situations requiring German every day. I've given training to ZIS swimmers who were simply not used to listening to German sentences and working out what might possibly be meant by the words they heard.
If you can remember how to say 'please may I have an ice-cream' in German at school, you get 'Good. That is correct'.
If you can remember how to say 'please may I have an ice-cream' to your German speaking grandmother, you get an ice-cream.
I know which had a greater 'learning-effect' on my children!
This isn't true for all of the gold coast. We're in Meilen, and kids without German receive additional german lessons in school. My daughter did for the first couple of years.
She's now in the fifth class and at the beginning of the school year two boys joined her class with no German at all. They were thrown in the deep end, receive the additional German lessons (mostly instead of the English class lessons) and the teacher is able to help them a bit in English when necessary. I've spoken to the mother of one and she said her son is coping very well so far, so it is possible.
If you do send your kids to ICS or another international school but would still like them to be immersed in German then enrol them in sport, music etc. I know quite a few international school kids who are involved in local teams, choirs etc.
In a competitive swimming club 'interest in swimming' means listening to the coach. And the coach was me. And I knew what I was talking about and they were supposed to listen and do as they were told. Period.
Due to the number of children whose German proficiency is substandard and the cost of providing additional lessons, Thurgau is considering making parents pay for these lessons in cases where the child is not showing sufficient progress.
This is being debated at the moment; the teachers organization has come out against the proposal.
Depends on the age of the kids. Younger kids usually dont go to Allegra. And when the kids join the normal school they still gets DAZ classes.
But true, there may be some Gemeindes that dont go for Allegra. Even though is seems to be the favoured way the last couple of years for most Gemeindes.
As in so many things, it all depends... If you check out the ZIS homepage you'll see that they have a fantastic amount of 'other activities' arranged by the school. The children are then given the chance to work and play together in a non-academic enviroment. This is a wonderful chance for the youngsters but on the other hand, the more they are involved in things run by the school, the less time they have for other clubs or organisations.
Fantastic Fall Season Sports Experience
ZIS students traveled across Europe to compete in fall season ending sports tournaments, coming home with great results and, more importantly, a fantastic sense of achievement and pride in themselves, their team and their school.
The 'local clubs and organisations' are not always too happy when the ZIS children, with different holiday dates and many school activities, are irregular in their attendance in a local sports' club and also unavailable for important matches or meets.
We also arrived from Australia in June but chose the public system in Zurich. The children, 8 and 10 years old, were placed in an integration class at a public school about a km from home. The class has about 12 students and once they are proficient in German they move to their respective local public school. Depending on the child it takes between 6 and 12 months. All classes are taught in German and follow the local curriculum but the teachers are patient and the classes are small. The kids also pick up swiss German along the way when mixing with the other 'normal' classes and during breaks. It's been fantastic.