International versus Local School?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hi

I've seen a few threads on this already, but as everyone's situations are different, I'd like to know what you would do...

We have been expats here for 4 years and about to take local contracts. Our daughter is in the local kinderkrippe and really picked up german which is great for her integration. We are now deciding on schooling.

We have an opportunity to put her in an international school (i.e. pre-school and it'll be paid for by the company) or put her in a local school (i.e. kindergarten then school at 6). A lot of threads we read on this say it depends how long you will stay for and the cost issue.

Therefore, the cost side isn't an issue. However, we whilst we have no intention to leave Switzerland in the next 3 years or so, we don't see our long term here.

The local school gives her the language advantage and an opportunity to integrate with local kids/community, whereas the international school will probably give more diversity and a curriculum that can be followed elsewhere - but probably lose the langue/social aspects. Equally, if we do end up staying long term, the opportunity to go to university appear lower in local schools. We don't speak german really so are also worried about how we can help her at school in a local one.

Anyway, i think you get the picture. I'd be interested to get your advice on what you decided and why or what you'd do in this situation....

Thanks a lot

2
I only have an answer to one of the problem, sorry.

It is quite easy to hire a tutor to help with your daughter homework, since she is young you wouldn't need a tutor with a bachelor degree. Therefor, the tutoring wouldn't be expensive.

3
My 2 are in local Swiss school, I wont deny that it has at times been a bumpy ride, but I dont regret the decision as

1. They walk to and from school with their friends which they love and has been great for their self confidence.

2. They have friends all around us from school e.g. next door flats so there are always playmates.

3. I think the education standard is as good, and in some ways better than what my son experienced in the UK system - although I am not so impressed by the pastoral care but I have come to the conclusion it is just the Swiss system.

Each child and family situation are totally different so visit schools and talk to parents and children if possible to get a better picture of your options.

4
Well, it does really depend on how long you ́re staying. But even assuming that you ́re not sure of it as of now, I ́d still choose a local school as the education system here is Switzerland is really good.

In case you decide on settling down here later on, you ́d never regret sending her to the local school. She ́ll pick up the local language and high German at wind ́s speed and will have the opportunity of mixing up with the local kids.

My niece started kindergarten a few weeks ago and she ́s learning to integrate with the local kids and has already picked up Swiss German. The only thing I ́d worry about is her forgetting the mother tongue or preferring Swiss German to her mother tongue.

Anyway, all the best!

5
Where did you get that idea? The majority of children in Switzerland go to a local Swiss (government) school, not an international school, and the majority of university places in Switzerland go to "graduates" of local Swiss school ... so what makes you think that children who attend Swiss schools are at a disadvantage when it coms to university admissions?

6
There is absolutely no problem going from Swiss national system over to UK or US system, university included, provided one choses subjects with care and one can prove academic language skills. It's more difficult the other way. The transfer international schools to Swiss Hochschule or university is simple if the school doesn't mess it up. It demands good counseling to get the magic formula right. But easy if the school is competent and the student has the language skills. The latter is just a question of work and getting the bilingual diploma. Work yes, child abuse no. Relax.

7
"We have an opportunity to put her in an international school (i.e. pre-school and it'll be paid for by the company) or put her in a local school (i.e. kindergarten then

school at 6). A lot of threads we read on this say it depends how long you will stay for and the cost issue. "

Best advice:

NEVER assume this package shall go on forever! Ask yourself if you can afford to keep up with the int'l school tuition, when the kids are teenagers and the expat status suddenly ends? It can happen... unfortunately.

Good luck.

8
You can't go to university (or at least, it's difficult)in Switzerland or the rest of the world if you are Swiss educated, and haven't got a Matura from a gymnasium. The level of achievement required to go to gym, and the level required to stay there is demanding. Far more than to do 'A' levels to a sufficient level to go to a UK establishment.

My daughter is at FMS. If she was in the UK, there'd be no doubt that she'd go to university, as her A-level results would be enough. As it stands though, she's excluded from universities in Switzerland and other countries. (Don't know about the US, but definitely the UK).

Currently, of course, Swiss universities are considerably cheaper than UK ones - so it's swings and roundabouts.

However, this isn't a problem for us, as her route is planned out. It is possible to get a qualification from Swiss colleges that allow you to do a globally recognised Masters at Swiss universities. There are other solutions: I know one girl who has been home-schooled in 'A' levels.

For the OP. When your child reaches the age of ~10, that's when you're going to have to decide whether you're moving on, or whether you are going to stay longer term. Up until that age, and perhaps a little older, it won't matter much if you move to another country and so switch systems. But not too soon after that, it will matter.

That being the case, I would definitely recommend the local system, as if you stay or move on, she will enormously benefit from it. My kids are locally educated, and have not lost their mother tongue. We only speak English at home.

9
Here is my take. Now, we moved here a few months ago, kids are 8 and 5, and we are all at the beginning stages of learning German. We considered local schools, international schools, and the local Montessori school. We picked Montessori for a few reasons:

1. We were in a Montessori in the US because of this exact situation, we knew one day we would be moving, probably internationally. Montessori schools teach the same thing all over the world. My kids walked into school the first day and knew where they were and got to work. I was nervous about putting them in the local school because Montessori is different than other methods and I didn't want them to have to learn a different way to learn, and a new language and a new country at the same time. Also, I didn't have experience with the local school here and was told it can be a hit or miss depending on the canton and school itself. If we knew the teachers and the kids and the teaching method we may have chosen local. Also, the future doesn't tell us if we will be here for 4 years or 14, so keeping the same learning method would be good for moving somewhere else...

2. We want them to learn German and Swiss German. The Montessori School teaches in High German, the local kids speak Swiss. The International Schools teach in English with 'German as a second language' and we wanted them to learn it like a younger kid can, in their daily life.

3. The students at the Mont school are mostly local, with some international. I love that they hang out with local kids and learn how the lives of the Swiss are different than the US. They start English (and French) classes in Kindergarten (twice a week!) and by 2nd grade are able to communicate effectively so my kids didn't feel left out. They love practicing their English with a native speaker.

4. The Mont school is too far to walk but we have a short train ride and walk. My 8 yr old could do it on her own but my 5 yr old is still too spacey to cross the big street in front of the train station. We definitely wanted a school close to public transit, preferably the train.

5. Most of the teachers at the Mont School speak English quite well so I can speak freely with them about the kids. They teach my kids in English (temporarily) transitioning them to High German, and after 3 weeks in school I am starting to see a glimmer of understanding of German. The 5 yr old also has a special German language class once a week with 2 other young international classmates mostly because the kids in Kindergarten don't speak much English yet. It gives them a jumpstart to understanding what is going on. The 5 yr old will be learning to read/write in English in early elementary age, which I though I would have to do myself. Whew!

6. We have the choice of two (main) international schools here, one is huge and one is small. The itty bitty school was wonderful and we seriously considered it, but they teach in English, so we said no. The huge one was too big for us, right off the bat. And I wasn't impressed with the behavior of the kids. All speaking English is fine but they are rude and loud on the train, and seem to favor curse words whenever possible (of course, that could be true @ swiss kids, I just don't understand what they are saying, yet!). The large one offered a community of English speaking families (I call it the International School bubble) that you could probably camp yourself in for years and never experience Switzerland with the Swiss. No judgement here for those who choose that, it just wasn't for me. I didn't want the opportunity to be part of the bubble, too tempting! The Mont School community isn't very active like most US schools, but the families there are wonderful and helpful. That is also true of the public schools, although my teacher friend says there are 'PTA' type groups starting to form here in some schools.

The schooling here vs the US is definitely different, but both have their positives and not so positives... I spoke to a family who has been here several years, their daughter grew up here so knows the languages, loved preschool and public Kindergarten, but by 1st grade they were unhappy because the school wasn't rigorous enough by US standards, and she was bored. So they moved her to a private (not Montessori) school. This can be an issue in the US as well, so it isn't just Swiss. Another (native) family took their kids out of public school because some older teachers insisted on teaching in Swiss German to their students and wouldn't teach in High German. But on the flip side, I am friends with a teacher at the local public school and know parents who use them and are very happy.

I think it boils down to your expectations for the school. Rigorous curriculum? Language (English and/or German) immersion? Curriculum that is transferrable to another country, or even to another canton? And do you feel comfortable at the school? What type of school community are you looking for? Does location/public transit matter? We sold our house when we came here, expecting that we may want to stay long term. If we knew we were staying for only a few years our choice would probably have been the same.

This post was longer than I expected it to be! I hope it gives you different points to consider. We are happy with our choice, but each family has different needs and lives. Good luck to you!

10
We put our kids in the local public schools. The upside: now at 12 and 14, they are both fluent in English, Swiss-German and German. They made lots of local friends who they now bike to school with, participate in sports clubs with, go skiing with, invite over to each other's houses etc.

But we intend to stay here long term, although I must say my original plan was to stay here maximum 3 years (that was 22 years ago). So, you never know what will happen.

11
A friend of mine could not help his kids in German and wanted to hire

a tutor for them. The tutors want something like 100 per hour, so yes

they are available but very expensive.

12
That is strange, if you ask high school kids they usually would ask for around 20 chf per hour (sometimes even around 15chf).

13

That being said. It might not be so easy for a non-native speaker to

ask a high school kid.

14
As you say so well- local school for the same reasons.

15
It's not as hard as you seem to think it is.

Find the nearest high school, ask the receptionist if you can put up an advertisement (in English because you would like a tutor that speaks English and German). Wait for someone to call.

You could as well ask the receptionist (whom usually speak English or if they don't understand you ask for someone that speaks English) if you could speak to the English teacher and ask that teacher to recommend a student to tutor your child.

Another way would be to hang up an advertisement in Migros (as well in English)

You could even see if there are some German speaking au-pairs/nannies around that might want to make some extra money.

16
Most high school kids understand and speak a scary amount of English (puts the kids in my native UK to instant shame ).

Our neighbour, who babysits from time to time for my son, is only 14 and she's "embarrassed" that she doesn't speak much English, yet she can keep a running conversation with me about pretty much anything and most of it is articulate and correct.

I offered to speak German with her but she said she needs the practise.

17
I think it all depends if you think you stay here or not as International schools tend to be transient in respect pupils come and go on a regular basis. In a state school your kids will make friends that follow through for the whole of their schooling which i think is an advantage and it provides maybe a more stable platform.

18
Well, since you asked for it, here's my opinion

I think sending your child to local school keeps all doors open and gives you the full Switzerland experience. As was mentioned before, if you decide you need/want international school it will always be there, but going the local route is easiest if you start from the beginning.

When I lived in Germany, I had a neighbor who had been there for 5 years, lived in the whole International School Bubble which is great if you know you are only somewhere for 2, 3 or 5 years. In the end, I think she would have loved to go on a local contract and stay in Germany but they would not have been able to afford the school costs so they went back to the UK.

19
Our local schools advertise. You'll also find adverts in Migros and Coop. The word to look for is "Nachhilfer".

Our kids have done fine with homework, even though our German is poor. The hardest part was trying to figure out the more abstruse maths questions.

20
Yeah, I think we're going to do similar to a few others here...Start out with local school and decide around 10 y.o. about a possible switch to an Intl school based on whether the goal is a US/UK university