Our daughter has been in Montessori the past three years and speaks only English. It's really important to us that our children learn Swiss German/High German, integrate into the local culture, walk to school and all that.
Thanks in advance!
Our daughter has been in Montessori the past three years and speaks only English. It's really important to us that our children learn Swiss German/High German, integrate into the local culture, walk to school and all that.
Thanks in advance!
Seefeld is very well known for bad principals and difficult/ weird parents.
Thank you for the tidbit about the principals and parents. That's rather interesting. Do you know anything more?
We used to live in Seefeld, right near the school on Mühlebachstrasse, just when it was introducing the mixed levels in primary school and I think that was probably the start of some of the problems, at least. We actually moved just when my daughter would have started in Kindergarten so don't have any personal experience of it, though, and I don't know if they still have the mixed grades or have reverted back. My daughter's now just finishing in the sixth class so this was a while ago!
I don't think the mixed grades are necessarily the problem, but probably more how the whole thing was managed, and also the mix of teachers.
Many of them are neglected badly and school is maybe the only place they can act out their sufferings of not getting enough parenting. One of my friends is a teacher here and it is heartbreaking what she tells me. She stays because she thinks that those children really need good teachers who can stand up to those parents or who at least need a teacher who likes them for what they are.
My many neighbors with kids - normal,open minded middle class people - often complain about the quality of schooling and how weird the principals are. I met one of the principals during my half year of substitute teaching and I was speechless. A tiger lily with no brains but full of self importance.
My neighbors kid was ready for Kindergarten and needed after school care, too. My Neighbor called the principal about possibilities of "Hort" and thy went berserk and told her they would have to ship the little one out with a schoolbus and anyway, there was no more space in the classes and other weird things. She finally paid for day -school. I told her to be more upstanding, but anyway.
It turns out that those principals and the city had not really done their math and homework and that they had to open another kindergarten at the beginning of the school year, mixing the classes again after about a month of school... those parents whose kids hat to change their Kindergarten were not amused...
So my neighbour's kid would not have had any problem to go to state school had she been tougher.
My other neighbour - a dyed in the wool Seefeld woman with no qualms to speak her mind - tells me very funny stories of the "Parent's Council", I can't go into details, but it is awesome even to a teacher like me, who has taught in the toughest and poorest school districts of Zürich.
If you are up to some weird things ad circumstances or if you have an angel's patience: Come to Seefeld!
I just lately had a profound discussion with one of my neighbours kids in our backyard: We discussed the likelihood of a dead ant to be happy with Jesus now :-)
This girl and her numerous siblings don't go to Hort. If you find something in this area, you might ignore my advice and move there anyway!
The catchment area is quite large, so your kids will end up with friends who may be anywhere in Kreis 1, 7 and 8 (including Witikon)