In Kt. Zurich kids who have insufficient level of German attend DAZ lessons ("German as second language") during their KiGa/School years until they improve their knowledge of German.
I think it's fairly common for some (perhaps even many) kids beginning Kindergarten here to not speak any German. For one thing, many of them were raised in a household where only Swiss German was spoken (or whatever other mother tongue the parents speak). Hopefully your child will begin to pick up some of the language while being exposed to it by other kids and the teachers at Kindergarten. It's amazing how quickly little kids can pick up a new language.
When our son began 1st class at primary school, we did receive a call from the school asking if he would need extra German classes because I am from the US. But then when the caller realized that my husband is Swiss and my son speaks Swiss German, she realized that it wouldn't be necessary. But it sounds like if the school will provide extra German classes for your child, then it might not begin until 1st class in primary school, though of course you should probably verify that with the school.
Wasn't it Basel where they were going to make attending local playgroups obligatory for the foreign pre-KiGa kids to make sure they learn some German before they enter KiGa?
If he's already 5, they're holding him back a year already, likely due to language. It's probably assumed after 2 years of kindergarten he'd be caught up with the language by then. There's nothing really academic at that level so extra language probably not necessary.
There seems to be some confusion between special classes for German, which I think is the general approach, and being in a special class which I don't think happens.
Our kids took time out to do extra German classes; there's no real curriculum in KG so they didn't miss anything important.
t to give him some time to adopt to everything before they start with German. If he was placed in the first year of Kindergarten he does have a lot of time to catch up with German before school starts.
Talk to the Kindergarten teacher again before the summer break if no German classes have been arranged by then.
This is the correct answer for BS. When we arrived, we had a kid start KG and another in primary, both with zero German. In Primary, they do pull out type extra German classes while in KG it is all done within the class setting. Once my KG kid was in Primary, they switched to pull out classes until they were declared no longer necessary.
The DAZ approach for kids really differs canton to canton.
Also, OP seems to have moved very recently, so her now five year old is correctly in the first year of KG. BS cut off is mid July.
Our local school also didn’t plan any DaZ classes for my son (who was also 5, when we arrived from the UK) when he started. After 6 months, he was then invited to take up DaZ classes twice a week. Since then, he has skipped a grade, been invited to join the Lernklub (for a child who did reception classes in the UK, kindergarten was a bit boring at times) and has now passed his Gymi exam in Kanton Zurich. So, even if your son does not get special German classes straight away, don’t worry, things will slowly fall in place.
At that age kids will pick up whatever social skills are required including the local lingo. Best thing is not a special program where they end up being segregated with other foreigners. Integration is best.
I am pretty sure in our town the KG kids are just integrated for language and they see how they go - additional support may be 'prescribed' by the end of the first KG year if they are really having difficulties.
Mostly immersion works best - if you are really wanting 1:1 instruction then you could think about having a babysitter or friend to pay once or twice a week who only speaks Swiss-German with them... but don't assume 1:1 is better than the immersion in the whole social group of kids and adults. The kids pick up a huge amount from playing together.