We are a small family of 3 with a 6 yr old, moving to Geneva this summer for work reasons (my partner's). This is all new to us, and we are very excited. We are American/British with history of living in many cities. Our daughter is French speaking and in a French full immersion school (80% French).
Does anyone have recommendations for schooling? We are looking for local schools as well as private schools, whichever works best / has better educational standards. Ideally, smaller, more intimate, French speaking, with extracurricular activities/options would be great (easy, right?).
I know that local schools depend on where you live so we are happy to explore the areas that have good schools. Private schools are also a good option as our daughter attends one currently. Since we have one child, we should be able to swing the costs.
Thank you for replying. I will look at the link as well.
Do you have ideas of Geneva or surrounding Geneva areas with good local schools? Then I could narrow down a search for apartments and start sooner rather than later.
I wouldn't agree about the private schools having poorer quality of education. My son was studying in CDL, Versoix for the last 4 yrs and I have no complaints - loved the school and would recommend it to anyone.
Yes it's expensive but heck if you can afford it and are ok with the costs its an amazing school.
Thank you for responding. I have CDL on my radar. Acquaintances have given me Champittit, and ENSR. Hard to judge from a website whether they are truly good or just sort of flashy.
Any ideas on slightly progressive or alternative schools?
I live right in front of Champetit - a stone's throw (rather we throw the football back into their fence all the time). It's a good school but primarily French. We move a lot so wanted out son in a Intl or English medium school.
CDL has all options now (Francophone, Anglophone or bilingual) and hence opted for that, even though it was more expensive. My son went to a bilingual this year and has picked up french very well - even though we dont speak any at all.
If you need any contacts or help on CDL let me know. Would be happy to assist. After 4 yrs of my son going there know quite a few people and teachers
Not sure if you want to look at montessori schools also though... Quite a few in this region and very good.
Thank you for responding again. I might take you up on the offer once I wade through my options. I will definitely apply to CDL so I might touch base with you when I start.
My LO has been doing fine in school so I imagine the factor will be whether there is space in any of these schools.
Any suggestions on towns to look at? I have been told that most of the towns along the lake work well (Nyon, Rolle etc).
It is very easy to think that if you are paying a lot of money, then with the exclusivity it must be a good product. Sadly there are many such offers about, especially for ex-pats arriving with a little local knowledge.
When you interview your local private school of choice, please ask how many teachers are graduates in education. Many are not even qualified teachers! All Swiss cantonal teachers are qualified professionals, and are continuously assessed and given days off work for training. Private schools cannot afford to do this.
A friend of mine put his two children in a private school in Geneva, then he had a downturn in business and had to move them to a public cantonal school: the school insisted they both repeat the year as their schooling was not good enough to keep up with their class.
Another fine question is to ask when the school was last inspected by the cantonal education authority, and what was the result? Could you please have a photocopy of the final report to study at your leisure?
Another important point is that private schools have a very wide catchment area. Your children's friends might live on the other side of town, which makes socialising after school a bit difficult. In a public school, their friends might live in the next road, but in any case, they would easily be able to visit them after school without any adult help.
Thanks for your response. I am wholly in favor of local schools - though am going to research and view private as well. Where I am the local schools are scattered about our city, and there is a lottery system to get in - so one rarely gets a "good" school in the neighborhood. In Geneva, I just don't know where to look for the local good schools (are they consistently good everywhere), thus the original question. In some ways, a local immersion would be the best option for my child, from both a challenging and social perspective.
I grew up in Geneva and went through the private school system, all of the teachers in my schools were qualified professionals.
There are long waiting lists for these schools, they offer an excellent level of education and the students graduate with many possibilities for further education.
Also Sbrinz, you fail to mention that there is competition between private and public. The public system which is also excellent has strict age categories. A child coming from the UK for instance, where school starts at a younger age, may not be allowed to enter a class corresponding to the class he/she just left, but instead may have to start again in a lower class.
There's only 1 year of kindergarden in anglo-saxon countries, there are 2 years in the public system.
If I recall 1st grade = 6 years old
With the lack of housing in Geneva and the waiting lists etc, the OP is better off securing the help of a relocation agency and the help of HR of their new company/job.
I know it's probably not what you're looking for as it isn't French speaking, but just in case you look at it and want advice: when I was young I went to Geneva International, and it was an absolutely brilliant school.
Having a teaching qualification is no more a guarantee of ability to teach as not having a teaching qualification is evidence of inability to teach.
It was, generally, the case that Public (private) schools in the UK did not require a teaching qualification for their teaching staff. All they were interested in was the academic qualifications. In some schools - actually in a large number of schools - this works pretty well. There are issues, but there are also issues with qualified teachers not, really, being able to teach either so...
Would I insist upon my children being taught by a teacher with a pedagogical qualification? I would prefer it, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
Every school that considers itself worthy of the name should be doing this but, sadly, some do not. I will say, though, that I have met teachers from most - if not all - of the international schools in the French speaking part of Switzerland at some course or other over the years, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Also, assessment of teachers itself is quite a controversial and politicised activity in itself, fraught with subjectivity. An acceptable assessment in one school may not be acceptable in another, and vice versa. It has even been argued that a standards based assessment model severely curtails creativity in teaching and that the essence of what makes a great teacher can never be quantified in a manner that can be tested. Assessment, for better or worse, exists to provide a base level of what a teacher should be capable of, and the standards are not particularly high.
You need to decide where you are going to live first. The last thing you want to do is cross a bridge during the school run.
If you are looking at the Left Bank, Notre Dame de Lac is a very good private school. Teaches in French. My eldest and 4 of her cousins go there.
My main gripe with Geneva schools is they are very French in teaching style, so children learn by wrote and are not encouraged to think for themselves.
If you are thinking of having your child prepare for the International Bac, then the Ecole International is very good.
If you have the money and want your child to leave school very well connected, then when she is older Le Rosey is a very good boarding school.