I am moving to Zurich in June with my wife and 3 kids. My kids are ages 13, 11 and 8. I have read a lot of the post on the forum and I have talked to so many people about the various options for school and most have told me that definitely my 13 year old daughter, who would be in 8th grade, needs to go to International School, my 11 year old, who would be in 7th grade, should go to International also, but could possibly make it in the local school and my 8 year old, who would be in 4th grade could make it at the local school.
We are not sure how long we would be in Zurich, but a minimum of 2 years, but could be longer. My kids are all straight A students here in the US and have gone through changes before of moving our family from one state to another state here in the US. We are looking to live in areas like Horgen, Thalwil, Adliswil, Zug, where there are more expats. We want to try and really integrate and my wife and I would also like to try to learn German. None of us currently speak German.
I would like to hear back from people that have kids of similar ages and put their kids in the local school (without being strong in the German language). Any advice that you can provide would be helpful. The issue for us is that the International and Bilingual Schools are expensive. Thanks.
There was an almost identical thread discussing this subject earlier last week. Although the OP was discussing schools in Basel, there's some relevant points of view in the thread that would apply to you, too.
I am usually very kind and restrained when I post on EF and I'm going to try and be again in this post.
I think the Swiss education system is excellent, both my children had experience of it for a period of 18 months. Now they are in the international system, also good.
But imagine that you, however adaptable you are, flexible, open to new opportunities etc, were taken from your workplace and send to another country and then your new work place and colleagues spoke a different language, had a totally different social culture and the rules in the work place and even the way the work place functioned and it's attitudes to things were totally different.
Then translate this to an 11 yo and 13 yo who are in a crucial part of the educational process and all the difficulties of being near the teen years. They have to learn a new language, well 2 actually if you live in the German speaking part of ch, they probably won't know when their friends are speaking Swiss Germany and when they are speaking high German. Also what is important and what is not will be different to their previous school system and this difference will be discovered when grades are awarded, probably not before. Grades aren't changed once allocated, retakes usually not allowed as I understand it.
I suppose what I am saying, after a bit of a rant!, is that IMO you are flirting with endangering their education and the success they make of it if at 11 and 13 they go to local schools. As I'm sure you found out by reading the other threads it's a competitive educational system for the kids, they are streamed by ability round this age.
They 8yo yes I would consider it. Bear in mind the holidays for the local schools and international school and the hours are quite different.
I have a friend who has a child of 13 who has been here for 2 years. He is very bright and doing well at secondary school. But he faces a much harder time at school academically because of the two German languages, the difficulties of German grammar, the constant testing (every test counts), and not always understanding what is expected of students because, even with the heavy involvement of his mother and friends in the village, it just isn't as intuititive as it would be if it was a mother tongue education. Plus he is learning French too and trying to keep his English up. He is doing well because he is able but it is definitely harder for him.
I already gave you some info in the PM I sent you. But a few more things came to mind that I would like to add.
When we moved with our 10 and 12 yr olds, our kids were involved in the decision to move, they were both fully on board, and understood there would be difficulties. How do your kids feel about the move and the possibility of going to school in another language? Their attitude will be key in order to succeed. At the time, we told the kids it would be a struggle and the first 6 months would be the hardest, and indeed that has been the case.
Part of the reason we moved to Switzerland was the educational system. Our son prefers working with his hands as opposed to academics, and the system here is very much geared to this, so even if he does not make it to Gymnasium we are absolutely fine with that. Would you be ok with your 13yr old not entering Gymnasium? What are her career interests, and has she set her sights on University? If so, International school would probably be the better choice.
Note the post near the end from the student who came at 15 with no German, and the path she took to get where she is.
I will say that it is a big plus to start in the "1. Klasse" of a school when everyone is new to the school and they do a lot of orientation and explain how things work, what's expected, etc., and everyone is making friends.
Depending on the school, this could be at 7th grade or 9th grade. If there's any way you can negotiate for the 13 year old to join a 7th grade class I think that would help, even if it's not a Gymnasium, and then think about moving up to a Gymnasium in 9th grade if that's desirable and their test scores after a year and a half here support that.
And start learning German NOW -- every little bit helps. Think of it as being able to start the adventure early.
PM me if you want more details of our experience -- not necessarily interesting or applicable.
I am currently 16 years old (The same girl on the post linked above) and I moved to Switzerland when I was pretty much 15. I personally, really didn't want to learn german. I am a person used to being at the top of the class and i wanted to stay there. But my parents had a different idea. They put me into the gymnasium straight away. I didnt manage it and after three weeks i was out. However, i then decided myself to effectively take a year out of the schooling system and go to a language school. I learnt intesively every day. After a month of this we went back to the kreisebüro and asked what my options were. They were very kind and said i could unnofficially visit the local secondary school for the 5 hours a day when I wasn't at the language school. (I live in the city 8006). At the beginning school was difficult. My grades were sloppy and I was only understanding about half of what was going on in the class, maybe less. But by the end of the first semester, I had friends who I communicated with only in German and I was consistently passing my exams, even some of the German grammar ones . The thing I found about learning german the way i did, was that I gained a very good knowledge of the grammar and therefore, was almost on par with the class within 5 months. Moving on, by the end of the year, i was b2 standard and pretty much understanding everything.
This year I started gymasium again, and with huge success, I am happy to say. I got some of the highest grades in my year group and I learnt swiss german this semester. You pick it up incredibly quickly once you speak german and are surrounded by it. i do not speak swiss german but that is completely by choice, i understand all that is said to me.
My point it this, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, and your children are smart enough, which by the sounds of things, they are, then it is well worth it. Yes I am now a year behind where i would be if i was still in England but, because people in switzerland can go into gymnasium at varied ages, I am not by far the oldest in my class. There are people vurging on 17 and people who are only 14 in the same class in gymnasium here. (MNG Rämibühl). The swiss system is a fantastic schooling system. Having experienced myself both the english and the american school system beforehand i can safely say that the swiss system is the best. It is very well rounded and the teachers are incredibly supportive and teach at a high standard throughout. I strongly suggest putting your children in the local school, and if needed, sending them to a language school on the side. The older ones, if they manage german, will then be able to go to the kurzgymnasium (4 years long). The 13 year old may even be able to get a place as an auditer for his/her first year in gymnasium if s/he has only been in switzerland one year when he/she enters, because then it can hardly be expected that s/he can be ready to sit the exam after only half a year. I was also given this option and the outcome is just that the grades dont count for your first half a year of gymnasium and then you start getting evaluated. It helps an awful lot to let your child settle in.
I have been looking at this forum for some time but this is my first Post so hello everyone! Hope you are having a great Sunday.
Thank you for this encouraging Post. We are a family with two kids with one just about to turn 11 and the other about to turn 6 and we are considering moving to Zurich. The biggest worry for us is how our 11 year old would fare in the Swiss education system with a new language to learn. Our son just got through 11 plus and is qualified to go to grammar school so we struggle with the question of "is it worth throwing away this opportunity and try this crazy adventure in a new country. On the other hand there are positives about the Swiss education system as you have highlighted above. One if which is the fact that the kids would be multilingual.
But I am a bit confused about moving to gymnasium though. My understanding was that in Zurich, you get two chances to go to gymnasium through selective exams (somewhat like 11 plus) but your teachers reports also count towards this. you get one chance when you are 12 and another when your in year 9 . If you miss these, you go through the 'non academic stream' which can take you to university eventually but it will take many more years and would be much more expensive. Please correct me if any of this is not right.
But you has moved in to gymnasium, then out, and then in again at 16. I didn't know that was possible. Please can you explain if it is a general possiblilty in Zurich or of this was some sort of special arrangement for you agreed by the local government in your case?
Hi, in Zurich you get one chance to go to the 6 year Langgymnasium after primary school, so after year 6. The assessment is 50% exam and 50% school grades in Maths and German.
You get another chance to start the 4 year Kurzgymnasium after year 8 and also after year 9. Currently the assessment is 100% exam in Maths, German and French, but this is planned to change some time in the next few years. For Kurzgymnasium, if you don't pass the first semester, you have to leave the school but you are allowed to try again the following school year.
Thank you so much @Rayne. It is kind of you.Sorry about the late reply. We ended up staying in UK for now as thing didn't work out with the job opportunity I was considering. I am still interested in moving to Switzerland possibly in the coming years so I am going to keep an eye on this forum. I am learning German too and got the kids to do some practice with the 'memrise' app. If we don't move to Swiss, at least they will get their GCSE German covered in advance 😄