If everything goes well, I will be moving to Geneva next spring with my wife and 6 year old son. (Entering 1st grade in the U.S.). He is a very tall, strong and active kid with above age-level academic skills and a bit of something that doesn’t quite look like autism and doesn’t quite look like ADD - Perhaps just the hyperactivity without the attention deficit?
Anyway, I am starting the process of identifying elementary school options for him in Geneva, and wondering if anyone has any particular resources or directions they would recommend.
We would be open to a public school, if that seems best, but he doesn’t speak French , and we are only planning on staying for a couple of years so he doesn’t HAVE to learn (although it would be cool.). Wife and I speak functional if awkward French and fluent Spanish. He understands Spanish well, but doesn’t speak it much at all.
Because of his size, he is easily mistaken for a very badly behaved older child, rather than the slightly badly behaved young child that he is.
He will enter school next fall reading and writing in English independently, performing two digit addition and subtraction, and with a basic understanding of fractions.
We are in the process of having a full neuropsych assessment conducted now - should have results in hand this month, including recommendations for accommodations.
We will want to live within commuting distance of the United Nations. (WHO - Pregny-Chambésy?)
If it matters, one parent will be working full time, and the other will be working part time if at all.
Any recommendations on how to go about a search would be greatly appreciated. There are so, so many schools in Geneva. Where I live, I know what kinds of jargon I should be looking for on a school website to indicate that they are experienced with working with a range of kids, but I don’t know what to look for in Geneva (2e? neurodiverse? neurodivergence? differentiation? IEP? - what’s the vocabulary I am missing)
Also, if there are particular schools that folks recommend I look into, please share!
I’m not sure how it works in Geneva, but where I’ve lived in Switzerland you generally can’t pick a public school other than by obtaining accommodation close to one and hoping your child gets allocated to the nearest school.
So the first big decisions is whether to go with a public or private/international school. Public schools in Geneva are well-regarded, but they do have their challenges if your son doesn’t speak French yet. While he doesn’t need to learn French, public schools would be full immersion, which might be difficult in the short term (especially since you’re only staying for a couple of years) but at his age, kids can pick up the language very quickly this way. There is support available for non-French speakers, but the level and availability might vary from school to school.
Private or international schools would provide a smoother transition, as they tend to use English as the primary language and are more accustomed to working with international students. Since your son is already ahead academically in English and math, an international school might be a better fit for meeting him where he’s at. However, these schools can create an “international bubble,” where most of his social interactions will be with other expat kids, and he might have less chance to interact with local Swiss children or practice French.
At his age, I’ve only seen integrated classes, any differentiation is by breaking out some classes e.g. language classes for non-native speakers, or separate sessions for those with special needs.
You might want to tap your employer and future colleagues networks for local specific advice.
Oh, and a last thought: I found the Swiss system to be much less academic than many other countries; they start later pre-school and there they don’t do very much so it wouldn’t surprise me if your son is already a bit ahead academically.
In Geneva, Switzerland, elementary education is compulsory for children from age 4 to 15. The language of instruction in public schools is primarily French, with German and English introduced at later stages[8][10]. Public schools are free and children typically attend the school closest to their residence[11]. Private and international schools offer diverse curricula, including the International Baccalaureate and British A Levels, but they can be expensive[8][9]. Most schools provide lunchtime and after-school care, and non-French-speaking students receive intensive French lessons to aid integration[10].
Not Geneva, I’ve been looking at schools in my area and noticed a few differences to other countries.
No publicly available ranking of public schools - there is a ranking I’m told (was told this by an academic consultant); but this is only accessible to people working in a leadership function in schools.
general statement that “all Swiss schools are good” - but no real data around university entries, career prospects, etc published
very polarizing (we’ve been shouted at for asking about what percentage of students go on to apprenticeships, vs university vs other things). Borderline got called bad parents for trying to ensure that the kids have the best opportunities.
a general consensus that better off areas (e.g. Zug) have better career prospects for students - but again, no data to back it up
a bit “behind” (at least in the early years) compared to other European curriculums; e.g. in Kindergarten, they don’t learn any reading/writing, the focus is more on social skills and other things. Here we were told by the consultant “but don’t worry, they catch up very quickly versus other curricula” (we are comparing primarily to the IB - EYP)
for private schools, facilities seem a bit lacking (compared to international schools in UK, Dubai, West Africa, Singapore); none in my area have a private pool, few have on-campus gyms/footbal/tennis/basketball courts, etc.
both public and private schools don’t appear to have clear mandates for VLEs (but this may be just in my area); it’s down to the school whether they use a VLE, and at what age children are taught basic programming skills, introduced to computers, etc
very heavy reliance on the teacher’s opinion. If the teacher feels that your child has low potential, they can stop them from entering the “higher” school stream (which allows them to go to university). This starts at a very early age; and from what I can tell, has no real appeals process. I’ve read of a few stories where a child had good grades, but wasn’t integrated well, and got told they couldn’t do the higher stream. That’s it. Decision made. (this concerns me, as both my partner and I are not exactly neurotypical… we would NOT have fitted well in a mold like this in school)
one other area that was important to us was (that we haven’t found in schools) a “generic religious education” (similar to what I had) - i.e. get taught about Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc; in a factual way, that allows the child to believe, or not… but this we almost certainly will supplement with private tuition
EDIT: one last thing, while I’m confident that if you plan on staying in CH for the rest of your life - and your kids plan on something similar, the Swiss public system is perfect. That said, I never lived in a country more than a few years, and (still) have residency in 3 countries. I expect my kids to follow a similar path. Under that pretense, we are not sure what to do with education. Part of me thinks private international school, part thinks to look for a public school that offers IB (if they exist), and part of me thinks of moving…
OP -One theme repeated often in this forum is that every Canton is different. For Geneva this is particularly relevant as its so small and many choose to live in neighbouring Vaud.
It depends on the canton though, if you’re in Zurich you shouldn’t worry (that much). Grades do count in the 6th grade (when they take the test for the admission in gymi), but not in the 8th grade (second chance).
I know Swiss teachers have the reputation of being exigent and intransigent, but the ones we’ve met also try to be very helpful, it’s not like they want your child to fail…
Btw, they learn about different religions in school. (probably not at the level you’d like though)
I would like to add : while the Swiss Matura is the traditional route to university, an apprenticeship can also serve as a pathway to higher education. If a student completes an apprenticeship while earning the Berufsmatura (maturitée professionelle), they will graduate with both a diploma in their profession and eligibility to attend a vocational college (Fachhochschule), where they can pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Should they wish to attend a university instead, they have the option of completing the passarelle course and exam, equivalent to the Swiss Matura. This route takes about a year longer than directly attending Gymnasium, but it allows the student to earn the Swiss Federal Vocational Diploma (Eidgenössische Berufsdiplom) simultaneously.
For the public schools, you normally automatically get a place in the local school, you don’t have a choice. Also, generally there is no stress in not being able to find a school at all, schooling in compulsory so they will find a place for him. So you have a fallback plan at least. Language would not be much of a problem at that age.
The main issue with public schools, if you have not figured out yet, is the timetable: although depends on the canton, but for year 1, school is like part-time at 50%, with 2 days morning only, 2 full days, and wednesday no school at all. Also lunch is not provided, children are picked up for lunch and then taken back to school for the afternoon session. This will be an issue if both work and no grandparents in the area. There are childcare - nurseries (often located across the street from the school) who, for a fee, would take care of collecting, providing lunch, taking back and even keeping him in the afternoon until work is over, but places are not enough and should not count on that if arriving mid-year. This will be the main issue.
Private schools will offer lunch and care for the whole day, but of course are not free. As for arrangements for particular types of children, I think both public and private would be able to cope for this age group, but you will need to approach private schools once you have a proper diagnosis to find out more.
It likely varies depending on the canton but my son learnt an awful lot about a wide variety of religions in school here. They visited a mosque and a synagogue amongst other things and had visits from different religious people.
I know the history of Islam was covered in history lessons but I’m not sure where the other religions fitted in.
It could well be that because Neuchâtel is a very multicultural canton they cover these things more here than in other cantons.
We have 4(ish) religions in our family (mostly non-practicing + 1 agnostic), so it’s important to us that religious education is taken as a neutral thing. i.e. “some people believe this, some that - you choose”.
They learn something about all major religions here too - Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism. They also visit a church, a temple, a mosque and a synagogue.
(more from a cultural and historical perspective though)
Oh. There are cases where teachers want the child to fail. I know of one case where the child was essentially bullied by the teacher out of the school and the parents put the child private to protect her. As in many cases in Switzerland, even when evidence that the teacher is in the wrong, there’s little recourse available.
It’s also of little use since you have limited ability to select a school and within the school the quality of teaching can vary immensely with different classes/teachers and you have no influence over which class they get put into.
Yes, a colleague had to hire a lawyer to overturn a decision. We got the details as we thought we had to do the same as the administration (for cost reasons) wanted to overturn the parents’+teacher’s decision, but luckily in the end they backed down.
Not only that, I found teachers actively discourage this. My son became very interested in letters and asked me about them and so I began to teach him letters and how to read. What made me most angry was when he was proud to show off to the teacher the letters and words he learned she discouraged him and told him to tell me that instead of teaching him to read, that I should better teach him other stuff like cutting with scissors etc.
In Switzerland they are hugely behind, esp. at the beginning even compared to neighbouring countries such as France and Germany.
In this regard, I found the private kindergarten (I send my daughter to one) to be excellent. Very broad activities without compromising the academic aspects. She only started this year, but at this rate, within a year she will overtake my son, who is doing his third (extra) year of KG.
I think this is in no small part due to them having smaller class sizes and more one-on-one time and it being a full day school: 6.5 hours per day of teaching. None of this 2.5 hours a day 4 days a week and 4.5 hours 1 day a week nonsense.
It was only marginally more expensive than full time daycare - so even though I never thought I’d send my kids to private school, in the end I’m glad I sent my daughter as in terms of value for money, it is way better than daycare.
Sorry to hear that, Phill, I guess it’s no surprise that there are bad apples in every profession.
I do wonder if it’s something against foreign pupils or what else? I’ve heard complaints from parents who thought boys are discriminated in school. I wouldn’t be so surprised if older generations of female teachers favour girls, as they had it much harder back in the day.
I know of one teacher who decided that she was going to stop one child she didn’t like going to gymi. She ensured she got zero marks in any subjective tests but the school couldn’t work out why she got top marks in all the objective exams (maths etc) but zero in these others and worked out that the xenophobic teacher was the problem.
I don’t know what happened to the teacher (nothing I think) but the child went to gymi, university, and then on the ETH.
Which is why it surprises me when people say, and believe “All Swiss schools are good”.
A school, as far as your child is concerned, is only as as good as the teachers they have and not all teachers are equal here or anywhere.
Generally reasonably funded and well-equipped (this is Switzerland!)
The academic level at younger ages is not that great. But I actually like that they focus on the soft skills. Though I think they could and should do both. They can easily fit in more teaching by making KG and school full time. Just make it 8.30am - 4pm every day instead of having mostly half-day schools.
I think I’ve mentioned on here before that one of the teachers in my son’s school favoured the girls in the class over the boys and it wasn’t until I happened to be talking to a couple of the other parents that I realised it wasn’t just in my imagination. She was properly nasty in an underhand way.
My son has now progressed up through the school and has a set of brilliant teachers, so we’re back on track but that earlier-years teacher is still there doing her thing.
On the whole, the school is great - kids are lovely, facilities are great and the overall teacher talent is amazing, except for that one spiky mare.
In one of my son’s schools, it was a bit more obvious than that - no guessing required - the teacher told the boys that she didn’t like teaching them and only liked teaching the girls.
At first we had thought she was a great teacher but things really did unravel.
All valid points but there seems to be a lack of accountability with the suitability of teachers outside of the actual teaching which probably stems from the ethos of “All schools are great. All teachers are great”.
I think the saddest lesson my kids have learnt is that “The teacher is not always right”.
