Does anyone have any recommendations as to schools/areas surrounding Bern that they have had positive experiences with i.e.who were welcoming and supportive of English speaking children?
I understand that, in general, Swiss schools are supportive in teaching German to English children, however I am more interested in recommendations for specific schools and areas to live.
Thanks!
I don't know if you are aware, that in Switzerland, unless you pay for a private school, you often can not choose which state school your kid goes to.
First it is decided by where you live and normally your kid will then be enrolled to the school cloesest to you...BUT, secondly the school board (Schulkomission) then arranges the classes as THEY see fit , so you might not be as lucky.
Basically, you could live within spitting distance to a school and your kid still can be sent to the one in the next neighbourhood (Quartier) or even next village.
I don't want to frighten you at all, I just want to point out that there MIGHT be some hurdles!!
I was thinking that maybe those two links below, might also help you, in particular to get in touch with ppl that might help you further (my kiddos are long grown up now)
American Women's Club Bern
https://awcbern.org/club-info/
Internations, the link will guide you to fellow Aussies living here already.
https://www.internations.org/bern-expats/australians
I hope this helps a little in your quest, I am sorry for not being able to provide more info
I understood that Kathryn was aware of the system of being allocated places in the local school.
Since she's looking for recommendations of villages to live in outside of the city, I would think there (in a village) is much less chance that her children would be sent to the "school in the next neighbourhood". You are certainly right, though, that this can happen in the city.
Anyone here know and like certain villages as better than others, especially with regard to the reception and language support for newcomers? Or of certain to avoid, and why?
There are other FB groups which could also be helpful. PM me if you want the details.
Actually this happens in villages in Ct. Bern too! My kids may be grown up now, but thanks to large family and a lot of friends with kids, I am not out of the loop of what goes on.
Add to that, that a school may be recommended in general, but the teacher of the actual class is not worth their salt or not receptive of a child with not much German language knowledge.
Personal experience is everything in something so important, hence some links to be able to get to know ppl with that particular knowledge.
As for villages, South of Berne Muri -Gümligen to Belp - Münsingen.....any village within this square.
Many Expats reside in this area , quick access by public transport to the city and rural living to your hearts contents.
Northwest of Bern , Münchenbuchsee and Zollikofen,not just because I grew up thereabouts, again, quick access to the city by public transport, as well as rural surroundings to discover.
She will be 11 in July, turning 12 in December, so I think (not sure) that she will enter 6 grade in the Swiss system and into the final year of primary school. And from what I can see, around half way through this year she will sit exams that will determine her school for lower secondary.
She is an academic kid (A student here in Australia), but she doesn't speak German, so I'm pretty sure she'll do really badly in exams only 6 mths into our time in Switzerland.
Can i ask:
- if she starts at a realschule (for example) in lower secondary, does she have the option to switch to gymnasium as her grades improve in say, grades 8 or 9?
- am I better off keeping her back a year so she has a year to integrate?
- do I have any other options (and no, unfortunately we can't afford an international school)??
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, or if anyone went through something similar. I'm very worried this move will significantly affect her schooling, and not in a good way.
Schools here will offer support with language but it is support and not of a level to help out a kid that lacks even the base of the language. In the end the choice is simple follow public paid German education or pay for a private international school. Kids will learn quickly, but not speaking German at all while enrolling in the last year of a German school is asking for troubles. It also is harder here since they speak a different language from what they read and write. German and Swiss German really are different languages.
Having said that the OP should use the time they have before the move to get German lessons for the kids and get their level as high as possible.
The level of language support offered varies widely but it will probably be pretty substantial at the age her kids are.
Generally the schools put the kids in the age appropriate year group initially with the option of repeating a year (or two) if necessary.
There are always options to move between streams (from real to gymnasium for example).
The big cities of Switzerland are quite small compared to large cities in other countries. Meaning it is often possible to live in an area which has quite a village / countryside feel while being on the public transport network that takes you to the city centre. For example we live in village which is a district of Zurich city, but we are on the end of the tram line that gets to the city centre in 15/20 mins. And I think there is similar in Bern.
The point being that while it is good to try and integrate with the locals, there is also a lot of value in having the expat community at close hand initially as they will have had to jump hurdles that the natives did not. We have friends from when we lived in Basel who moved to Bärschwil which is a very isolated community and they had a very poor experience at the hands of the local knucklescrapers who did not like foreigners. Maybe the extreme example, but just to point out that it is good to have both worlds at your fingertios while you are finding your feet.
Regarding schools and how it will work for your children, take time to search the forum as your particular topic comes up quite often - especially where the children are getting close to entering secondary school or equivalent thereof, and the likely routes through the school system.
Responding to one other reply and avoiding consecutive replies
It depends very much on the family and the kids and their level of determination. NotAllThere will likely be along to chip in, but I know a few families who arrived in CH with older children like the OP. In some cases the children did extremely well in spite of having zero local language at the start. That said, it would not hurt for OP and her children to do some kind of German primer to gain a survival level before they come but it is not essential.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Nick
I don't see how a child could become fluent in German so quickly in order to excel in schooling. Keep in mind that Swiss German is spoken amongst the children, which is a dialect and not taught. I know that perhaps I may get a few groans for this, but the hard truth needs to be said. This is why most relocating families with older children put their kids in international schools. Is there no way that your husband can work it into part of his relocation package?
If your husband is German, has he not taught his kids any of his own language? If you decide to go ahead, I would recommend he speaks with them daily ASAP.
I wish you and your family all of the best of luck!
There also seems to be tremendous support for non German speaking children, including one person who told me the government paid for her children to attend full time German lessons for 3 months, prior to integration into the school (wowee!!). All other people told me the Swiss schools are very accommodating in teaching children German.
That being said, I know it will still be very difficult and I am not complacent, so the moment the job offer is confirmed I will hire a German tutor for the coming 4-5 months to prepare my kiddies as much as possible.