well. These towns are all just a few minutes outside of Zürich.
Also, many English speakers live in these communities because of
this.
Obviously, there would be drawbacks and risks involved (trouble learning, trouble making friends, trouble communicating with teachers and friends' parents), but there would also be some substantial upsides and possible rewards. (Besides the obvious language and culture stuff, the local kindergarten will be within walking distance of your house.) A nice thing about exposure to a new language at the K level is that children (and their parents) are not yet under as much pressure to make good grades in a new language!
Mike
Thank you all for the feedback. We are actively talking to the Director regarding ZIS' Baden school location.
We moved to Schaffhausen two years ago and chose a different option for each of our five children according to their ages...
The eldest, who was 14, stayed in the UK, where he was very well-settled.
The next, who was about to start Secondary School, started at the International School in Schaffhausen, where he has been very happy.
The next, who was 6, started in the 1. Klasse in the village school. She has definitely had the "hardest" time, as she was immersed totally from Day1 in a language of which she spoke not a word. However, after two years, she is doing really well and can chat competently to both children and adults.
The youngest two, who are twins, started in the first year of Kindergarten, also at the village school, and will go into the 1. Klasse next August, speaking quite a bit of German/Swiss German - although they are not as fluent as their sister by any means.
So there you have it. If you're still in the process of looking for somewhere to live, I would definitely recommend looking at both Schaffhausen and Winterthur, which both have good International Schools.
Good luck.
Can anyone comment on Lycee Francais Zurich? Has anyone had experiences there they can share?
I'm pleased with the education she is recieving, although the curriculum is very difficult.
Even though there are many nationalities attending the school- this is a French-French school (not Swiss-French) and if you don't have any ties with France it might be a bit difficult to understand the system!
We have no ties to France, except for my childhood friend who has lived in Paris for 6 years now. We've decided to stick to an English international school for our 4 year old daughter, but would still highly consider the Lycais for our upcoming baby. Please share your thoughts on the questions above if you can. Much thanks.
We moved to Zurich in Nov last year with our kids who are primary years. ICS, ZIS, Lycée and ISZN (Wallisellen) were on our list. The curriculum was a significant decision criteria for us given that at some point we will be returning to our home country and our kids will need to reintegrate back into the home schooling system. As a result, our focus was towards those schools with IB curriculums (International Baccalaureate) which we felt was the closest match to what our kids were currently used to. Lycée's curriculum is not IB but follows that of the French school system. ISZN and ICS (and ZIS I believe) follow the IB. We ended up with ISZN and ICS on our short list as ZIS is on the other side of Lake Zurich from where we chose to live. ICS has more familiar 'campus' look and feel to a north american school along with great facilities (separate computer, art, indoor gym, outdoor gym). ISZN is smaller but has a better student-to-teacher ratio. We ended up choosing ICS as we were fortunate to get a spot and felt that it was a better match for our kids; although ISZN would have been our second choice.
Probably the best way to evaluate and make a decision if you are able to do so is visit the schools first hand. The international schools here are all quite different from one another (overall culture, principals, styles, look and feel). Lastly, where schools have waiting lists, they typically are able to provide input on approximate wait times for open spots.
Hope some of this helps.
"What are weaknesses of the system? " The weakness would be the strictness of the system; again the Lycée is part of the french national education, the children work alot harder than in the US and the school day is very long.
"What is the quality of teachers there? Where are teachers recruited from and what sort of backgrounds do they have?" The teachers go thru the a national competition to be admitted as a teacher (I have a friend that just did it at 40 years old and it almost killed her). That being said, some teachers are great and some less so. Since they are on "an international assignment" it seem like they are part of the elite.
"Is German taught in Kindergarten alongside French?"
I'm not sure- I can find out for you. My daughter is in the equivalent of 7th grade and has French, German, English and Latin!
"I believe there are about 15% of children that are not French-speaking or are not French nationals. Have you noticed if they have a hard time adapting, even at young ages of 3 or 4?" My daughter has always been in the french system so I cant say. The advantage of 3-4 year olds is their brains are little sponges and they just get on with it.
"And, how about the parent interaction?" Not sure about that question.
Are the non-French parents left out of the scene or are they welcomed by "the others to help them integrate into the school culture?"
If you dont speak french you will be slightly handicapped- it really is a french school. But lots of people speak english. There isn't a notion of "school culture" like in the US.
"Is there a parents' association?" The school is run by the parents- an elected committee (kind of odd); there are several meetings a year where things are voted on (conducted in French).
"We've decided to stick to an English international school for our 4 year old daughter, but would still highly consider the Lycais for our upcoming baby. Please share your thoughts on the questions above if you can. Much thanks." It really depends on what your plans are- that is how you have to look at their education. If you Zurich is a longterm thing- put the little ones in the local school. If not (who knows what the future will hold), the best thing is continuity- for you and for them.
And yes, the school is supposed to move to Maur in 2010 (10 minutes from the actual location), because there are so many new students (if you are French- they cannot refuse you admission)
Anyway, you can pm me if you want more info.
You say that each school has its own culture, style, look and feel, and styles of the principals. We actually did not consider ISZN because compared to the other schools, the facility just seemed really small and through other threads I've heard that there are some tensions between teachers and management, which can certainly affect the children and the quality of schooling they are receiving.
Can you comment on differences between ZIS and ICS as well as the Lycais (mostly about its facility)? Were you more or less impressed with ZIS' curriculum, quality of teachers and principal compared to ICS?
I intended to mean 'principles'...that is, the underlying values and guidelines that the school puts in place for it's students, teachers, and administration. Again, something that I've seen which differs from school to school.
Unfortunately I cannot. We ruled out ZIS and Lycée for reasons other than their campus and didn't visit those. That said, I've only heard good things about ZIS in speaking informally with other parents whose kids attend that one.
There's also a school in Zug... http://www.isoz.ch/index.php?nav=1
Lakeside School
Zweisprachige Tagesschule Zürichsee
Lakeside Bilingual Dayschool Zurich
Seestrasse 5
Postfach
CH-8700 Küsnacht
Telefon:
Fax: 044/914 20 50
044/914 20 59
Wishing you good luck in your search!
My advice would be to hang on the waiting list and keep your fingers crossed!
I am planning to move with my family - son-10 yrs and daughter 6 yrs to Swiss in about 6-10 months time.
I have seen some schools and found ZIS schools all over. I am visiting a few this month end.
I also found ISOCS Cham. Does anyone know much about this school and how it is? Please advise.
Also please advise on a good Real estate agent, who can guide us for a nice home/apartment near the school. Thanks
Good Luck with the move, Venkychetty. I can't comment on ISOCS, but I am hoping to register my 4 y.o. at SIS this week to start the new term next week.
There are a number of (International) School options in Zug (I presume you'll be working in Zug, if you're looking at ISOCS Cham) and they're all fairly impressive.
I will assume that you've considered the Swiss v International School debates that have been extensively commented upon elsewhere. Other than that, the location of your workplace and a suitable place to live will have a significant impact on where you choose to educate your children.
As you've given yourself most of the year to worry that you're doing the right thing (sorry, I mean to say fully consider all the options ) then I can only recommend that you come over and see as much as you can. Having come from London/Surrey a couple of weeks ago to follow my wife's next career move, I can certainly say that it has been worth it.
As for accommodation, websites such as comparis and immostreet have plenty of apartments available, but again you'd need to focus on which particular area you'd prefer to live and your budget.
Finally, I'd suggest introducing yourself in the Introductions section of the Forum, you may get much better advice there to any questions you have.
All the best,
pbt
that was very helpful and prompt. appreciate it.