Special for Expats: A Rough Guide to Swiss Public Education
One-Hour Consultation in German or English
Whether you have recently moved to Switzerland with children, or have lived here for a decade but now have children entering the Swiss public schools, you are facing a new and unfamiliar system. Given that we all want the best for our children, this can be overwhelming, especially since the system changes quickly but broadcasts such changes slowly.
In a one-hour consultation I would be happy to explain the current system to you and answer your questions about:
the kindergarten curriculum; opportunities for German as a Second Language instruction in the public schools; how Swiss teachers manage their classrooms, and the importance of the social component; how to determine your child’s academic level despite an unfamiliar grading system and absence of teacher comments; what specific questions to bring to your parent-teacher conferences to get the most information about your child’s school experiences; the academic expectations at the primary level and whether these are standardized across schools; the requirements for passing onto or testing into the next level; whether and where to get your child test-preparation for the “Gymi-Prüfung” and/or support for the trial period at high school; the difference between “Gymnasium”, “Sekundarschule A” , “Sekundarschule B” , “Fachmittelschule” and “Handelsschule”; how a pupil can receive a “Matura” without attending a traditional university-track high school.
Naturally I am more than happy to address any other concerns you might have, and will leave you with a set of resources to explore on your own.