Child Education in Brussels

[MovingOn1000]

Hi all,

My Son is 4.5 years old as of today. and would become 5 by May 2015. I am expected to be in Brussels(My husband office is ING Belgium) by around April 2015. I understand that schools starts from July there. would like to know what options to consider for school. My son is studying in English Language now.
Should we go for Bi-Lingual or public ? What's the school options available near the Office?
Please guide.

You might want to also post in www.mumsnet.com/Talk/living_overseas. There are quite a few mumsnetters in Brussels who are very helpful with the system.

Hello,

There is a pretty active " mumsnetters in the Benelux " group on FB.

It is predominately Brussels based..

Loads of good advice to be had on there. I will message you the details if you would like to join.

Expatmomma, who is the admin of that group? I just requested to join.

Hi moving on and dizzidoll. I will link this post to our page so admin see.

Schools start from September not July and inscriptions for Sept 15 have already started. Many public FR schools will already have waiting lists but parents join lots of lists at this stage so places may open up. you need to start phoning and getting on lists now! If you mean the ING building in Etterbeek then there are also several FR/EN bilingual options nearby (wide variety of fees) such as Acacia/Agnes school, BJAB and BICS. I am new to schools here and there are far more knowledgable ladies in our group who will be able to help :-)

Your ability to choose private english or english / french depends on ability to pay fees which vary from 4k to 30k. You pay for what you get.

Public suits many but only if you understand and embrace the belgian education system.

I would say the decision should be based on how long you're going to be here. If it's only a couple of years, I would say (if the fees are paid) to continue in English, especially if you are likely to be moved on to another country afterwards. However, if you are here long-term then maybe consider local. However, the Belgian school system is very different from the international one so you would need to be prepared for that.