Schools in Brussels

[charltonchick]

Hi there, we're moving to Brussels in September and need to find a school for our DD who is 4 1/2. We're looking for something small, mornings only if possible and preferably billingual. The fees will be paid and the location isn't so important as long as it's not too far out as we can choose our accomodation to suit the school. We also have a 2 1/2 yr old DD so if she could go to the same place or somewhere near for a couple of mornings a week that would be great.
Any ideas? Thanks for your help!

[natation]

hi there ellenladonna,

Leuven is a Dutch speaking city, French will be of no use there. The Dutch speaking schools are pretty good there and if you're coming to work at KU Leuven, it's logical to settle there. There is a great anglophone group of parents with Brussels Childbirth Trust (BCT) who are currently helping a Malaysian family I know get school places there, they have even gone around phoning schools for this family, so their advice where to look.

The French speaking area is a 20 to 30 minute drive away from Leuven.

[ellenladonna]

Hello Portofino,
I quick "ciao", one because you are in/near Leuven and your nickname being what it is. I am an SAHM in Turin Italy with two children ages 6 and 4. My husband has received an offer from the University in Leuven. We plan on visiting (my first time) in November. I am American and speak decent Italian but no French nor Dutch. My children speak Italian and some English. Should I be freaking out about this offer? I have struggled for 5 years to learn the "Italian way of life", and now the thought of having to learn French and a new culture makes me want to cry. Italy is beautiful with a high quality of life, food, art, friends, but the way business and university systems runs is a complete mess.
No real questions just wanted to make a connection with an other woman who knows her stuff...I've read your posts!

[natation]

Hi Tatiana
how long are you here for?

There is only one "cheap" secondary in Brussels offering a 50/50 French/English education for over 11 year olds, called BICS. Well you'd have to look at the school to decide if it's for you.

If you're self funding and want English, then there is WIS, International Montessori, ISB and BSB in or very near to Brussels with fees from 15k to 25k ish, more if you have a high income.

If you're here for several years and coming this year, well secondary in the French local system starts a year later than the UK so an 11 year old would still be in primary. A very good student could get through the last year of primary and make it to secondary, but it takes quite some commitment to achieve this, 2 years in primary would be better. Current final year P6 primairy is for children born in 2001, but with the doubling system here, there are in fact some children in P6 final year primairy born in 2000 and 1999, so an 11 year old in the 2nd last year of primary would not raise eyebrows. So what year of birth is your daughter? If she is born in 2001 and moving right now, she could slot in to second last year of primary P5 and then do P6 next year, should hopefully make it through to secondary.

[tatianapanteli]

Hi there, our family is planning to relocate to Brussels from the UK and we are looking for a secondary school for our 11 (almost 12) years old daughter. She speaks some basic French too, but perhaps not enough to study on this language. Any suggestions, comments, views would be very welcome. Perhaps we would not look at the British schools as they are very expensive. Thanks a lot.

[gianima]

hello everyone
i disappeared for a while (was suffering from information overload), but here i am again asking for more info..
has anyone heard about the Uccle school Notre Dame Wolvenberg (not notre dame des champs)?
any comments will be very welcome..thank you!

[RuthChan]

Oops. Sorry.
I read most of the thread, but scan read some and didn't notice the dates change!
I therefore posted something completely irrelevant.

Sorry. [crawls off to hide under the sofa in shame]

[Longtime]

Excellent namechange by the way!

[Longtime]

Hi Porto !

RuthChan, CharltonChick who started this thread has been here a while now (over a year). This update is for gianima .

[RuthChan]

Great name change Putrifyno!!!

Hi Charltonchick
You have had loads of good info on this thread.
I might as well add my 10 pence worth too...

I have two DCs aged 4 and 2.
They both go to Montessori House Belgium, the Braine L'Alleud school.
I don't know much about the school in the centre, but I am very very happy with the education that my DCs are getting.
DD is there full time and DS just goes in the mornings.
They are both doing brilliantly and they love the nurturing atmosphere.

[Putrifyno]

It's me - Porto in a Halloween disguise!

[Longtime]

Hello Putrifyno! Do you fancy being on our mumsnet spreadsheet? We use the information to arrange gettogethers and swap information. If you do, just let me know.

[Putrifyno]

They have some lovely schools in the Communes A Facilites. But you have to live in one of them (any of them) to be eligible. So much as I would love to enroll dd in the school in Wezembeek Oppem (v. close to me) I cannot. As I live in Vlaams Brabant. And the same applies if you live in Brussels.

[natation]

I think it's worth looking at a map of Brusels, pinpointing work, getting to know important transportation routes such as metro lines 1 and 5 to east Brussels, or tram lines 3, 4 and 7 to south / north Brussels. All the lines, whether tram or metro, marked 1 to 7, are the fastest routes, then lines 39 and 44 to east Brussels are also quite fast and mainly on their own tracks so not caught up in rush hour traffic. Once you are familiar with these routes and ways of getting to work from various areas, I'd look closer at all potential areas to live and whether the areas match your ideals.

Here's some links to descriptions of the 19 communes which make up Brussels region. You could also add on a few satellite communes officially in Vlaams Brabant which are now almost spillover communes to Brussels called Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem, Rhode St Genese, Wemmel, Drogenbos, Linkebeek and either majority French speaking or 50/50 French / Dutch in official Dutch Vlaams Barabant.

here

and here

[gianima]

natation, thank you soooo much for all the information!! i just had a quick read now, i'll read it in more detail later and look online for potential living areas -we had only heard about uccle and ixelles and that is why i thought about those two neighbourhoods, but we also value good public transport connections and city "life" (sports, parks, shops, etc). it is helpful to receive so much advice. thank you!!!!!

[natation]

Here is a handy map of "fondamentales" in Brussels, schools form 2 1/2 to 12. There are a few autonomous maternelles missing off the map, notably Colombe de la Paix in Etterbeek, Bémel in WSP, Colibris in Watermael-Boitsfort. you should find it useful in searching for schools and houses in proximity. Anyone who knows how to add the missing schools, please do tell me, it's not my map so I don't know how to do it.
local French schools

[natation]

In Ixelles, you have 3 very very sought after schools - St André-St Phillipe, St Joseph Boondael and Tenbosch, then a couple more well-regarded ones, many not so well regarded and you really don't stand much of a chance of 1 place, never mind 3 in the most sought after schools. But Etterbeek and Auderghem and WSL and WSP are also not too far from EEB Ixelles school. But if contemplating EEB, I really would get in an application now, even if in the end you do not take up a place, because it's no good choosing to live in Auderghem because of proximity to EEB Ixelles if you in the end get allocated EEB Uccle. EEB Ixelles is the only one of the European schools which is easily accessible by public transport, it's across the road from Delta metro station.

In Uccle, I think you have more good schools, at least that's the impression I get from parents who seem to have less difficulty in securing places than in Ixelles. BUT Uccle is not very well connected to the Schuman area for work and EEB Uccle does not have very good public transport links. You won't get a choice of EEB but if I were given the choice, I'd choose Ixelles for its connections to work, the city centre, nice residential areas.

I know that most children do make it to EEB schools by school buses, but some children have to be at the bus stop at 6.30am in the morning, it is a big consideration when weighing up pros and cons of EEB v local. That is why I am mentioning the public transport options with a short commute to school, or even a short cycle or walk.

I must say that there is a huge Spanish population in WSP, not sure about other communes, I think there is close on around 1000 Spanish nationals in the commune. There are after-school Spanish classes for Spanish speakers in French schools which take place in the premises of a local secondary called Jean 23 on Boulevard de la Woluwe in WSP. There are also Spanish dance classes for children at Centre Crousse also in WSP. I don't think this is a coincidence, probably a reflection of the local population. We have over 20 Spanish speaking children in our children's French chool, the biggest language group after the anglophones.

Personally, I'd search WSL, WSP, Etterbeek, Schaerbeek, Bruxelles 1000 and Auderghem, for convenience to work and also because this area is full of international families and it's rather a nice side of Brussels to live. But that's because I like to be somewhere close to sports, public transport, shops, schools, parks. You might like a more suburban area or more city area.

[Longtime]

Rigourous and warm where the children can enjoy and have fun learning. Hmmm, don't know that this exists in the Belgian system!

[gianima]

having the eldest at EEB and the other 2 at a local school is an option we have considered, but i think it would be simpler for the family if all three were in the same school, and if we could avoid changing schools once they've started in brussels..
i think the eldest would find it harder in a local school during the first year, because of the language, but i also think that eventually it would pay off to have them all attend the same school.
we know nothing about local schools in brussels. is there any in the uccle / ixelles area that you would recommend (in french)? we could arrange visits with a couple of schools if we knew which ones to check out..

[natation]

Might be worth looking at schools accessible to the 3 European schools with Spanish, Uccle and Ixelles, so that you could then swap schools later, or have the eldest at EEB and the 2 youngest at local school.

[gianima]

my husband will be working at the european commission so we are thinking about living close to his work. we don't know brussels but have heard good things about ixelles and uccle. if we ended up in the european school, then that's where we would live. if we go to another school, we can choose where we live in relation to where the school is. but we would consider only somewhere central, and try to minimise travelling

[Putrifyno]

This old thread has loads of info to get you going....

[Putrifyno]

Do you have any idea in which area you will be living?

[gianima]

Hi, we are soon moving to Brussels and we are trying to choose a school for our three children (aged 6, 4, and 2.5). my husband will be working at the european commission so our children would have a place at the european school, where they would be taught in their native language (spanish, although we also speak italian at home) and then would also learn a second language. However, we would also like to look into local school options (French, not flemmish) as we think it would be good for our children to be more integrated by learning French quickly. we are not sure how long we will stay in brussels but even if it is only a temporary thing we would like our children to be settled into the local community as soon as possible. we look for a school that is rigourous academically but at the same time warm and where the children can enjoy and have fun learning. we would be very grateful for any advice you can give!!

[gastrognome]

Thank you! Count me in :)

[Portofino]

Ooh welcome gastrognome! Do you want to join our little Belgian MNetters Club?