One more moving to Brussels :)

[ShutterNutter]

Hi everyone! Found this site a few days ago and I see that some of you live in Belgium :-)

My husband has been transferred to Brussels for 3 years, which is great and we are looking to move early next year. We have 2 little girls 5 & 6 .
We have been in Brussels for 8 days now school & house hunting. I tell you it has not been easy. We just can't decide were to live. After looking at quite a few houses we have come down to two.

The first house we are deciding on is in Ixelles near all the shops, it has no garden (not even a little patch) and no parking which is a bit of a pain driving round and round trying to find one after a long day of work. On the plus side the house is near Tenbosch Park and another big play ground that I can easily walk the girls to, also all the restaurants and shops.

House number 2 is in Watermal-Boitsfort, it is bigger and newly renovated, plenty of parking but the nearest shop (which is 2 supermarkets) is 1.5km away. Not crazy far, but far enough not to make the area very exciting or have anything fun to walk to.
One of the things that appeal to me coming to Europe is the fact that you don't have to get into your car just to get milk. I really enjoy walking and was looking forward to be able to walk to the corner store to get milk or whatever. Also living in a quaint, pretty european style street is very appealing.
DH understandably wants it to be an easy commute to work (Auderghem) and back and to the girl's school (we are deciding between BEPS and ISB) and the Watermal house would certainly provide that. It also has a garden for the girls. The downside is that this house is just surrounded by big offices and buildings and some embassies.

So, after all that rambling ... having lived in Brussels for a while, would you go for the more lively location and walkable locations, but smaller house and no garden, or the bigger house with a garden but not very exciting surroundings but closer to work and schools?

I probably won't have car for the first 6 moths or so but will probably get one later. DH will have car and will be traveling quite a bit with his job. I'll be a stay-at-home mom.

Thanks for any input!!

Signed, indecisive Crazy Rambler ;-)

Good afternoon everyone. This is a wonderful thread, so useful. Thanks!!!
We are moving to Brussels in 12 months' time. We're currently in Paris and our dd is starting first year primaire and our ds starting first year maternellle. So we will need to find them french schools in Brussels.
From the postings, I have found I think 3 main pieces of advice - I would be very greatful if the Brussels experts could tell me if I've got this right or wrong:

1. look for a school place first, then worry about the apartment!
2. I need to call each ecole separately because there is no single admissions system
3. To find a place for september 2013 I need to call in January 2013 because that's when the places open.

Have I got this that basically right?

I'm reading through all the posts about locations and so on, but these are my main questions.
Many thanks!!!

ps if anyone is thinking of moving to Paris, i would be delighted to help with information. the schools admission is very easy!!! :)

Hi there,

welcome to all the mumsnetters in Belgium. We have own on closed group where details are kept on a spreadsheet and also most of us are part of a closed Facebook group, just send a pm if you want to join us.

Now I'll answer your questions....

1. look for a school place first, then worry about the apartment!

Yes but do try and choose a school in an area convenient for a commute to work and also before choosing a general area to look for a school, check there is a sufficiently big rental market in that area too. Ideally you should arrange a school many months, up to 18 months in advance, whereas you can't normally start a search for a home until about 2-3 months before moving.

1. I need to call each ecole separately because there is no single admissions system

Yes with a few exceptions, such as you can apply for a single Brussels Ville communal school (which make up only 40% of schools in Brussels Ville anyway), but you'll find out which schools do NOT handle their own admissions by contacting individual schools. Do phone as a first choice, don't rely on emails which often go unanswered.

1. To find a place for september 2013 I need to call in January 2013 because that's when the places open.

No in fact, you'll be too late for many school already. For children starting any time from September 2013 to April 2014 (such as children going in to "acceuil" who start any time from Septemter to around April in the school year), some school start their admissions arrangements in September 2012. As most schools do their own enrolments, they can start them at any time in the preceding school year, many of the more popular schools start and complete admissions in September/October/November of the preceding year.

If you say where work is and any other wishes, plus a price range and size of house, then I could suggest areas where to start looking, along with schools to look at. Don't worry about being near green space or having a garden, as Brussels is far greener than Paris and houses with gardens can be found in all areas. Also I'd think a fondamentale (maternelle and primaire together) would be better than separate maternelle and primaire, although some separate maternelles and primaires are right next door.

Thank you for such a helpful and speedy response. I'll be working by Troon metro but quite relaxed about the area we live in. i don't mind a commute, and our main concern is finding a school.

We'll be looking for a place with a maximum rent of 2000 E/month, preferably less. We'd prefer a house having been in a small paris apartment for the last couple of years.

Again thank you so much for your time and help. I'll PM you about the FB group.

Hi again
given you are looking at the best time before enrolments start, I'd shortlist some areas now to start looking. For that budget, you could get a 4 bed with small garden in a bustling city area near to Troon (though your choice will be smaller the nearer you get to the city) or you could live out a bit further but still within 30 minutes by metro, the further out you go, the more suburban it becomes, still you can easily get a 4 bed with garden within budget.

Trone metro is just in Bruxelles Ville 1000, but Ixelles 1050 starts within metres of this metro station. Ixelles and Bruxelles Ville schools are quiet polarised, sought after, not sought after, whereas in the suburbs, there are areas where nearly all schools are sought after and yet easier to get places!

So in fact, I'd choose a general area, or a few general areas now, then concentrate on securing some places as early as possible in the year, then somewhere to live in the Summer of 2013.

thanks!!!

If I were you, I'd book myself a reccie trip, to choose general areas in relation to a commute to Trone. You'll probaby end up either right in the central pentagone of Bruxelles Ville 1000 where the Grand'Place is, or east or south of Trone in Ixelles 1050, Etterbeek 1040, Uccle 1180, Auderghem 1160, Schaerbeek 1030, Watermael-Boitsfort 1170, Woluwe St Lambert 1200, Woluwe St Pierre 1150, just outside Brussels in Kraainem 1950 or Wezembeek-Oppem 1970.

I'd try and get hold of a few copies of the STIB public transport map - you can mark off the communes on there, mark schools and houses on them.
www.stib.be/netplan-plan-reseau.html?l=fr

Take a look now at what your budget will get you - you're in budget for the entire region of Brussels, so long as you are not looking for really really high quality, but Ixelles and Etterbeek and Bruxelles Ville (nice areas) can actually be MORE expensive than the suburban areas of Watermael-Boitsfort, WSL and WSP for 4 bed houses and you will find less houses nearer the centre. Areas with biggest number of 3/4 bed family houses are Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, WSL, WSP, Auderghem, Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem. You'll probably get to know the postcodes off by heart quite quickly, plus the code words which might denote the smaller quartiers of each commune.
www.immoweb.be

Take a look at the schools map of primaires, maternelles and fondmentales for Brussels region,
batchgeo.com/map/1f1bf2b3b6e4ad41fe67c1a57d56a826

plus this one has 4 French schools in Kraainem and Wezembeek-Oppem which are outside Brussels region in Dutch speaking Vlaams Brabant - these 4 schools have special status in the Dutch region, you have to live in these 2 communes to send your children to any of these 4 schools, otherwise you are not limited by catchment areas at all and can pick any French school in Brussels, no matter where you live.
batchgeo.com/map/cede6049273e541514fd4c1c5dc4af9b

I am so impressed with the information and advice on this thread.

I have started a new job in Auderghem. I have a daughter born in 2005 and would like to find a place in a French school (no fees...)

I note the sound advice of natation on finding a school then a place to live. I'm not into commuting much.

Blankedelle, the primary attached to Ecole du Cirque, La Sapiniere...has anyone here got kids at these schools or general info on the local schools? Have been calling and emailing since end of June but no reply. Guess I have to wait to midAugust to see where there's a place, and stick with temporary accomodation in the meantime.

any pointers / expert local knowledge very gratefully received...

Hi there Internationale
schools have been closed since the beginning of July, a few would have had the head in maybe for a few days. The heads and secretaries should be back at schools from around 27th August. Emailing is NOT effective, just use the phone or turn up in person.

La Sapiniere, du Souverain and Blankedelle are not that near to each other, la Sapiniere is not even in Auderghem but in the most southerly part of Boitsfort, plenty of other schools in between - if you've been given these names by people you work with, forget immediately their recommendations and start at the beginning. You will almost definitely get a place at the latter 2 in your list as they are not the most popular of schools. Do you have somewhere permanent to live? If so, start at the nearest school to home and move outwards. If you don't have somewhere permanent to live, well then you can look in other areas which might be good for a commute to where your work is. Take a look at a public transport map - Auderghem is well connected, depends on where your exact place of work is of course, you can get to the centre of Auderghem from several other areas by metro, tram and bus or by cycling. The schools in Watermael-Boitsfort and Woluwe St Pierre do as a general rule have far better reputations that the schools in Auderghem, but remember it's a general rule.

Here again is the primary schools map for Brussels.
batchgeo.com/map/1f1bf2b3b6e4ad41fe67c1a57d56a826

PS if you still haven't got any permanent accommodation lined up, I really wouldn't hold back from finding some now and wouldn't wait until the end of August, it can take several weeks to find somewhere to live and move, very few people manage it within a week or two. Finding somewhere to live after finding a school place in your situation is also going to depend on the ready availability of accommodation within budget in the areas you are looking for schools - on past experience of helping others to combine housing with schooling, if it's a house you're after, well some areas have far more choice than others, eg WSP has around twice the rental stock of houses than Watermael-Boitsfort, Wezembeek with about 1/3 of the population of WSP has almost as many houses for rent as WSP, so the availability of accommodation does vary per area and depending on budget and also type of accommodation - just make sure before settling on a small area to look for schools that you will have enough choice of accommodation in the area surrounding the schools.

We're moving to Brussels next week!
We're re-locating with DH's work so they'll put us in services apartments (in the city I guess?). I have a 13 mo DS and i'm a stay at home mum.
I am really keen to meet other mums and find out about toddler groups / swimming lessons / music classes etc for my DS. We do these things every day in London so it will be a shock to arrive with no activities for us!

Another query is, will it be tricky to meet people if we're in the city centre? Should we push for apartments in a particular suburb?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks, Annie

Hi there Annie456, welcome to Brussels.
Do you know where your husband's work will actually be? Will you be permanently in serviced apartments?

The Brussels Childbirth Trust is the main means of meeting other English speaking families. The new website is still not live (person paid to do it has not delivered on his promise) but basic details are on the front page.
[www.bctbelgium.org

There is a fair amount of non BCT things to do in English with under 5s too, but as most children are at creche by 6 months old here and school by 2 1/2, you won't find indoor play centres open here in school hours, outside school areas many are over-run hosting birthday parties, no limits on numbers. There are 4 places I can think of immediately that do baby swimming, 1 place that does music in English (very expensive though), BCT has a free informal music group and loads more mums and tots groups.

You'll find English speaking families in the central communes and also suburban ones, particularly the southern and eastern ones - Brussels region is 19 communes (towns) including Bruxelles Ville as one of the 19 communes. There are really 2 city centres, the old one where the Grand'Place is and the EU city centre area which is further east. Parking is a big problem the nearer the centre you get, so I'd make sure you get a serviced apartment right near a metro or tram route.

Thanks Natation, wasn't expecting such a quick response!
DH will be working in Woluwe St Lambert so I'm not sure how accessible that is (I guess we'll find out soon). We'll be in serviced apartments while he's on the temporary (6 month) contract so it's a decent enough amount of time that I need to be in the right area.
When you say that the play centres are closed / over-run during the school day, how are they different to mum and toddler groups? Good to know there is baby swimming as its my favourite thing to do with DS.

Also when you say that most babies are in crèche by 6 months, does this suggest that there aren't so many stay-at-home mums in Brussels?
Thanks again, such a help!
Annie

I'll send you a pm

Hi everyone, This looks a great forum!

I'm moving back to Brussels "permanently" with kids (girls 6 months and 4.5 yrs) from France next month, November 2012, having lived there already from 2004-2009.

We'll be based in Auderghem very near the Foret de Soignes (15 minutes walk from metro Hermann Debroux in SW direction). Me British, DH French, home language is mainly English.

I know the city well but my daughter has never been to school there (she's bilingual English-French). We looked at international schools but they look outrageously expensive, and I'm fine with the idea of local school anyway (she goes to local school in FR, I only went to local comp in UK myself) although I am interested in ways of teaching her to read and write in English probably after she's learnt it in French. Any pointers?

Also I just realised that the local school RIGHT next to the house we're going to be renting which I very quickly signed her up for is an "ecole fondamontale libre" with a catholic ethos. Religious schools are all private in France and I didn't realise until afterwards that it wasn't the case in Belgium. Me and DH are complete atheists! It's only maternelle for now, but I was just wondering if any of you have experience of this kind of school, is the religious side fairly "light" or can it be quite "heavy"? I am not keen on any kind of indoctrination but the school is just so well placed for us and it's only "infant school" plus we plan to move house/buy somewhere within 2 years so I reasoned it would be ok.

Also, I was a member of BCT in the past, and now am looking to meet other English speaking families who are permanently based in the area - not to have so many "revolving friendships" as in the past - as I'd like my daughter(s) to hear me speak English with others and have English speaking friends. BCT seems mainly to have playgroups for the toddler age and not much older.

I also considered signing her up for dance classes at the BSB in Tervuren, so she can socialise with other English speaking girls. Anyone with experience of these classes?

If any of you have English speaking kids the same age and live in or near Auderghem it would be great to meet up too.

Hi there

what school exactly have you signed your daughter up for as there is no infant/maternelle only Catholic school in that area which is French speaking, there is only a communale one called Blankedelle-Collin in Auderghem. All the Catholic schools around there are FONDAMENTALE, that is having maternelle and primaire. There is St Hubert which is split site, with maternelle + P1-4 I think in one building and P5-6 in another building.

Very very few of the Catholic schools contain much Catholicism, other than ethos, no religion is taught at maternelle level in public Catholic schools here, only in the private ones such as Acacia and BICS in Etterbeek.

I'll send you a pm. If you're SE of Herman-Debroux, you'll be right next to 2 other mums I know down there who will know other mums. You can do after school things in English every day of the week, no need for a bilingual school here.

Sent you a pm!

We have a mailing list and private FB group if you want to PM me your email address - there are LOADS of us here.

You can always join the BCT Lifers (started by me many moons ago). As the name suggests, we are here FOREVER (or at least very long term). We don't get together than often as a whole group but various mini-groups of friendships have certainly formed over the years. We also have two google groups - one for sharing information, the other for buying and selling. First step for that is to join the BCT again and then contact me for the rest!

Oh and my daughter does tap at the BSB. She absolutely loves it. Another one of the mumsnet mums' daughter goes too. I am now taking an adult class with the same teacher and it's great fun!

And whilst I don't have children the same age as yours, there are a few mums round here who do. I've sent you a pm so feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

Hi, I'm new to Mumsnet and Brussels! It's great to see there is quite a community of you out there.

My husband has just started working in Brussels and we moved into our new home in Hoeilaart last week. We've come from the Netherlands, my husband is Dutch, I'm English. My son (2 1/2) and daughter (8) are attending the local flemish school, as they are bilingual it made sense to us. I was just wondering if there are any other Mums nearby as we don't know a soul! Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi there p51mama, I know a mum with 2 children aged 3 and 6 at het Groene Dal, if it's this school, send me a pm.

I have a colleague in Hoeilaart too, with 3 girls aged about 7 to 13 years old, but they are at an international school. There will be a fair few children at ISB in the gemeente.

Ok, thanks. Yes they are at Groene Dal, they had their first day today and loved it, thank goodness. I think the bus for the ISB and BSB stops close to our house so I figured there must be some Brits around!

Not sure how to send a pm (I'm new to all this) but will figure it out and get in contact. Thank you again.

Well my guess is there are only about 10 children from BSB who live in Hoeilaart, many more will be from ISB. BSB children live, about 70% of them, in Tervuren and Overijse.