SHAPE International School, NATO base - help please!!

[Rosita]

My husband has been posted to SHAPE (NATO base) near Casteau and we move there from the UK in May. We will be provided with housing but in terms of schools, most of the British people send their children to the British section of the SHAPE International School. It's meant to be lovely, small classes and has an Outstanding Ofsted. I'm in two minds though. The SHAPE School also has an International section which follows the Belgian curriculum and is taught in French. I'm not sure where to start about finding out what the school is really like. Are Belgian schools regulated and inspected in a similar way to Ofsted?
Has anyone got any experience of SHAPE? I guess all the local schools are a possibility too but have NO idea where to start with that!
My husband thinks that the children will naturally go to the Brit school but I am keen for them to be really proficient in another language. He says though that my older son (Year 2) will be completely stumped and at a massive disadvantage academically if we throw him in at the deep end. My little one (will start reception in Sept) would just adapt I guess. We will be there for about 2.5 years I think, possibly more.
Any advice would be much appreciated!

Aha, so it´s not that you cannot work, it s that what you gain in working might be cancelled out by losing privileges. I work as if I am a single parent, hubby outside the Belgian tax system, in my case it is worth it as I get the tax allowances for the children so I don t pay so much tax, the child benefit is more than twice the amount received in the UK. I guess you have to do the Maths before considering a job. Oh andI discovered a nice little way to receive tax-free income this week, if you work for an ASBL (charity), you are allowed to earn a certain amount tax free per year, all in the black.

sorry I meant none in the black, all legal.

Natation two things:
1: If you are a trailing spouse of a crown servant, there is a form you can download from the HMRC website, and get your NICs paid for the time you are here.

2: Carrefour at Kraainem are selling boxes of 13 huge chicken legs for 8 euro 75 a box. Just bought a box and frozen them.

I think it also depends where you work, so when dh was IMS, I couldn't work for more than a certain amount due to losing d/f privileges. When he was EUMS, it didn't matter, now he has dip status it changes again.

As the school doesn't teach my subject, I am happy to work marking GCSEs and do some tutoring on the side; beats working full time!

LOL at NI and chicken legs in same post! That is interesting re trailing spouse of crown servant. Must look into that for DH.