ecole joli bois in Brussels

[Ballet]

I am planning to send my duaghter to ecole Joli BOis this september.
does anybody has any idea about school??

Sorry, natation, that was me replying to something much further up, I just didn't realise how much further the thread went on. You said something along the lines of being really difficult to get into St Michel, Sacré Coeur de Lindthout ... but that they would get a place at Absil. I was just saying that that is not a given.

Jean Absil would give that child max index, if the child went to the nearest primaire, none of the other secondaire schools around there which are also sought after would give max index, I know where she lives, now that primaire priorité is gone, those on the max index are likely to get places and Jean Absil being the only sought after school which also gives a max index if combined with nearest primaire, so it would be the best choice for simply maximising chances at secondarie. The head at SC de Lindhout admitted to the parent of a priority child that there is every chance all their places in 1ere commune will be filled for September 2013 by priority children, the same might happen at St Michel too, if the number of classes is 12 or less this year. From next year with the dropping of primaire priorité, it will be far easier for non priority children to get places.

Hi here
i am living in woluwe saint lambert (wsl) i would like to change my children school
i have choices between (colloege don bosco) and ( institut de l'angelus)

could you please help me.....
thank you

neither are near each other. Where do you live? And where are you changing from?

Hi Natation, any advice about jean xxiii wouluwe? We just arrived to Brussels and we found a spot there. We live in WSPO and we will try to get a spot at Matter Dei, but I have heard they have no opennings rather than for 2 1/2. My kids are 4 and 2 and half. So I am a littel bit confused... I would apreciate any piece of advice. Thanks

Morita13, what are your nearest schools?

Can I just ask why you would rule out Crommelynck? I am really curious about this. We moved to Brussels at the end of October and we were happy that our oldest daughter has been accepted to 3eme maternelle in Crommelynck (we did not do much research about maternelles). She started there beginning of November and I read in many discussions on the net that Crommelynck is not so popular among parents but I do not know why? We do not have much impression about the school yet and we should be selecting a primaire for her daughter soon (I do not know when the enrolments are). For us, Ecole Joli-Bois is just as far as Crommelynck, we live just halfway between them. And our 2nd daughter has also been accepted to Crommelynck accueil to start in March. So I have no idea what to do now. Can you give me any hints/suggestions/your opinion on this? Thanks very much in advance!

Are you planning on staying long term in Brussels?
I'd be personally happy with Crommelynck and I walked around the maternelle recently and did like the atmosphere. But however for primaire, there are many internat children, not many at all who live around the school. Many expat children who leave at this point.

The problem is you have Mater Dei there which is without doubt the most popular school in the area, but also not a school for those who are not ok with their ethos to push the children quite hard even in primaire, so it's not a school for everyone.

Ecole Joli-Bois, well, mmmm, it really depends on your linguistic background, whether you like larger schools, whether the music academy straight after school is a pull, whether you prefer one school at Crommelynck or 2 schools at Joli-Bois as primaire and maternelle or separate. Plus the Action Sport para-scolaire at Crommelynck is as cheap as you'll get, also their hot meals are cheaper than other schools.

It would really depend on what you're looking for in a school.

If you're happy with Crommelynck, don't move.

Hi runningmad, my nearest school is Jolie Bois, second Matter dei and sacre coeur de stockel is also close (2 minutes by bus). I am interested in good acdemic level and good chances to get in the really good secondary schools (Matter dei, St Michelle, sacre Coeur de Lindhout), any advice? I would apreciate any advice . Thanks

From where you live, you will not get a place at Sacré-Coeur de Lindhout or St Michel under the current system so you can instead concentrate on the schools nearer to home like Mater Dei and College Don Bosco.

If Sacré-Coeur de Stockel is nearer than Crommelynck and as near as Mater Dei, I'd be looking there. If you like the idea of by primaire your children being tested and pushed, then Mater Dei is better for you. All the schools in your area, Crommelynck, Joli-Bois, Mater Dei and Sacré-Coeur de Stockel, they're all your nearest or 2nd nearest primaire of type, Mater Dei will be your nearest Catholic secondaire, you'll get a place 99% certain at Mater Dei, 95% certain at College Don Bosco, that is under current secondaire enrolments.

You will have to hurry for Mater Dei, their enrolments for primaire and maternelle I think are next week by phone and very strict, if you phone late, no chance of a place. Sacré-Coeur de Stockel is also completely full in maternelle at the moment, actually more children there per class than Mater Dei, but more movement too as more international children, still you need to be prompt and enrol quickly as there may already be a waiting list for next year's P1 class and M1? class.

Hi runningmad thanks for your answer. So you mean that living in WSP does not allow me to send my kids to St Michel or SCLindhout in Secondary??? Matter Dei is amongst our preferences as well. My question is if I send my kids to Sacre Coeur de Stockel and asumming I do not get a spot in Mater dei for primary, do I still have chances to get into Mater Dei in Secondary? We recently arrived here so I have no knowledge of how the system works...
My kids are M1 and M3, and I have heard that in Matter Dei you can only get a place in M1, is that true?
Anothe question is WSP a good place to live as far as schooling concerns?
Any idea about Jean XXIII Woulowe.
Thank you very much indeed!!

It's not where you live that matters, it's the order of geographical proximity to schools. So if your nearest Catholic secondaire is 40kms away, you are same place on the list as someone whose nearest Catholic secondaire is 10m away.

Where you live in WSP, it places St Michel and SC de Lindhout way down on the list of proximty, too far down to get a place. Where you live in WSP, Mater Dei is your nearest Catholic secondaire, so as long as you attend your nearest primaire or 2nd nearest, you'll get a place at Mater Dei for secondaire. Why would you want to go to St Michel anyway from WSP? Why pass many comparable schools to travel further?

Your kids get a place at Mater Dei maternelle and primaire IF THERE ARE PLACES, as I said, follow the enrolment instructions on the websites and phone up on the days specified and ask.

Jean 23 is fine, but if looking for slightly more relaxed but still academic, you would want to look at College Don Bosco which is nearer.

Thank you very much for your explanation runningmad!
Now I get the idea a little better! And thks for pointing Crommelynk which I did not know!

Runningmad, thank you for your answer.
The thing is that right now we are happy at Crommelynck (only spent about 5 weeks there, not such a long time so no comparison with other schools) but I just keep reading all those negative comments about the school and it made me a bit suspicious whether we should look for another school. We were told by a friend that Jolie Bois is a good school giving stronger basic education than Crommelynck. Is that true?
Our daughter just started maternelle 2 months ago, so her French is quite poor at the moment but I was told by Mme Delvaux, the directrice, that she will be fine by September. So why did you ask about our linguistic background? And we are planning for staying longer, not just 1-2 years, so shall we consider about secondaire now? Music would be a pull for Jolie Bois, but also sports is very important, our girl loves that. I do not mind larger schools (you meant Crommelynck?).
Oh, about enrolments, I am really confused now and I was looking at the home page of Jolie Bois and could not find anything about that. Is it true that they start tomorrow and I should be phoning them as soon as possible if we want a place there? And what about Crommelynck? I have no idea, my French is not the best.
Thanks for answering.

Hi Runningmad again! Just a piece of advice on your experience, any suggestion between Crommelnyck and Jolie Bois regardin the academic background and type of education they provide? Thanks again!

All schools teach the same curriculum. However, you'll find the children at Joli-Bois are on average from better off backgrounds, most are from the near area, though quite a few get off the 36 bus each day who get on at Stockel metro, then travel far to get there, they are from I'd say poorer backgrounds. Crommelynk primaire has quite a high percentage of boarding house children who are again from poorer backgrounds, but not all. Ask if you can have the average mark for CEB for the past 3 years and the percentage of those who passed, if you want to compare academics. But if your child is clever, it really won't matter which school so much for them as it might for the parents!

If you're after a sizeable English speaking population, for social life outside school, you won't find it at either primaire, but will at the maternelle of Joli-Bois. If you're not English speaking at home, you might want to find some children who speak the same language at a school, it really can be good, so long as it's not 40% of the school population!!!

I don't think either Joli-Bois or Crommelynck have set enrolment days, they don't fill their primaire classes so it's not necessary. However, Mater Dei will have a waiting list, for that school it is essential.For the maternelle, you need to phone tomorrow 02/762.12.35 from 9am. Cannot see details on the primaire website, ask the maternelle. If you don't phone tomorrow, little chance you'll get a place for the younger one.

Please help!any information about parc shuman or princesse paola school in woluwe St. Lambert?

Antique fo about parc shuman school or princesse paola in woluwe St Lambert?

Nearest should be best

Dear Manyokati!

We are considering to enrol our daughter to the first year maternelle of Crommelynck. After some months of experience there, would you recommend the school? Are the teachers helpful and friendly; the activities various and your children happy there?
And is the infrastructure Ok?

I will call the school tomorrow to find out, whether they would have a place and would like to visit afterwards.

Thank you in advance!!!
szizso

Hello Everyone,

We will move to Brussels in March 2015 with my 7 year old daughter (having English as first language). We are going to work at VUB/ULB and at least stay until December 2016, and may be longer (depending on how the work contract goes on). So, we also need to think about the secondary school for later!

We are looking at academically good schools with good infrastructure, extra-curricular activities, garderie, and where international children with limited French will be helped and would not feel unwelcome. Now, we are looking at living modestly in suburban areas (so that rent is at 700 euros mark for 2 bedrooms) and take the train to Etterbeek station for going to work. So, that implies putting our daughter into Etterbook/Ixelles school or somewhere in suburban line near to where we will live. My daughter had weekly French lesson of 1 hour for past 6 months and picking up the language at a pace that can be expected given the exposure. In other words, she has limited exposure and ready to absorb!

We found out that for P2, places are available only at Ecole. No 7 at Ixelles, Le Ecole dans la prairie in Uccle and at Le Verseau. Uccle is completely out of the way. We went to Ecole No 7, and was wondering if there are other better schools where there could be places! At the moment, I am inclined to go to Le Verseau and try it out, since I found apartments available in the nearby area! Should I try any other area given our situation? Are there any other good French primary schools outside Brussels (with better housing) with nearby secondary where there are some English speaking children and they are able to give extra help to foreigners? In this way, it may be cheaper than Le Verseau!

How are you going to get from Le Verseau area, with little rental opportunities, to VUB? Are you aware just how far that is and how long your commute will be?

Can you afford the 5k fees, the public transport fees to get to VUB? Do the Maths and see if it is really cheaper and worth the lost commuting time living near le Verseau. The cost of Le Verseau feess and train fares to Brussels are going to be more than 700 euro per month and that is what you have quoted as your budget for housing. So how will you afford housing near Le Verseau?

No 7 Ixelles is really near VUB, I do not see the problem. You can get housing within budget and walk to work and school or cycle or use public transport very cheaply.

Try all the schools nearest to VUB and stop looking further away than 2km.

Any school in the FRench Community system which has a certain number of non French speakers gets funding every year for extra teachers of French as a Foreign Language. You need to ask every school whether they qualified this year, what they did with the extra funding, whether they think they will qualify next year.

The 3 most popular primaires near VUB/ULB where you have no chance of a place NOW but if you were persistent around end of August, you might get a last minute vacancy from someone dropping out. In no particular order.

1. St Andre Ixelles- very formal school, not so many expats, wouldn't be my choice in your circumstances
2. St Joseph Boondael Ixelles- hugely popular alternative school, maybe not so many expats but would expect a good welcome there
3. la Sainte Famille Watermael-Boitsfort - hugely popular and small school, quite a few expats, informal atmosphere.
4. Ste Anne - Etterbeek - hugely popular average sized school, quite a few expats

Now the schools which are more likely to have places

1. No7 Ixelles
2. No 8 Ixelles
3. Les Maronniers Auderghem
4. Les Cedres Watermael-Boitsfort
5. La Futaie Watermael-Boitsfort
6. Ste Therese de l'Assomption Watermael Boitsfort
7. L'assomption Watermael-Boitsfort
8. St Julien Parnasse - Auderghem
9. Claire Joie - Etterbeek 10 Paradis des Enfants - Etterbeek
10. Colombe de la Paix - Etterbeek

I think that would be the limits of my research.

Etterbeek and Ixelles have lots of 2 bed older apartments in converted large houses and a smaller amount of modern apartments.

Watermael-Boitsfort, particularly between les Cedres and Ste Therese, has a large amount of high rise and lower costs apartments, plenty of choice and some in budget there. Quite a nice area too for families, lots of green. Very close to work.

batchgeo.com/map/1f1bf2b3b6e4ad41fe67c1a57d56a826

Hello, we are moving to Brussels this summer and will live in Chant d'Oiseau (WSP). I am looking for a school for my boy (1st primaire) and an école maternelle for my daughter (acceuil). We've got offered a place in Ecole Communale de Stockel (30 minutes from home by car or public transport) and Institut-Saint-Julien-Parnasse in Auderghem (15 minutes walking distance from home). I visited both schools and cannot decide which one suits us better. It seems to me that Stockel offers more after-school-activities, which are important for my kids as they love sport activities. But above that I have no idea which school is better. Can anyone help with some advise?

I forgot to say. My kids are german/french speaking.