Moving to Brussels with my 6th grader

[ialeksandra]

Hi,

I've seen a lot of well informed people from Brussels are active here, and I hoped to pick your brains. I am to move with my two kids to Brussels, and it should happen in a few months (as soon as my work permit is done). The kids are aged 11 and 9, going to what corresponds to Belgian 6th and 4th grade. They have been going to French schools so far, and I'd like to get them into a decent public school in Brussels. However, my understanding is that getting them into a good school might be difficult. In particular for my daughter, who is my elder, who is now in the 6th grade, and should take that test and then go on to the secondary school as of next year. I will be working in Ixelles, so I was hoping of getting a school at a reasonable commuting distance from the office, and my preference would actually be away from the city, rather than closer to it, so Waterloo or similar communities would be a preference.

Thank you!!!

Aleksandra

Where exactly in Ixelles are you working, down to the street name, it's a long and thin commune?

Waterloo to Ixelles, well great if you don't mind sitting in traffic for 1 to 2 hours a day, why not live close by, like 10 minutes away by metro or on foot? Waterloo is also a town, I am not sure what you will gain from living there instead of anywhere else comparable like Uccle or Watermael-Boitsfort which might be much nearer to work.

Brussels is a city of villages.

You don't say your children's years of birth, I'm assuming they are born 2002 and 2004?

I think you need to be more clear on what sort of environment you are looking to live in, your budget and house size, your maximum commuting time, naming the exact area you are working in.

There will still be several schools with places, but where you look will really depend on knowing further information before being able to suggest a few areas.

PS 1st year secondary school admissions for 2002 born children start 18th February and end 8th March 2014, forms handed out either by schools or by applying to Wallonie-Bruxelles education authority by 25th January.

It really depends on where you want to live as to how hard finding school places will be. Be aware than school places for secondary in Brussels and some parts of Brabant Wallon are hard fought over, but in fact the places for non priority children (will be yours) is almost entirely geographical. You'll need to find a primary school near to your new home and secondary school too near to your new home, to gain any chance of a place at the most popular secondaries, so don't go enrolling in a primary 5kms from home in Brussels as that will inevitably mean you won't get the secondary place you want. We live 600 metres from the secondary school, nearest school, it's excellent, only those for whom this school was the nearest secondary and whose children were attending their nearest primary got places initially last year, later children who were attending their 2nd and 3rd nearest primary and had this as nearest secondary got offered places. You need to research area, primaries and secondaries.

Hi,
We moved to Ixelles this September. We found our Flat and the school for our daughter with luck and help of mums on facebook. We live 650m from the school. Its a public school and our daughter loves it.
Its true that traffic is really bad here. If you work in Ixelles it will be easier to live near by. Everything is accessible. We are in Brussels without being in Brussels. If you see what i mean :)
Hope this help.

Gosh, I've been travelling a lot lately, and haven't received notifications on my e-mail, so I have only now seen all your responses, which are all highly appreciated.
runningmad, you assume right. My daughter was born in 2002, and my son in 2004. We sort of gotten used to living in a village, so this is why I liked Waterloo, but if that is as you suggest, than I might change my mind and move somewhere closer to the office, though anywhere easily accessible to Gare du Midi is OK for me. The office is not far away from there (and they intend to move it during next year anyway, so that doesn't mean much actually). So, what is this thing about secondary schools? Is there a list somewhere, or something? And can I list my daughter for that with the authorities, even before we actually move, as I don't think we'll be ready to move before February? I've been in touch with the service des inscriptions, but they said that unless I have trouble finding a school to accept them, they wouldn't intervene, which is something you said yourself.
Thanks again,

Aleksandra

If you are coming from abroad and you want a decent school place, you need to apply from abroad for a secondary school place, same as everyone else. You won't got through the points system, you'll get the average of other people's points. You need to decide where you're going to live pretty quickly and choose secondary schools near where you want to live. You need to get an enrolment form like everyone else but you get yours directly from the French Community Education office, same as if you were applying from a Flemish Community school or an international school in Belgium.
www.inscription.cfwb.be/

And if you're going to arrive before June 2013, you need to look for a primaire from whenever to end June 2013 even for the eldest one.

ps gare du midi is on the metro line, so anywhere near a metro is within 45 minutes of gare du midi maximum

Thanks, runningmad!
I've set down yesterday and wrote to about 25 schools or something. Not many of them responded, but so far, only one can accept both kids (amazingly, three or four had place for my elder, and no place for the younger). Actually, at this point, I am thinking like - let me find a school, and then we'll look for a flat whereabouts.
So, the one school that would accept them both is the Ecole du Homborch in Uccle. Not the best position to reach the office on Louise, but someone has to suffer, and let that be me Do you happen to know anything about this school?

Thanks a million, your advice is saving my life, really!

Aleksandra

only know one person there from another group, child not doing well because it's almost all Belgians and their child isn't. You must phone not write, it's not going to be very fruitful, schools which are desirable do not tend to reply. Absolutely terrible position for Louise and gare du Midi.

Try Watermael Boitsfort, Ecole l'Assomption, Ecole les Cedres, Ecole Ste Therese, Ecole du Karrenberg. Less rentals near there though, mind you even worse near Homborch. W-B is much better situated, I'd try Les Cedres and north of commune first, it's on metro line. But do not write, use the phone.

in fact south W-B is fine too, as on 94 tram which goes directly to Av Louise

our school has 2004 places but not sure they'd accept a 2002 child as that would push the numbers over what they like to go to maximum, unless they are happy with the level of French of the eldest that they could get through the CEB in June without problems. It's 45 minutes to gare du Midi though.

Well,

in the meantime I heard from l'Assomption and they have places for both. I also got confirmation from Claire Joie, Souverain and have yet to check with Saint-Hubert. So, it's getting better and better :) I only have one concern about l'Assomption, them being a catholic school. We are of christian descent (not catholic) and are not religious at all. I could not find out how much religion figures in their curriculum. Do you have any knowledge of this?
As for fluency in French, the kids go to a French for more than five years, and French is their first language. I found old tests of CEB and I gave it to my daughter to take a look, and though we still have to go through it, we both think she should be fine.
As for commuting, where we live now, I commute more than an hour to work every day, and then another round in the afternoon. Anything under that is a win for me, so I keep all options open.

2 hours a week, most children will not be practising Catholic and many not Catholic at all. No-one really cares here.

If you got housing nearby, you'd be in a good position to choose l'Assomption for secondaire or St Hubert, both excellent schools but the latter is more demanding and both are over-subscribed.

Have you checked if l'Assomption main school or Ste-Therese de l'Assomption, their satellite school? It's a growing school,almost closed a few years ago, will eventually be 10 classes, now I think it's just 7. The main school is twice the size and is down near Delleur? tram stop, Ste-Therese is further north-east.

Rental housing is a bit harder to find there, but if you like village living, down towards la Sapiniere school is like a village, it's a short walk to l'Assomption main school and l'Assomption secondaire is down there too.

Great! So, you would recommend l'Assomption, among these options that we have open? As far as I understood, it's the main school that they're offering. They promised that it should be fine for the secondaire. Hope I can trust them.
As I said, I still need to negotiate with College St-Hubert, so that might turn out to be an option too. Also, what do you think of Ma Campagne? I wrote to la Sapiniere, but guess I better call tomorrow.
I am thinking of coming to Brussels sometime mid January to look for housing, making a final choice based on the proximity of house to school, I guess, so until then I'm making a list of schools which can accept them, as that increases our chances to get a nice place to live too :) At the moment I am more and more inclined towards Watermael Boitsfort, and it does seem that their schools are inclined towards us, so we'll see.
Thanks again for all your help. This is why the internet is so awesome!

Well no primary can say it's ok for secondary, it matters that you make your chosen primary and secondary 1st or 2nd nearest (of type) so when choosing housing, you look at the school orders in relation to potential homes.

I'd go for W-B. Ma Campagne is great if you want to be in hustle and bustle of the city, if you're used to village living, W-B definitely.

Wouldn't chase St Hubert if you have l'Assomption main school, more non Belgians there than St Hubert.

Thanks, runningmad. Will let you know how we advance!

Waterloo is a town outside of Brussels. It takes about 25mins on the train to get to bruxelles midi. Could be an idea?

......and another 25 minutes to get to work from gare du Midi! Whereas Watermael-Boitsfort, especially in the southern area, is more rural than Waterloo and it will take about 20 minutes by tram to get to work!

here's a house right next to the forest in Watermael-Boitsfort, a walk from L'Assomption, La Sapieniere and even ISB - the International School of Brussels where children not at the school can do sporting activities and Scouting in English.

www.immoweb.be/en/Rent.Estate.cfm?IdBien=4575324&xgallery=gallery&xpage=1

This quartier of Watermael-Boitsfort is called "coin du balai" and even has its own facebook group.

www.facebook.com/groups/396467483746/

It's popular to commute from waterloo on the train to Brussel & good connections at Brussel Midi/Zuid station. I would say that it's something the op could consider & check out when she is in Belgium. It's a nice area with all amenities. There are many nice places to be

Genval/La Hulpe/Rixensart is a far better option as the train goes to Etterbeek which is then a tram ride to work on Av Louise, much quicker than Waterloo, but Watermael-Boitsfort is more rural in the southern part than any of the Brabant Wallon municipalities and nearer to work by at least 30 minutes.

Many people live in Waterloo & take the train for work. It's possible. Etterbeek station & general jacque is something to be seen in the rush hours as total traffic block & tram stop is in the middle of the road outside of the station & across the road.

If you are really interested in Waterloo, it's better to take the train to BOONDAEL in Watermael-Boitsfort and then take the 94 tram up to Av Louise. That is better than taking the train to gare du Midi and fighting through the crowds at gare du Midi to get on the metro, then tram after that too, if your office is at the bottom of Av Louise. The 94 tram is the one which does the whole outer loop of Watermael-Boitsfort before continuing north through Ixelles.

There are always many solutions

Thank you both, bigbrick and runningmad. I will certainly look carefully into what you suggest and than compare it with what's on offer school-wise. I will definitely be coming to Brussels sometime in January to see how it all looks like in practice, and then at a certain point will have to decide, but for the time being I like to keep as many options open as possible. Will keep you posted!