Schools in Frankfurt

[Mimimomo]

Hello, we’re going to move to Frankfurt this summer from London. Currently searching for the school for our DD who’ll be Grade 4. Right now, looking at accadis (bilingual school) and ISF (international). Any comments, information will be appreciated to get more ideas of those schools. Thank you.

Hi, my kids go to local schools in a suburb of Frankfurt so I don't have any direct experience of either but just wanted to ask if you know where you will be living and working as this might influence your decision based on commuting/travelling times as they are both located in opposite directions outside of Frankfurt.

Also if there is no-one here with direct experience you might want to join the group expat babies in Frankfurt (despite the name there are plenty of people with older kids too!) as there will be lots of info there in older posts and you can always ask the question there.

I've been here twenty years so feel free to ask if you have any other questions!

Thank you for your reply. We haven’t decided the area/town to live yet. Probably decide the school first, then slim down the area to search the house. My husband is German, but our DD and myself don’t speak German, so we’re looking at bilingual/international school. Not many of local schools won’t take her I assume.
Thank you for the expat group information as well. I’ll look into it. 😉

Ok in that case if you like Accadis the obvious choice would be to live in Bad Homburg which is a lovely town with loads to offer. Rent is expensive and it's not easy to find a place but definitely worth a look.
25 min train ride into Frankfurt and also has both Sbahn and Ubahn lines so easy to get to all parts of the city. Driving into Frankfurt can be a lain in the rush hour but if you can leave before 8am it's not a problem.

I wouldn't necessarily discount local school though if you want your DD to learn German quickly and are intending to stay a while. Does her dad speak German to her? The schools in the area are used to non-German speakers starting due to high number of expats and refugees in past years. There were three in my daughters class last year alone and they have all picked it up really quickly. They generally have extra language help in school too so worth looking into.

Oh and I should have said the expat group is on FB

Thank you for the further information. Bad Homburg seems to be rather convenient and nice place to live. The house prices both buy/rent are so expensive! I wonder if it’s been like this 10-15 years ago.
We do hope our DD starts understanding German quickly. My husband hardly speak German to her, but it will change I’m sure. 😊

No problem, hope it helps! Bad Homburg really is lovely, we moved here from Frankfurt 8 years ago when it was a lot more affordable. Prices have gone up lots in the last 3 years (not just here though, pretty much all over the area).
Good luck with it all and shout if you have any more questions.

Frankfurt International School (FIS) is the best international school in the Frankfurt area. But it is expensive. ISF is a bit marmite - you either like their methods or are put off by them. But it is cheaper than FIS.

Do bear in mind that other bilingual schools are targetted at German parents who want their children to learn English - not at native English speakers.

I would second the idea of a German school if you are planning on staying long term. But you will need to supplement with extra language tuition if you want your DD to move to a Gymnasium (Grammar School) at 10. Might be worth starting now before you leave. German schools are not good at integrating non German speakers - except in second or third tier schools which do not provide an academic education.

There is the European School. It is over subscribed and aimed at EU staff but there may be an occasional vacancy for a non staff member child. Worth asking. But the English language sections are full of non native speakers.

Thank you. We thought about the FIS and European international school, but FIS has no space and Europe one closed the application period for 2019/2020 academic year. Accadis felt more caring approach while ISF is pushy. As we’re not sure how long it will be for us to stay, difficult to decide which one to put priority, I mean learning German language or getting ready for moving back to UK. As she is Y4 right now (normally start preparing for senior school), not easy to make a decision.. German tuition, thank you, will try to start as soon as possible.

Ask the father to start speaking German and place in a local school.

There is a school called Kinderzeit in Schwalbach. It's bilingual and Montessori-based. Not many people know it.
The focus is on outdoor education and they are working on developing their DaF provision. Most of the English-speaking kids learn German quite quickly, though.
I found Accadis quite academically pushy, much more like a UK primary. Kinderzeit is meant to give kids time to be kids and develop at their own speed. My DS is at nursery there.
It depends on what you are looking for.
I discounted ISF based on their assessment focus...or at least their prospectus read like they are constantly testing them, which isn't something I'm keen on.

Thank you. Our first choice was a local school, but hardly zero German speaking seemed difficult for her at school - would have been no problem if nursery, infant school level, but she will be Y5/G4, so better to be able to understand the subjects. One of bilingual schools we’ve booked her for a trial day refused to let her do the trial when we met them in the morning and my DD couldn’t understand German. It was a surprise for me, first they agreed for her to come for a trial (of course we told them her German is almost zero) and they explain themselves as “bilingual “ school. Probably a school for native German speaking children who would like to learn English.
We’ve approached two local schools which are supposedly have good Language support system. But as long as we have address near them, it was not possible to visit the local schools. As we’d like to decide the school first then the house around, so it was no way... hopefully DD develops her German quickly in either schools, so that we can move her to local one if there is a good option. 😌

Does dad speak German? If yes, your child has a perfect source of language.

Children are schooled all over the world in languages they don't speak at home or in languages which are 2nd or 3rd languages. Your child is young still. A bilingual school will slow language acquisition down by limiting time immersed in the new language, furthermore there is a frequent scenario in this situation of a child arriving in bilingual education, child rejects the new language and only cooperates in language they know

Could you get a German au pair for the time between now and your move?

My experience in Frankfurt International School, oberusel

Children with mental health issues will truly struggle in FIS unless you are either: favored by staff or fight to receive support. This “fight” will take months and you will most likely receive:
A. Weak learning plan
B. Little to no support
C. Support When it’s too late
Speaking as witness, this school is not fit for shy/ socially undeveloped children. For example: Your child will not be protected by faculty in a case of bullying, why? Because teachers take a subtle part in FIS bullying culture. I have heard multiple conversations taking place between teachers v. Teachers and teacher v. Student where private information about another students is exchanged and name calling is involved. I was appalled when I learnt from a peer A COUNSELOR HAD SHARED PRIVATE INFORMATION ABOUT ME WITH MY PEER BUT ALSO ENGAGED IN NAME CALLING WITH MY PEER.
This truly devastated me and made me feel insecure at FIS around faculty for the rest of my time there. Would you want your child to go through the same.
Last but not least, FAVORITISM WILL AFFECT YOU CHILDS QUALITY OF EDUCATION. TEACHERS WILL BLUNTLY ATTEND TO A SPECIFIC STUDENT/ GROUP OF STUDENTS MORE FREQUENTLY THAN THE REST OF THE STUDENTS IN A CLASS DUE TO FAVORITISM. TEACHERS TREAT STUDENTS BASED ON HOW MUCH THEY FAVOR THEM NOT HOW HARD STUDENTS WORK IN THEIR CLASS. YOUR CHILD’S GRADE MAY BE HEAVILY IMPACTED BY A TEACHERS JUDGEMENT ON THEM NOT THEIR WORK