Living in Stockel (Brussels)

[ChiaraLondon]

Hello Everyone, I'll be relocating from London to Brussels during the summer and I'm wondering whether you could give me some opinion in terms of the commute from Stockel to Arts-Loi - is it as easy as it seems? Does the M1 run smoothly in general? Anything in particular I should consider/know? I'm keen on Stockel because I have 2 young children (2 and 4yo) and would like a quiet life in an international area well connected to the European Quarter - I seem to understand that Stockel is this type of place (but I may well be wrong!). I managed to secure a school place for both kids (M0 and M2) at Sacre coeur de Stockel for the "rentrée" in September 2021 (not keen on sending them to the European Schools, even though I would have the right to do so). I would really appreciate any advice you may give me. Thank you so much!!

Stockel is great. Easy commute on M1, I used to live in Stockel and travel into Schuman. Market on Tuesday, Friday and Saturdays. Good range of shops and in normal times a cinema. I don't know much about schools but I think in the Stockel area most have a reasonable mix of people from around the world. Also fairly quick access out to the Ring.

Thank you so much @catmack16!! This is very helpful!

A few other things I forgot to mention. There is a big swimming pool a short distance away - Sportcity plus other activities. Royal Oree hockey and tennis next to Sportcity. These venues will offer term time activities at reasonable cost and also holiday 'stage' activities for children from about 3/3.5 again at reasonable cost and important to cover at least some of the eight/ nine week holidays plus half term breaks etc.

Also the Brussels Childbirth Trust (BCT) is a great network for English speaking families from around the world. bctbelgium.org

There is likely to be a local group for Stockel and various other activities in usual times some for families during the week but also at weekends.

@catmack16 thank you very much for taking the time to reply! This is all very useful!!

Hi @ChiaraLondon and @catmack16 I am also about to move to Brussels and looking for places in local schools for 8 and 11 year old. They don't (currently) speak any French - is that a terrible idea? How easy was it to get school places? Hope you don't mind sharing info if you can. We also like the look of Stockel or somewhere similar. As we are currently in the vast metropolis of Beijing we are desperate for somewhere smaller and with a sense of local community. Thanks so much!

@Hangonintherebaby Stockel is a great place to live. I would think very carefully about “where next” re schooling, particularly for your 11 year old. If you are staying in Brussels for good, fine. If you are heading back to U.K. you need to think about how they will fit back into the system and how compatible Belgian schooling is with U.K. Or you go the IB route on return, which will be expensive.

Your eight year old will find it easier to fit in and learn French fairly quickly. Your 11 year old may struggle and have a very miserable year or more, particularly if they have no French at all. And especially if they are starting secondary school.

Joli Bois school attracts quite a large number of international children (or did when I lived there) and is good at settling them in, but that probably goes for quite a number of local schools given the international community there.

I would agree that local school will be hard especially for the 11 year old. At nursery and early years of primary it is possible to access support to help with language but by the later stages of primary and secondary it is much more difficult. There are also assessments at the end of primary which lead to some different paths at secondary level.

Stockel is a great place to live with lots of a menu and easy access to central Brussels and out to the Ring.

Do you have any employer support for school fees? There are a lot of international schools of different types/ size / fees but some will be very, very expensive without employer support.

Apologies for the typo - it should read lots of amenities not 'a menu'.

Thanks so much. I am not naive about the idea of a local school - I reckon it will be tough for 11 year old especially - but we are willing to give it a try if there are benefits as a result - like being part of a local community and meeting families from a mix of backgrounds. I suppose I just wonder how supportive the system will be to them and as you say, whether it could have a negative impact on his entry to secondary school. He has a year of primary left, so he wouldn't be starting secondary until 2022. We do have employer support for school, so we could always pull him out if it was a total disaster and send him to an international school. Thanks!

In the Stockel area you will find quite a lot of non-Belgians living there and with their children in local schools compared to some other parts of Brussels. This can be helpful as they are also navigating Belgium and may not have family support either.

Belgians tend to have their established networks of friends and will often not live too far from their families so meeting 'locals' can be harder but if you join sports teams, school associations, volunteer etc that can give you local contacts and friends even if you are in the international school system.

Is a bilingual international school or bilingual stream an option? There are some bilingual options which may be worth investigating though it may be that schools advise that bilingual is not an option for your 11 year old as it is too late to benefit.

Are you on Facebook? There is a very useful group BCT Schools Support Network who can offer more advice and if someone called Bernadette Noon advises you I would follow her advice especially in relation to your older child.

Hi @Hangonintherebaby, we are going to move in August and have in the end decided to live in Woluwe Saint Pierre, chant d’oiseau. From what I’ve seen, it’s much more residential than Stockel but more central. For French local schools, I’ve only looked at Maternelle/primary as my kids are 2 and 4. You will have to get in touch with each one of them via email or better via phone. They may tell you that they don’t have space but do keep calling them regularly and you will most likely find a place in a school close to home. From the info that I’ve gathered, most of the schools in Woluwe Saint Pierre are really good and with a good mix of locals and international kids. I think it’s rather easy finding a spot at Joli Bois and Chant d’oiseau communal school. I totally understand the desire to have a community on which you can rely and that’s the reason why we decided to sign our kids up at local schools rather than international/European schools. In the future we may decide to move them, but I’m keen for them to meet local kids and to learn the language (they speak Italian and English but no French at all). Having said this, my kids are younger than yours and it should be easier for them to learn French. The Facebook BCT school support network group is great and Bernadette Noon’s advice invaluable. Hope this helps! Do let me know if you have any other question!!