Choosing between ISB vs BSB schools Belgium

[Sunshinesid]

Hello everyone,

I am moving to Belgium from Italy. I have 2 children of age 6 and 10. My children study at international school here and follow IB program.I am entitled to private and international school fees in Belgium from my employer ( not the clubs, lunch and transportation). My children also speaks fluent English. I am planning to live in Belgium for around 3 to 4 years maybe more and then move to USA.
I am kind of confused between ISB ( international school of Brussels)in watermaal boistfort and BSB ( British school of Brussels) in Tervuren.
I would like to know which school has the edge in terms of friendly environment towards study and parents, strong studies and extracurricular activities and need reviews on these things. I don’t mind American curriculum or British as my children are still young and I want them academically strong and also better at sports, swimming and arts.
I see that extracurricular activities in BSB are free vs ISB( which I will have to pay) but is it the strong differentiator? As I see ISB is more expensive than BSB.
I also want to understand which area would be safe, pretty, friendly and international to live in Tervuren or watermael Boistfort/ Audergham? And has lot of rental properties choices and transport system.
I am really confused as choosing the right school and than the right area to live in is quite important and life changing.
I would highly appreciate to hear your suggestions and responses.

I think both are good schools but probably not many people can speak about both though there is a very knowledgeable poster on Brussels/ Belgian schools who might comment later.

BSB has better facilities I think and a bilingual English/French programme from 4-14 plus apart from instrumental music lessons and tennis extracurricular activities are included in the fees but you have already spotted that.

Both are fairly international now with students from a large number of countries not just U.K. or the USA.

Can you visit both schools to get a sense?

@catmack16 thank you very much for your response. I might not have the possibility to visit both schools as I have to decide in coming days from here and will bring kids right away to start. But I had my introduction call with ISB and BSB admission committee and both seem nice schools. In upcoming weeks I also have to decide on the area to live too based on my school choice.

Ok then journeys/ work/ home might be important considerations. Where will you be working?

Tervuren is connected by tram so quite easy if you are in the European Quarter and by car/ bike to Zaventem/ Evere area. It is also fairly easy to live in Woluwe St Pierre/ Wezembeek/ Kraainem and access Brussels and Tervuren.

W-B is on the tram as well but perhaps not so direct a route but also there is the mainline train station at Watermael. Also fairly close to the Ring but further from Zaventem/ Evere area if relevant.

@catmack16 I will be working in wavre and will be commuting for few days there after dropping kids at school.

I'm not sure I can advise on Wavre apart from at least you will be heading against most of the traffic but getting onto the Ring and then E411 to Wavre will be busy from both schools if you take them yourself. I think both schools run bus services from different places so that might help in the mornings.

@catmack16 thank you very much for your response. Well how about the public transport from Tervuren to BSB? Or auderghem/W-B to ISB. I am not very happy to pay extra for expensive bus service. Therefore planning to rent home near school and that’s also making it difficult to choose the right school. But the priority is to choose best school for kids which makes them academically strong and then manage the house near school. Any advise.

BSB is in Tervuren so easy for tram 44 that comes from Brussels along Avenue de Tervuren close to Stockel/ other parts of Woluwe St Pierre. From the tram station it is about a ten minute walk to one of the BSB gates. There are also buses that go close by but I am not so familiar with those routes but at least one goes close to Stockel and Kraainem metro.

From central Tervuren BSB would be about a 20 minute walk or 10 minutes by bike. There are residential areas near BSB which would be in walking distance to the school and then other residential areas that would require bike/ car/ bus. Also nearby places - Vossem, Duisburg, Moorsel, Leefdaal - where plenty of people travel from to BSB but would need bike/ car/ bus.

I guess you'll be working for GSK in Wavre? In which case, I'd definitely go for BSB over ISB. For BSB you could live in any number of small villages near Tervuren or Overijse, and be in good commuting distance of both the BSB and Wavre. Traffic coming out of Brussels on the E411 is Ok in the mornings, but from ISB you'd also have to cross the Ring junction which can be horrible during rush hours. If you picked BSB you could even do the journey to/from Tervuren/Wavre without having to go on the motorway. BSB has a decent reputation and great sports facilities.

I should add that I live in Rixensart (next to Wavre) so know the traffic round here pretty well. I'd look at loving in/around Tervuren, Duisberg, Vossem, Huldenberg, Overijse or Tombeek. Overijse is quite a nice town with good facilities (shops, swimming pool etc), also quite a decent expat community. Tervuren itself is also pretty nice.