9 reactions to this article

Kelvin posted: 2012-02-21 11:13:29

Don’t make the same mistake I did,

I would like to give a small advice to all parents considering putting their kids on SIS (Swiss international school) in Zürich. I have been living in Switzerland since 2008, and last year my daughter asked me if she could come and stay with me. We decided that the best would be to come and study on an international school. After two meetings with the SIS, where my daughter was participating in the first meeting, so they could get an idea of her English level. We trusted that the school was professional enough to judge whether or not she would be able to handle it.

After the first week, it was clear that all majors was in German (Swiss German), which absolutely was not what we had been told after our meetings, I mean there is a reason why you chose an international school, first of all to learn, but also to meet different cultures. In the class of my daughter, 90% of the students were Swiss, which to me was a bit strange, but why not then chose a normal school in Switzerland, they are among the best schools in the world.

The teacher might have the right education, but when it comes to students, they have absolutely no knowledge. And the impression my daughter got, was that if you did not speak Swiss German, you were a problem for the teachers, and was “black listed”

When my daughter started, I took her to the class, and that was the last support she got from an adult on her first day. Nobody was helping her, and she did not get any support form the teachers. Most teachers were not even informed about that a new student was starting, and she did only have very little German knowledge. For lunch, it was the same, no one to help. When she started at the International school of Winterthur, she was connected with a student, who was helping her finding things, and making sure that she was not alone for lunch, or in the breaks. This kind of support means everything for a new student, and don’t have any cost’s for the school. To me it just backs-up my theory, that the Swiss International School doesn’t have any interests in the students, but are more focused on the turn-over.

Unfortunally there are other examples of this. My daughter was in the class with another Danish girl, and it was her second year on the school and second year in the same class. She started as my daughter did, and her German also on a very low level, so she could of course not keep up as everything was is in German, so she was really unhappy, but nothing was done, and the school did not offer any help. I my case, I notified the principal that it was not what we signed up for, and that I expected we should find a solution for it. That was after the first week. The second week I did not hear anything from the school, not until I called and asked what the status was on this issue. I in my entire life never expected such an arrogant behavior like this. And that’s what you get for paying more then CHF 25.000 a year!!

So based on my experiencing, my recommendations would be to save your money, and give your kid a German course and then put them on a Swiss school. If you’re just planning on staying a year or two, and would like to have your kid on an international school, I can really recommend ISW (international School Winterthur) the fees are lower, close to Zürich, but most important, they care for our kids!! Your kid is not left alone, language is English, and the level of the teachers is really professional.

It is my opinion that SIS is operated very un-professional and I would for sure not give this school my recommendations.

If you look at the homepage you will also see that it is a private school, very much focused on profit, and satisfying the shareholders!!

When looking at core values of the school, you will see honesty, and respect. They should start with them self, as they don’t know the meaning of those two words.
A word that also repeats itself is partnership, but as soon as you as a parent need their help, the partnership disappears.

Another thing that is quit interesting for SIS is, if you take a look at their job section, if you would like to have a job teaching at this “international school” you need to have German as your mother tongue how international is that??

Hayati posted: 2012-09-11 13:43:48

Thank you for the good info. It will help me alot as am also now trying to look for a good school for my daughter to continue her study in Switzerland.

madhu posted: 2012-11-11 13:32:44

Kelvin, Thanks for the info. I started my research to put my son in an international school in zurich.

kkatz posted: 2013-01-03 04:20:13

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JGaechter posted: 2013-01-13 22:44:17

I worked for a number of years at the International School of Zurich based in Thalwil for young children and Wadenswil from Grade two it is an excellent school with a wonderful ethos and classes are taught in English with specialist classes for German. They use the Primary Years Programme of International Baccaluareate and advocate inquiry based learning.

gaby posted: 2013-01-18 00:10:04

Thank you all for this valuable info. JGaechter, I am a teacher planning to visti ZIS in February and I have some questions about benefits of working there.

Kathie posted: 2013-01-18 10:06:02

We came from the UK 6 years ago and put our 3 girls into the ZIS in Waedenswil (this is the lower school section). JGaechter posted re this school, but called it the International School of Zurich? The younger kids start slow (and it is slightly americanised), however, after initial worries about english kids learning quicker, I got used to the new style of learning where the children are encouraged to think and research for themselves. By Middle School my kids are doing really well and are very balanced and independent. German teaching may not be the fastest here, but the overall mix is excellent. Even being very English, we would not choose to take them out of this school for a private english education now.

gurzynka posted: 2013-03-02 14:11:59

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Anita posted: 2013-05-04 16:01:43

Does anyone have any suggestion on the choice between ZIS and Zug International School?