Excellent Swiss public schools
We are a family with children living in Zürich. We have visited several bilingual schools in the city of Zürich and we never were fully satisfied, because of the high number of children per class or the lack of educational activities. We realised the best solution is the public Swiss school system, which is excellent. In addition, the children can independently walk to the local public school, their friends live close-by, and the whole family integrates more easily within the local life.
… but we miss the English
There is a catch though, public schools do not teach English to pupils before the third class (8-9 years old), with three lessons per week. Children entering Kindergarten (4-5 years old) with a good level of English have thus plenty of time to forget the English they have learned so far.
Solution: an English after-school club
This is why the after-school English club was founded in August 2018 with the support of four local families. The main benefits of the after-school English club, compared to alternative solutions such as hiring an English speaking nanny, are:
- The club is led by a professional teacher, trained to teach a complete curriculum, and experienced with children;
- Children interact with more children, which creates emulation and fun. They play together in English.
Plenty of activities including reading and writing
Thanks to the experienced teachers, every month is organized around a theme. Activities are both well organized and interesting to the children. The children are taught how to read and write in English through games, with fun. A small group size allows the children to practice everyday and to achieve steadily progress. For example, the youngest child of the classroom, who was 4 years old in August 2018, could read a small book by June 2019.