禁漫天堂

It's very personal. What area are you going to live in? Do you want her to walk or take the bus? Will you drive her? How long will you be here? Is it more important to be fluent in French, Dutch or English? Does she have any special needs or how does she succeed?

Thank you Angelathegreat. I will be there for 3+ years. I still haven鈥檛 got a place to live. It is a sudden change in life. I am looking at Wolluwe鈥檚 for housing. I don鈥檛 know the answer to the question on means of transportation. I guess I will drive her at the beginning but public or other kind of transport has to be an option to.

Sorry ... about the language. She鈥檚 already fluent in English so I would like her to learn French. She also learns German and Italian but she鈥檚 not fluent at those lng.

While waiting for more responses, please read through existing threads in /forum/257-6-study 鈥� ssels.html

You may find useful information in a lot of existing discussions !

Good luck !!!

If your child speaks any of the European school languages, put her in European school.

What languages does she speak and to what level? I d live on a public transport route to work and European school. There are 4, which one depends in language

She speaks English fluently and gets around with German and Italian.
Does anyone have experience with EU Schools? What kind of curriculum they offer?

What is her mother tongue? I'm assuming Croatian?
In which case she'll have to be enrolled in the SWALS Croatian section of the European school 1 in Uccle and with English but not French (SWALS children have to have main language as English or French), she'll be offered a place in the English SWALS Croation section for sure.

English will be L1, Croatian L2, French L3 - not sure how they do it with the SWALS though. Sorry no privilege for EEEBs. Children in primary are taught mainly in L1 and a few hours a day in L2, so starting L3 in French at secondary will be no disadvantage. Brussels as you'll know is 92% French speaking, so with L3 French and lots of activities outside school also in French, in 2 or 3 years, your daughter should have reasonable fluency.

You don't need to ask really about the reputation of European schools, they are effectively private level education paid for by the tax payers of the EU and the buildings by the tax payers of Belgium and almost exlclusively for those who don't pay national tax in the EU with income far in excess of the average. Therefore the socio-economic intake is a high level one, with highly educated parents. The only downside is they are over full, but so are the decent French secondaries.

I'd apply now for EEB1 in Uccle and consider where you want to live.聽 There is a school bus service which if you're category 1, you'll get for free too.聽 However, choosing somewhere your daughter to get to and from school without use of school bus (she might do after school activities) might be a good idea. There is a bus to Watermael-Boitsfort,聽 buses and trams to聽 Ixelles, Auderghem, Etterbeek. Really depends on your work location.

Currylover thank you for your thorough answer.
I must say I wrongly thought one could choose EEB depending on the place of residence since there are four after all.
Concerning 鈥渞eputation鈥� as you put it, my primary concern is to choose the school which will offer her (to be safe and happy) and substance/knowledge that will enable her to easily reintegrate back into the Croatian educational system (which acc to most is rather harsh).
She attends the 6th grade currently and has 14 classes: Croatian lng w/ literature, English, German, Italian, mathematics, biology, geography, history, technical education, Information Technology, Religions and Cultures, Art, and Physical education.
In 7th grade to those listed above, Chemistry and Physics would be added and kept throughout 8th grade.
Of course each class with level of knowledge that addresses its age and is than build upon in the next grade. She will return home and be reintegrated in, according to our edct system, 2nd year of high school education (we have 8yrs of elementary and 4yrs of secondary schooling followed by college or university edct). Depending on her choice of high school, different classes will be added like Psychology, philosophy or similar depending on the type of high school (Gymnasium or vocational).
All in all, sorry for the long post, besides her happiness and security, my concern is the substance of education that will enable her to fit back in w/o major earthquakes. Also, learning French is an imperative being in Belgium that is a French speaking environment. Possibility of Continuance of German and Italian at school would be an asset.

For first child, no one chooses which European school. You are allocated a language section, in your case it will be Croatian in English of uccle as its the only Croatian section.

Your daughter is far more likely to be happy at European school than in an unknown language in French. Local school is far more academic and far more homework.

Italian and German will be options at European school. I don't know any French schools in Brussels offering German or Italian

I sent you a PM.

Thank you very much curlylover. I really appreciate your answers and I hope I am not bothering you too much.聽 It is just that I have too many questions right now. Could you please explain a bit more on this part 鈥渇ar more academic鈥� if it is not too much of a trouble?

The general academic francophone schools you'd be looking at places for in Brussels are also very demanding in terms of commitment to school work and home work, even more so than the European schools. Add on the fact she speaks no French, it would be very hard on her and she'd likely be placed back at least 1 year, in order to make the curriculum easier.聽 She'd be faced also with having to learn Dutch, unless you applied for an exemption, the general academic schools also usually start 1st secondary with Latin.

Given she already has fluency in 2 languages and knowledge in 2 more, I'd go for the easier and happier option of a school most Belgians can only dream of having their children in, where she can learn also French and do German or Italian if she wants to (and according to demand). Yep she'd be living in a bubble, but eventually if her French is good enough, she could join in activities in French in the locality.

Take a look at the public transport map for how to get to EEB 1 Uccle.

Currylover thank you. It is hard to make choices when you don鈥檛 have an insight.
And thanks for the map.馃槝