Hello,
I am Nick, i am a GreekCypriot (so is my wife) and i will move by the end of the year 2017 to Brussels to work for a period of 2 years. I will work for EU (as a Seconded National Expert - center of Brussels city). My wife will be a stay-home mom during this period. At that time my eldest son will be 2.5 y.o and my younger son will be around 6 months old.
I am worried and trying to find information on the following 2 important issues (listed by priority order):
- Maternelle school for older 2.5 y.o son (younger will stay at home)
- Place to live with my family
Maternelle school
My son only speaks Greek. Having that in mind i am very worried that he will face difficulties in public french schools, mainly regarding the issues of expressing his needs, communicating with both other children and teachers and learning (everything that a child of his age has to learn at that age) due to the language problems.
I have looked into various school types options and i am tending to leave private schools out of option (very expensive, more than €10.000/year up to noon) and 99% my son won't be accepted at a EC maternelle (bottom priority, already contacted them), leaving us to the option of a french public school. Even at a private school or an EC school there would be a language problem (since English would be the communicating language i suppose) but i guess at those schools they will have more experience with dealing with non-French speaking children.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or knows how non-French speaking children are treated in public French schools and how they are managed? Can i do something in order to help my child better adopt (for e.g. some basic french-lessons even at this young age, before our arrival to Brussels?)
In addition, and linked to the other important issue of place to live with my family is where it is advisable to stay so as to be able to find a spot at a "good" school, preferably having many non-French children.
Place to live with my family
Where is it advisable to live with a family having two small children?
I have read that South and East of Brussels (Woluve Lambart + Pierre, Watermael, Auderghem and Parc De Prince are better places for families with children mainly due to green surrounding areas and parks?)
My top priority in that case would be safety! Is it safe for children to live, play and grow up in such areas? How about compared to areas near city center?
We do not mind staying at a flat compared to a house, as we will only stay for 2 years. Actually could be preferred if it is more safe and needs less hassle to set up and run compared to a house.
i have a budget of €1.300 - €1.800 to cover for all house-related expenses.
Further up, how about traffic to work (near Madou) from such places? How long would it take me on average to go to work? I dont mind taking the metro to work if it would be more convenient and having less hassle. But i prefer taking my son to school on my own car, before i head up to work.
Would highly appreciate any advice give on the above matters.
Thank you!
Regards,
Nick.
Maternelle for Non-french speaking 2.5 y.o child
Please do not drive your child to school. It is extremely bad for a child's health to be in a car which is filled with fossil fuel fumes, from your own car or other cars. Please walk to school. Over 30% of children in maternelles speak another language at home, so do not worry. Your budget is bigger than average for a Brussels resident, so again do not worry. Please do not drive to work either, for the benefit of your own health and that of Brussels residents. A car is a complety non necessity in Brussels region. A 2.5 year old cannot be fluent in any language, so certainly does not need lessons in French.
Thanks for the reply schoolmum,
Of course, if conditions favor (walking distance, weather conditions) i will walk my kid to the school and use a metro/bus to get to work. I will definitely need a car for trips/transfers with my family, as having two small children makes it impossible to use public transport.
Regarding maternelles, It's not the children i am mostly worried about (even though speaking another language at home will again most probably not be Greek), its mainly the teachers of the maternelle, both for possibility of not knowing how to communicate with a zero-French speaking child and teaching him what they are supposed to teach as in the case with a French-speaking child.
Do you have any advice as to a preferable "family" area to stay close to good schools and above all safe?
Nick
There is not a place in Brussels without a handful of options for maternelle in walking distance. There is a deliberate policy of reducing parking spaces, especially near schools, to stop stubborn parents who are glued to their cars.
2 children cannot use public transport? Really? Sorry but that is just not true. Maternelle teachers will regularly take a class of 25 children on the tram or bus or metro with perhaps 2 other adults. If they can handle an 8 to 1 or 10 to 1 ratio, 2 children is no problem at all. I have 4 kids and used to look after other children. 2 children. That is so easy. How did we get to the day when someone claims public transport is not for families with 2 children.
There is not a maternelle in Brussels not used to parents who cannot speak French. 40% of the population of the region is not Belgian.
There is not an are of Brussels which is not child friendly.
Wherever you are working, look at the public transport map, work out how many minutes you wish to spend commuting, look up timetables, work out where to live from that, look on the map for the nearest maternelles, pick up the phone and start phoning.
The worst communes to look for places right now, due to overpopulation are :
Ixelles
Uccle
St Gilles
Schaerbeek
Ville de Bruxelles
Jette
The best communes to look for places right now are :
WSP
WSL
Etterbeek
Auderghem
Watermael-Boitsfort
just outside Brussels
Wezembeek-Oppem
Kraainem
Dear Nick,
I would suggest you the Watermael-Boitsfort,one of the best commune to leave here in Brussels. Transport are so easy, supermarkets and everything you need in one community are really easy to find.
And about maternelle schools for your children,dont worry if they couldnt speak french, maybe in the beginning your son will have some difficulties as he is a non french speaking but for sure it will past because day by day he will started to learn french, it is the same with the daughter of my employer, they are expats too,they are an english family and really a zero in french language and there daughter have some difficulties also in french language but so far now she can understand and speaks french regularly,she just started her school just last September 2016. So i think its not necessary for you to worry about that,because with the children they will catch up the language easily.
I hope this message could help.
My best,
Rona
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