Education

There are lots of educational possibilities in Luxembourg and exciting opportunities for our children to learn different languages in a multi-cultural environment. Deciding where to send your child to school may be one of the most important decisions you make on their behalf and realistically a decision you will have to make several times. This is especially true if you move country several times. These decisions start from an early age because you may decide to choose a school that has a pre-school or even crèche attached for convenience or continuity of their care. There are several questions that may be worth considering when thinking about your child’s future education. We appreciate that you may have to make this choice for several children at the same time especially if you are moving to Luxembourg or have recently moved with older children in your family. However, it can be helpful to go through this process for each child.

 

  • How old is each of your children? Were they born in Luxembourg? Are they used to living in a multi-lingual environment?
  • Is it important to you that your child integrates into the local community? e.g. they have friends who live in the same commune or even the same road?
  • How long do you intend to stay in Luxembourg? This can be a tricky question to answer because there are lots of parents in the International community that came for 3 years but are still resident 15 years later!
  • If the intention is to relocate after a period of time, where do you think your child will be educated next? Do you need a flexible educational program that can move internationally with your child?
  • Do you want your child to study for the International Baccalaureate, European Baccalaureate or GCSE/A’ Levels. Generally these qualifications are accepted at most Universities worldwide.
  • Has your child already got a sibling at a particular school? Is the same school the best choice for your other children? Can you logistically send them to different schools? e.g. is there a school bus?
  • If both parents work or travel frequently, is there adequate after school care? Most schools in Luxembourg have hours that include half days.
  • Does the school have a canteen or Maison Relais attached? Do you have entitlement to this service? Are there places? Or will you need to provide lunch at home for your child each day?
  • Do you think your child has additional educational needs? Have they been diagnosed? Have they received support from a previous educational establishment? Does a school in Luxembourg offer the right level of support for your child?
  • Are you able to or willing to pay for your child’s education? Does your employer have an agreement to provide places with any particular school in Luxembourg? If you stay after an agreed time will you be able to pay fees on a local salary?
  • Has the school of your choice got places in your child’s year? Do they have a waiting list? How far in advance do you need to apply?
  • Are you informed of all the educational possibilities in Luxembourg?

 

One of the best ways to become informed about educational choices for your child is to talk to other parents. There are several forums for this including Passage. But remember that opinions can differ widely depending on the answers to the above questions for each family. Take your time and remember that generally once you are settled you can change schools (if there are places available) as children change themselves throughout their educational career. As parents we can only make the best-informed decisions at the time depending on our knowledge and circumstances.

In the sections that follow we have tried to give an overview of the choices available to parents. No list of crèches, pre-schools, primary and secondary schools will be exhaustive because choices available are changing all the time. Please inform us of any establishment we may have missed that might be on interest to the English-speaking community of Luxembourg at passage.parents@gmail.com and we will add it to the list.