If you're weighing whether to move your child out of the local Zug Volksschule and into a bilingual environment, FOUR Forest's Zug campus in Steinhausen is one of the few schools in the canton that lets your child keep both Swiss Curriculum 21 and a genuine second language, without switching to a fully international system.
Quick facts
A true week-on, week-off bilingual model. Most "bilingual" Swiss schools mix languages within the same week or split subjects by language. FOUR Forest does it differently: students are taught one full week in English and the next in German, following <cite index="2-1">Swiss Curriculum 21 with the British National Curriculum included when teaching in English</cite>. Classes are led by teachers <cite index="2-1">teaching in their native language or a language in which they are fluent</cite>, so your child isn't learning English from a non-native speaker with a Swiss-German accent, or vice versa.
Secondary school stays local. Unlike many international schools that push families toward an IB or British pathway, <cite index="2-1">the Secondary School follows Swiss Curriculum 21, with most classes in German and some in English</cite>, and actively supports <cite index="2-1">a pathway to Gymnasium or an apprenticeship</cite>. If your long-term plan is for your child to stay in the Swiss system (Gymi, then university or Berufslehre), this matters more than most families realise when comparing schools.
Forest days are built into the Swiss curriculum, not an add-on. <cite index="3-1">The outdoor classroom philosophy encourages children through positive experiences and engaging activities in a natural environment, developing personal, social and emotional skills, with children supervised by fully trained and qualified specialists</cite>. For families worried that switching to a private school means less time outdoors, this is the opposite: nature-based learning is timetabled, not optional.
Facilities that support both languages and both learning styles. The Zug campus has <cite index="1-1">well-equipped classrooms, dedicated spaces for art, music, and science, extensive outdoor areas including a forest school, modern sports facilities, playgrounds, libraries, and comprehensive after-school programmes</cite>.
Language support if your child is starting from zero. <cite index="2-1">Extra language support is available in both German and English, delivered by a specialised team of language experts who help each child settle into the bilingual model</cite>. This is the detail that reassures parents most nervous about the switch: your child doesn't need to arrive fluent in either language.
Parents moving from a purely German-language local school describe the same pattern: settle-in worries before the visit, relief afterwards. Book a personal tour of FOUR Forest Zug and walk the forest school, the classrooms and the sports facilities before you decide.
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