The journey to St George's with Ellen Swinton

Mom Life is a new parenting podcast dedicated to helping English speaking parents in Luxembourg. From crèches to crémant, we’ll cover everything you need to know about living your best life in the Grand Duchy.

In season 2 I’ll still be highlighting some great "momprenuers" and mom stories, but I’ll also be focusing a lot on schools here in Luxembourg. Specifically, the English language options.

Choosing the right school for your kid is one of the most important decisions you can make as an expat. It not only shapes their education which will influence their adult life and career, but also their culture, sense of belonging, and well-being (or lack thereof).

It is my goal this season to interview a parent from one of each of the English language options in the country. 

For episode two, I sit down with mom of three and social media creator, Ellen Swinton, to talk about her journey to St George's. Ellen is originally from Seattle, WA and came here a couple years ago as a trailing spouse. Ellen has one little girl who attends St George's primary school, and has twin toddlers, so she is one busy mama!

Although Ellen is currently a stay at home mom and runs a popular social media account, her professional background is in teaching, so she is uniquely positioned to critique the curriculum at St George's (or any school for that matter). 

Ellen shares her 'journey' to St George's and we discuss what she likes about the school and where she feels there is room to grow. The reason she calls it a journey is that St George's wasn’t her initial choice. Ellen sent her daughter to a private crèche in the city which operated in French. 

She then enrolled her in précoce in the local system at the school in her neighbourhood with every intention to continue on the local school track – to learn Luxembourgish and make friends who live close by. Unfortunately they did not have a good experience at local school and ultimately decided to pull her daughter.

In short, she disagreed with the way the teacher disciplined the class and ran the classroom in general. She tried to speak to the teacher and communicate her concerns, but unfortunately they fell on deaf ears so Ellen and her husband decided to pursue other options. At this point they decided they would prefer an English language option. 

If you're curious about St George's, here are the basics: St. George is a private school located in the Cents/Hamm area near the airport. They are a British school and use the National Curriculum of England, however the teachers have lots of flexibility over the books and tools they use in class. They are known as an academically rigorous school, and you must have a fluent or native command of English to be accepted there.

The kids in primary school are reading and writing starting in Kindergarten or even before, whereas in local school they don't start to teach it until First Grade (Cycle 2.1). Ultimately the kids that go there will take the IGCSE’s and the A levels to graduate. 

And they have good reason to boast their academic rigour: 100% of the students in 2023 passed their IGCSE's and 56% of the students got an A to an A** And 75% of the students in 2023 got either an A or a B on their A levels. Should you want more details into their performance, this information is all available on their website.

My hope for this episode is that you’ll get more out of this interview than what you could find on google or an online forum. It’s a candid one on one conversation about what’s working and what’s not with the school.

Obviously this is just one parent’s opinion, so it’s all subjective, but I do hope you’ll find it helpful. We touch on the school’s communication systems, their philosophy of teaching, special education support, day care and social emotional development.

If you're considering St George's for your kids in the future or are curious about what it’s really like to go there – you’ll definitely want to tune in to this episode!

Please give it a listen and let me know what you think. You can reach me via email: momlife@rtltoday.lu, Facebook, or on Instagram. 

And if you'd like to connect with Ellen, you can reach her on Instagram.

Now what are you waiting for – listen on RTL Play, iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.