KawiParents' guide · school
The Spillschoul, explained to families who grew up with a different school.
"Play school": the name says it all. The Spillschoul is the two compulsory years of cycle 1, from age 4 to 6, before reading begins. If your child is starting without hearing Luxembourgish at home, begin with the guide on arriving calm on the first day; here, we map out how the system works.
What does it match back home?
This is THE question for families arriving from abroad. Here is the table that lines everything up:
| Age | Luxembourg | France | Belgium | Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-4 | Précoce (cycle 1, optional) | Petite section | 1re maternelle | Pré-escolar |
| 4-5 | Spillschoul 1.1 (compulsory) | Moyenne section | 2e maternelle | Pré-escolar |
| 5-6 | Spillschoul 1.2 | Grande section | 3e maternelle | Pré-escolar |
| 6-7 | Cycle 2.1 (reading, in German) | CP | 1re primaire | 1.º ano |
Two things tend to surprise newcomers: school becomes compulsory at age 4 (earlier than in many countries), and reading and writing start in cycle 2 in German, not in French or English. That is exactly why the Spillschoul years matter so much: this is when the ear is built.
What children do (and don't do)
No reading, no worksheets: structured play, language, movement and group life. Luxembourgish is the language the class lives in, the language of the routines, the instructions and the nursery rhymes, with a first taste of French towards the end of the cycle. For a child who doesn't speak Luxembourgish yet, everything happens through the ear: recognising, understanding, daring to repeat.
The practical basics
- Enrolment: automatic through your commune once the child reaches compulsory school age (a letter arrives in spring). No choice of school: it is the school for your neighbourhood, barring an exemption. There is a public alternative, though, and it changes a great deal for the language: your neighbourhood school or a public international one.
- Hours: Monday to Friday with long mornings (often Monday/Wednesday/Friday running into the afternoon); the maison relais takes over outside class hours.
- The parents' language: teaching teams are used to families who don't speak Luxembourgish; important communications are usually available in French and German, and often in English or Portuguese.
The other terms you will come across (maison relais, reports, chèque-service accueil) are defined one by one in our parents' glossary.
Two years to build an ear.
Kawi prepares children for the Spillschoul and supports them through it: words from the classroomroom, with the official pronunciation from LOD.lu, through play, from age 3.