Originally Posted by mhhp

Hi weener,

So how are things going for you?

I do not have any knowledge of the UK education system, but we having been here almost a year now are quite happy with the canadian system. Our daughter is just starting 1st grade now at the age of 6 and it is expected that the kids graduating from kindergarden to 1st grade can write full sentences in their journal without any help (however spelling doesnt matter yet) and read simple books (like e.g. the Dr. Seuss). That is actually quite advanced in comparison to what is expected in Germany or Switzerland.

In addition we decided to have her go into the French immersion programm, which is designed to develop bilinguality, which of course is only possible at certain entry points (1st grade, and in some areas 6th or 8th as well), I would not worry too much, but as suggested by the others call a school in the area you are considering for your move and talk to the principal or a teacher)

btw. it looks like we will be moving from ontario, to BC soon, as I am in final discussions to take a job there.

Hope all is well with your family and the Visa process.....

Originally Posted by suebed

My 3 have just started school in Canada today so I'm not an expert but...

My eldest is 14. He should be starting Year 10 in the UK but he opted to start Grade 9 today with all the other 14 year old who are just starting high school. I'm worried that for an academically able kid, he's going to be bored but he wants to make friends his own age more than he wants to race through school and finish "early" by Canadian standards. The school was happy to go either way - it was entirely our choice what grade we put him in.

My middle child is 11. He skipped a year a few years back in the UK so he would have been starting Year 8 in the UK. He started Grade 8 here today so he's with kids 12-18 months older. (He's a December baby so that makes him doubly the youngest in his class here). Again, the school was happy for us to make that decision. He came home for lunch today and said the math test and English work he did this morning were easy. But it's early days.

My youngest is 5. She'd done a year of full time Reception already and so it seemed a backward step to put her in a part time Kindergarten class here. So when I filled out the registration form at the school, I just put Grade 1 and so far nobody has asked any questions. We'll monitor the situation and if she's in over her head we'll move her but hopefully she'll be fine.

So - seems like schools are happy to listen to parents and help them make the right decision for their child. Schooling was my biggest concern before making the decision to move and it continues to be now we're here. I just hope we've done the right thing for our kids but only time will tell.

Good luck with your decision making.

Originally Posted by weener

Hi

My son is one the oldest in his year as he was born in September, does this work the same in Canada?. If so, maybe putting him in the year above won't be such a big thing if the school allow it as there wont be much difference in age to the May/June kids.