HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Hi,
My family and I are thinking of re-locating to Vancouver Island to work at the air base in Comox. However, I'm starting to get second thoughts because the schools seem a little backward. We have a 4 year old and would like any advice as to where to live and which school is the best in the area? We're looking at Aspengrove but that means moving South to Parksville area.
Its a reasonably well paid job ($100k pa) and looking at the housing market it seems more reasonable than the UK. We love the outdoor life, sailing, kitesurfing and skiing etc.
Any comments welcome.
Thanks,

Simon

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

They start a year later than in the UK, but the end results are pretty much on a par.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

"the schools seem a little backward":huh::huh::huh:

WTF does that mean???

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

We have friends who have moved to the Island with kids aged 10 and 14....the kids are enjoying school on the Island much more than they did their UK ones and have excelled so far. I personally wouldn't worry, especially with a 4 yr old. It's different but that doesn't make it bad.

The whole family love their new life!

Hope that helps....

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Thanks,
The only information we have to hand is a few posts from expats who stated they "regret the move" based on the standard of schools in the area. When we look online at Comox there's a few alternative and christian schools which aren't what were after. The state schools aren't rated very highly. Its a genuine concern. I understand the system is different which i'm fine with... Its just that these schools within that system don't seem very good. Does anyone have any first hand experience in the area?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

There are no "state schools". Canada has provinces.

I think taking your information from a few posts from expats who state they regret the moves is your first mistake. What else are you basing your statement that those schools within that system don't seem very good on? Have you looked at any hard evidence or just people's moans about differences in school systems?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

If you plan to stay in Canada forever then the schools will be just fine as everyone goes through the same type of system so there's little competitive advantage. If you or they want to go back to UK then I'd say it'd be a problem schooling them here.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

A four year old? And you're worried about Canadian schooling? Seriously? Maybe if your kid is a teenager.

Everytime expats bring this up it makes me wonder why they would every consider leaving the best school system in the world :huh:

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Best in the world? Not so, apparently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20498356

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

All understood - the worry would be returning to UK education 10 years from now... Schooling aside, where within an hours commute would be nice to live?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Aren't rated highly by whom?

Don't seem very good compared to where? By what metric?



I suggest you start worrying about that, say, 9 years from now. One of the nicest things about Canada is that hardly any parents stress about which school to send the sprogs to. The one's that do are invariably new immigrants either from the UK or China.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Sarcasm on my part

Yup

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Damn, now I've been quoted so I can't go back and edit that rogue apostrophe.

The UK schools obviously didn't teach me a thing. :thumbdown:

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Your kid's performance in school will be determined (in order) by:
Their attitude
Their ability
Your attitude
The school
If I were you I'd bite their arm off at the shoulder for a job paying that on the Island. If you are still in two minds about it send me your picture and I will see if I could pass as you and I'll turn up on the first day instead. (Never mind what sort of job is; I'll just make things up as I go along).

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

We have some friends who live in Parksville who have 2 kids (11 and 8) in one of the local schools in Parksville. They have genuine concerns about the quality of the schooling the kids are receiving. There seem to be quite a lot of social and family issues and problems which have an impact on the schooling. I'm not from the area so can't comment personally. Certainly the "general" perception on the islands from Canadians is that the quality of the education available diminishes the further North from Victoria you go/live.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Nicely put.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Hi Simon,

I do agree with the previous poster that there is "a perception" that the further north on the Island you go the less desirable the education is... however there is also the view by many people in the south island that civilization ends at the Malahat (just north of Victoria). ;-)

I have friends in the Courtney / Comox area who have educated their children there in that school board system quite happily. We live further south on the Island and personally I cannot speak any more highly of the school system here. Our girls are happy, developing well and actually get stroppy if we try to take them out of school for a day.

Academically, I don't think it is quite in line with the UK year for year. However, and this is a big however, by the time you get to grade 12 - the same as A-Level in the UK, you are just as eligible to go to University as everyone else and to be frank, I think kids get a more rounded social education and allowed to enjoy their childhood.

And my last thought... your child(ren) will do well (academically or otherwise) wherever they go, if they are happy, settled and, by no means least, have your support.

My call would be to go for it, but yes, choose the school carefully, we did and we couldn't ask for a better life for our children.

M.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

That rogue apostrophe was in my sights, but where's the point this bloody iPad changes my intentions will nilly! We are Canadian now Novo...so it's all good isn't it?

I fretted about my four year old, and every year thereafter. I arrived in Canada in August with an 11 year old and he's now 12 and loving every second of school life. He got good marks before, but it was under duress, and he worried. Here, he's doing well because he wants to, he loves the teacher...can't think of 1 unpleasant child in the school! He is the happiest and most positive I have ever seen him. I didn't come here for the sake of my child....but it's been a bloody great big bonus. He has just joined Air Cadets, I wasn't so sure but he wanted to, and he's happy with that too. I have lots of irritations about Canada and the Canadians, but my son can't think of one, and that to me is a fantastic result.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I'd sooner be French. :sneaky:

Good to hear. I/We had much the same experience moving our kids from Germany to Ontario when they were, hmmm, lets see, 11 & 9.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Thanks again for all of your comments. By the sounds of it the schools seem to be promoting a great learning environment and (provided we get the right one) our little one should enjoy it (which is half the battle). We'd be very interested to hear of any particularly good or bad ones in the area. All i have to go on is the various independant audits / stats available online. Finally, does anyone familiar with the area have any thoughts on the realities of living there (friendliness to "immigrants", culture, taxes, things to do etc).

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

If you mean the Fraser Institute rankings then you are best to ignore them. Most sane people do.

They are far from independent. The FI is a lobbying organization that exists to promote the interests of private over public provision of services.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

+1 They are a right-wing think tank. Do not trust. They are NOT independent.

It's got to teh point a lot of parents are pulling their kids out of testing cos of the stupid Fraser Institute and their rankings. At my school 20% of children didn't sit the tests, in Vancouver it's up there too. I dunno about you, but that would skew the results a lot, wouldn't it?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

But the thing the OP should understand is that moving to a small, rural and isolated town, you’re going to get the corresponding education system. And rural in NA doesn’t mean quaint and middle class, it means poor and backward.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

+1 on the Fraser institute comments.


Oh come on... yes you can be correct, and some northern BC towns remind me that ;-) but that is a big brush you are using.... the OP was talking about Comox Valley and Parksville. Comox valley does have it's challenges in that has a "local" population and limited work opportunities but it is certainly on the up and has tremendous activities on the doorstep. They are also talking about living in the Parksville / Qualicum area where the population has one of the highest per capita investment holdings in Canada - so limited in job opportunities (which is why I chose not live there just now) but certainly not poor and not backward!

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Got it - ignore the FI and "Backward" is an emotive word. So.... there are good and bad schools and be wary of going too far North on the island and finally, beware small rural communities which are potentially poor and backward. Seriously though, Comox is a great location an is on the up... The school system is good and i'm lucky to be looking at a good salary. Someone mentioned taxes? Are they really that bad?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

:rofl:

I'll be charitable then, small and parochial, although go a bit north or west and well. And the school systems there are geared for providing people for the resource and service industries. The OP asked about the education system around that area.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Mark,
What exactly do you mean by Comox being on the up?
Thanks in advance...

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Because there is an airfield there?

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

In Canada places like Comox are usually considered 'on the up' when they are cutting trees down or digging stuff out of the ground.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

In the few years I have been on the Island I have seen quite a number of changes. Some will say that development is good, some will disagree. Even in this short time I have seen is the development of a more mature and diverse economic base (not just wood and paper) and a significant investment in infrastructure... whether that be simply roads or retail / industrial units etc.

Contrary to popular belief this is not just limited to the mainland or Victoria area for that matter. Comox has seen large investment in the small industrial units around the airfield and a new road infrastructure in the same area. Over towards Courtenay you will see investment in retail units (Costco and the like)... whilst these are not to everyone's taste, small industrial and retail are net job creators and encourage further investment in the area.

And no I am not saying this is the same for all areas, this is just my view of the area you are looking at working in.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Thanks. Its handy to have an idea of the way things are heading.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

It appears that there are a few mainlanders a little out of touch concerning the island. Long may it stay that way ;) :D

I've carried out a reasonable amount of research on the island, and visited a number of places in a last few years, before we settled on the Sooke area. Island life is not quite how some mainland based posters sometimes paint it to be.. albeit in a jokey fashion. A bit of Hongcouver bashing might not go amiss from time to time :)

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

Nanaimo's looking quite scrubbed up these days, and you can get a decent house for half the price of Vancouver. It's work that's the problem.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I like Nanaimo bars.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I don't :thumbdown:

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I don't either - but the kids do....

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I agree with Mark about the schooling here. The education system here is generally excellent in my opinion and the opportunities are there if you choose to take them. Our girls are both very settled in the local school - following in his kids' footsteps - and the teaching and facilities are everything we could wish for. I think it is true to say the pace of life, in business, schooling and general, is slower than in a big city - but that is one of the reasons many of us are here in the first place.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I suppose its all about your expectations and experience, but I’ve visited a lot of schools on VI and found the facilities and the lack of equipment to be woeful. They still have separate computer labs, only about one in ten schools will even have a smart board, and none of which are integrated and some schools are still using videos players. The books are mostly out of date and American and the teachers are using pedagogical methods that went out of date in the middle of the 1980s. There's no vibrancy and energy in the schools, they don't push the kids and while I find the teachers capable enough, the lack of consequential accountability in the system lets them be extremely lazy.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

I'm very surprised at your experiences of Island schools. I can only speak for my own area and the few schools within it that I have any knowledge of, but your observations aren't applicable to the elementary school my two kids go to. They have smart boards in most - if not all by now - of the classrooms. Each classroom has laptops and ipad notebooks (not one per child but I think the Principal told me it is now about 4 or 5 per class - my youngest is in a class of 17). There is also a large computer room. It is certainly better equiped than the primary school the kids left in the UK 2 years ago. I would also take issue with the motivation of the staff. They have a show, play or concert every term, there are loads of different clubs and societies happening every lunchtime and after school. They even have a school run every Friday in which the whole school participates.

Whether my kids' good fortune is some other kids on the Island's misfortune I really couldn't say, but I have had no complaints so far with what I've seen. I don't have your breadth of knowledge of "lots" of schools onthe Island, but I think I can confidently say that aside from ourselves, the vast majority of our Canadian and British friends with kids in the same system would echo my sentiments about the education their kids are receiving.

Re: HELP!! Vancouver Island
 

You may well have a decent PAC or a forward thinking Administrator. I think the main issue is you've come from a school in the UK in a lower socio economic area or your child is simply middle of the road, then I'm sure a school in a small school district in Canada will be fine. I suppose it depends what you want for your child. But the lack of rigorous and competitive academic practice is simply lacking and all the fun funs, hot lunches and visits to the local biscuit factory won't make up for the ethos of laissez-faire drift most Canadian school system embrace. In the 1990s all the talk was a about 'excellence in education", the only nod to this policy initiative was with teacher contracts. And if you've ever been to a BCTF conference the passion about their contracts and the rather poisonous invective towards anything to do with the accountability to their "work" is quite disturbing.