happylandings

Hiya,

Just wondered, anyone had experience of kids at these 2 School stages:

Pre GCSE, move to Canada, join High School - (i.e. they have 2 / 3 years to 'convert' and get ready for College etc.)

Or

Take GCSEs UK, then join Canadian High, (thus only 1 year at Senior School - short time to adjust.

What are the implications? Anyone had kids in these scenarios?

May be able to go 'earlier' to Canada than expected. OH wants to wait till GCSEs clear for our son (means 2.5 year wait). But could go sooner.

Any ideas appreciated.

Cheers

HL.

claire bob and matt

Matt is 15 and is due to take his GCSE's May 08, we're moving out in a few weeks. Been through the spinner on what to do for this one, in the end both schools, this end and AB, Matt and we agreed he is better to make the move now. He will repeat year 10, then carry on for his High School certificate.

It's a pity CIC took so bloomin long, we expected to land last year, but only got there this.

It's not an easy decision, after all the effort you put into your kids education to pull them out just when it matters is a BIG decision, but GCSE's dont seem to mean anything in Canada.

Claire

happylandings

Thanks for the reply, Claire,

As you rightly say, it's never an easy decision. I guess Matt has the 'space' to catch up, kids do seem to adapt well, for the most part. (Just us parents that worry a bit...!) The actual school chosen is a factor. Some have 'Personal Guidance Counsellors' I guess you've checked all this stuff.

GCSEs not being recognised is tough if kids have put so much into them. But Calgary Univ. said something about A-Levels being recognised to enter their 'International Baccalaureate program' ( we had an interview for our daughter last year).

ALL THE BEST IN YOUR VENTURES.

HL

bananahammock

Hi there
Our 2 kids were 13 & 16 when we arrived, the 16yr old (girl) went into high school for 1 year (after some gentle persuasion ) to make some friends her own age...........she had done really well with her GCSE's at home but knew if she wanted to go to Uni the grade 12 credits here would help her..........she had a great time, made a couple of good friends and is now taking a BA in English at the local Uni.

The 13yr old went back to being the 'baby' as he started grade 7 here although he had completed 2 years of senior school in Bristol..........after a couple of 'wobbly' weeks he started coming home with a smile on his face ~ phew!! ~ & loves school here

Sometimes I think we worry too much about the kids settling in..............in our case the adults struggled far more than the kids!!!!

Alberta_Rose

They do accept A levels for uni, but be warned that some courses/uni's insist on 12 years of taught English, so if kids give that up at 16 in UK they might need to do some more.

happylandings

Thanks everyone, for all your great info.

Bananahammock - as you say, us adults are the endless analysers, the kids seem to roll over and land upright.
But I like and agree with your comment on teenagers in the 'small print' LOL. .....

Cheers.

secondarylab

If they're going to Canadian universities then it honestly doesn't matter. Canadian high schools are much easier. Quite frankly if they take the GCSE's and come to Canada, they'll let their brains rot for a year -- they won't learn anything new.

On the brightside, they'll be the smartest in their class and will probably enjoy their final year before uni (i.e. lots of time to adjust since not much time would be spent studying).

MCrocker

I think that's true for many subjects but our 17 year old had all A* at GCSE level and all A's at A/S level. However, we moved then and not having done Math for a year did cause some early problems. Unlike Maths in UK it's quite tough - at least here in Alberta. Certainly much harder then the UK - if you're coming here don't be complacent over math. Other subjects would be no problem and as said earlier - a great opportunity to make friends.

suebed

We arrived here last August just before our eldest child was about to start Year 10/GCSEs in England. We made the move at that point for that very reason. He was adamant he didn't want to do one year's worth then move and we felt if he did his GCSEs at his school, he'd want to stay on to do A levels and by then our younger son would be doing GCSEs and then we'd never leave!

He was given the choice of going into Grade 10 or staying with his age group and going into Grade 9. He chose the latter which suited him for the first semester while he found his feet, made friends etc. The work was dead easy though. This semester he is actually taking 2 Grade 10 courses. (The principal has discretion to substitute 2 of his UK credits for Ontario ones). He's top of his class in Grade 10 Canadian History! He's happy and even though the Grade 9 work isn't very challenging, he has used his time well making friends and getting involved in lots of school clubs and teams.

GCSEs are meaningless here so unless you think you might go back to the UK in the near future, I'd go sooner rather than later. No time like the present and all that.

julius smith

hi, all! just my tuppence worth re our experiences in ontario...
we arrived in ontario a couple of yrs ago and got the kids ettled in some local schools. one of the kids who was around 13 then fitted in quite nicely, but the other one who was in a higher class, had huge problems trying to settle in. as someone on here has mentioned already, the main problem was maths--the maths being taught in the uk is way way below the standard in canada or even the usa. so my kid was finding it very difficult indeed to catch up. i even laid on private tuition for him at a cost of $40 a week, but that did not help much. it may also have been that he was having problems settling down in the new environment, too. so, fast forward to now, and he is happy again and doing well here and is doing his A levels. its horses-for-courses really, i think--some kids may be able to cope, some may not. but what i did learn wa sthat the standards here in the uk are far below those in canada, and the pressure to perform is also high, whereas here there seems to be very little pressure at all! so all in all, i would be very careful if any of you with kids are emigrating--at least make sure that your kids have been studying well here, as to take them over and drop them in the deep end would be very cruel in my opinion.

dingbat

Hardly. Maybe from your part of Streatham to your ex part of Ontario, but my vacuum cleaner could get a Grade 12 in my part of BC.

julius smith

well, i hate to get into arguments, but that is what i judged, looking at the work my kids were given in ontario compared to the work here. it may well be that the schools you have had experience with in bc are not doing too well perhaps?

dingbat

It's not an argument Julius. Standards vary from school district to school district and vary dramatically across provinces. BC standards are shite compared to e.g. Kingston Ontario. Grade 12 from here is not accepted as equivalent to their Grade 12. Grade 12 in general is equivalent to part way through an AS level in the UK; imagine the problems that causes if you are moving back to Europe and have not had access to a Bac diploma course.