Hi

We are moving to Ottawa in July. Ive been looking at the schools and noticed that the Senior K is only half day classes.

My daughter will be five in August and will have completed a year of full time school already. I feel bad that she may have to take a step back and take half days again. It wouldnt bother me so much if it wasnt for the fact that she absoulutly LOVES school.

Is anyone else in or been in the same position? I would really like to hear from anyone thats 'been there' lol

Thanks for reading

I also have a daughter of 5 yrs who loves school and will have to make do with half day kindergarten , but I guess since one is moving to Canada for long term then we will adjust to the system.

Hi there,
We moved over last August, my son was 5 and had just completed reception class in the Uk.
Once we arrived here, I spoke to the principle of the school and explained the situation, he was moved up a class and started at Grade 1.
So far he has been fine and in fact is amongst the brightest in his class.
The school will usually take these things into account but it does depend on the individual. I decided against moving my daughter up as she is not very mature for her age, and the preference with her was age group over ability group.
I hope this information helps a little. Good Luck.

Totally agree with what Eva has said about tailoring the decision to the individual child's personality, learning style, etc.
x

Thanks for all the advice

Our 5 year old had done 2 term of Reception, then nothing from Easter (when we arrived) until the September and then started French Immersion Kindergarten. As he was learning in a different language it did not really feel like a step backwards, and it enabled him to start French the same time as all his classmates. It wokred very well for him, and he loves it.

We decided to go the private school route to avoid the half day kindergarten nonsense which is close to impossible to deal with if both parents work. My son who turned 5 in dec after starting kindergarten in September is now almost done with his first year at school and almost at the standard he was at in his last year at Montessori pre-school in England. Sadly the education system here is quite a bit behind UK

Susan