Canada Hopeful

Hello,

By the time we eventually get to Canada, our three will be either in first Grade or not far off (twins and elder brother) - so have started to ponder the whole conundrum of schooling, and how one goes about finding a good one if you're not already living in the area.

Does anyone know if there are the equivalent to an Ofsted Report on Schools in Canada?

Any answers gratefully received!

Thunderchicken

Hi there,

I'm in the same situation as you so if you're thinking of settling in Ontario here'a a couple of links that might help. The first link is to the Ontario Ministry of Education and the second link is to the Education Equality and Accountability Office which publishes Provincial, Board and Individual school results. I found them quite useful. My OH will be making a recce In September and has arranged to visit a couple of schools to get a feel for them. There's quite a few EP members who have children in the education system and their posts have been a great help too.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca
http://www.eqao.com

TC

gryphea

Hello

There is no such thing in Canada and what is avalaible will vary from province to province. Where are you going?

Firstly, and this is quite a big thing to get your head around, canadaians aren't as hung up on this as brits!

You could try the frasercard reporting system and I believe each province has provincial achievement tests.

Gryph

Judy in Calgary

Suggest you read the BE Wiki on Canadian schooling.

I see in another thread that you're considering Nelson, BC. Since you're interested in BC, you can use the Fraser Institute's School Report Cards.

dbd33

I think this is a myth. It's often stated on this board but I found that after we bent the rules every possible way to get the kids into a promising school, many of the other parents I met at school events and had also lied, cheated, bribed, moved house and/or queued all night. Canadians may not assault their children's maths teachers they way they do their ice hockey coaches but that doesn't mean they're indifferent.

I think Howard1944's recent post on the Toronto thread is typical of the sorts of comments about schools one hears here:

"dbd33, you are like so many people who cannot afford to live in Leaside, you parse your nose and say, i would not want to live there

I spent $40,000 a year for my Two Sons to attend Crescent Private School, we put them in the local schools when we realized the quality of the programs and of the students.

Bayview has Restaurants galore.but I do agree that Leaside H.S is referred to as the White School, until kids from all over wanted in, now they are bussed in and cultural diversity does exist , to a limited degree.

Leaside is the breeding ground for future MLB and NHL players.

Woodbridge has a strong Italian influence, Richmond Hill has a large H.K. influx, Scarborough has those who can't afford to live elsewhere.

Riverdale is an interesting area, but the Beach, totally overrun in the summer, you can't even walk Queen street for the crowds."

Just to clarify, we pushed to get our kids into a well reputed school offering the bac. We didn't consider the ethnic background of the student body. I know that's an important consideration for unhyphenated Canadians but we're immigrants it's not our place to avoid other immigrants.

Notiaink...honest

Maybe in terms of religous fervour thats true, but not so much in terms of chosing a geographic location.

You pretended to be catholic or something (as do others), but its not like the UK where you have to live in certain (expensive) areas to be able to have a chance at the top rated schools.

Ive often said that league tables were a bad idea, as they are divisive and end up making the gap between the good and the "bad" wider, and I still think that stands. Im glad there is no equivalent to OFSTED here, and as far as Im aware (and international literacy/ numeracy studies seem to back this up) all canadian schools seem to do a good job in helping make canadian kids grow up into reasonably educated, and more importantly confident and well adjusted adults.

Canadians of course do care about the education there kids get, and will approach the school or certain teachers with issues, but they seem to recognise that all schools are maintaining or trying to maintain the same standards, so dont care in particular which school there kids attend, beyond the whole separate / public board thing.

As Gryphrea said, The Canadians I know (and that includes me!) are generally not hung up on certain schools being better than others, and not should they be. If a kid is smart enough, the school they are in will not be an impediment to progress, likewise, if they need special help, they have the same chance of getting it regardless of the school.

gryphea

Don't really get the last point - was someone acusing you of this?
What are unhyphenated canadians?

Notiaink...honest

White, nth generation canadians, descended from the original european settlers.

dbd33

I agree with you about the league tables but school districts are a major feature of house listings. Some schools only take students from the immediate area and being in the area of a well reputed school drives up house prices. For that to be the case many parents must care.

We adjusted the kid's religion for one school and their address for another. At the second most parents seemed to have been straight about their address but many misrepresented their mother tongue. Getting in can be bitterly competitive.

dbd33

No but the post quoted touted the school in question as being good and as having a white student body. I just wanted to make it clear that we cared that the school offer the bac and the SAT and didn't care where the students came from.

gryphea

Ahh right I see now! and have learnt a new term as well!

If we are in canada still at secondary level- we would choose the bac too- it has to open rather than close doors

dbd33

More than that, anyone who self identifies as just being Canadian. Someone lacking a home culture either through the circumstances described or by having a family tree too complex to describe.

dbd33

Not only that but the credits from the bac cut a full year off one child's undergrad degree; that's a serious financial saving in tuition and living costs.

destinationnovascotia

Really! How does this work then?

dbd33

Academic qualifications can be transferred between institutions as course credits, for example one of the students in an another daughter's nursing class had some sort of biology degree and got to skip some anatomy classes. In the case of the daughter who saved a year she took a degree in which much of the early course material was similar to that in her bac so she was credited and didn't have to attend the classes; instead she took a Latin course(!) and started on the next year's material. The end result is that she's done with a four year degree in three years. Whether or not it's a useful degree remains to be seen, however one year less at school clearly represents a financial saving as that's one less year of panicked phone calls on rent day.