School Fees
 

Hi,

I know some of you out there in Blighty will be looking at websites for the various schools in your intended destination and thinking 'OH God what are these school fees?' I did the same. Well I have just been writing out the cheques. My daughter has just gone up to Middle School (grade 6). I have had to pay:
$50.00 for the upkeep of the bus, text books and supplies
$7.00 (optional) for her agenda - if you pay the money it goes towards fundraising.
$4.00 for new student binder.
$25.00 for Band - that was her option - other options are between $15-$20 per semester (3 semesters).

I have also paid $15 for a school t.shirt for gym - optional and $13 for a band camp thingy for an afternoon. If this school is anything like her Elementary then there won't be begging letters throughout the year like her UK schools liked to send out - hope this puts some of you folkses minds at rest. Night Night - off to bed now!

Oh Before I go - I also have had to supply paper, pens, pencils, geometry set and basic scientific calculater ($6 from Wally world) and other school paraphenalia.

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Another fine example of Ralph Klein's "Alberta Advantage". :rolleyes:

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My son (aged 15) registered at his senior high last week. I wrote a cheque for $230 for the year, broken down as follows:

Mandatory fees:
Instructional resource fee .............. $132.00
Refundable security deposit ........... 50.00

Elective fees:

Lock and locker rental .................. 10.00
ID Cards ................................... 5.00
Technology ................................ 3.00 (these three are "highly recommended"!)
Yearbook (optional) ..................... 30.00 (Of course I want a yearbook!)

He also will need to buy gym kit (not sure how much that is yet), and the usual writing implements and binders etc ..... On top of that we will probably have to get a monthly bus pass at $47 (of which we can claim $15 back as he lives more than 2.4 km from the school.

In Calgary they are running a campaign asking people to fill a backpack with schooly items and hand it in to Sleep Country Canada (I think) for needy Calgarian kids. Quite a good idea!

They will accept post-dated cheques for the annual fees, but they have to be paid in full by the end of December I think.

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Just got our daughters school bill. £6000 a term! Good old UK. And that doesnt include music, sundries etc. Mind you, its our choice. :eek:

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I haven't looked into private school fees here at all.

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I wasnt aware of any formal fees here in Ontario, but I am expecting a lot of formal fund raising, which is the next best thing.

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I have, just now, and just out of curiosity ;) (see thread about starting school and my disappointment at the class size in the local school).

It seems that the independent schools around here START at around $17,000 per year and that's before all the other add-ons!!!

Maybe there are others less grand, I don't know, but that seemed to be the standard.

Snowqueen

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Your right...we've only been here for 2 terms....i've lost count of how many fund raising events we have had....seems like one every couple of weeks :scared:

Rgds
Mans

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Our kids are in private school in calgary. there are 12 children in their class and it has cost us just over $8500 for the year

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Is that per child?

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No, its for 2 children- kindergarden and Grade 2, although the uniforms they needed cost nearly that again :eek:

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My youngest starts high school tomorrow and I've spent over £300 on uniform, £40 on shoes, £10 for a bag and over £9 on supplies. She doesn't go to private or a grammer school. I know that by December I will probably have spent at least another £150 on school fund, trips, additional items like scientific calculator etc as my other daughter is three years older and in the same school. Then next year she will be offered opportunities to go to France for the day and trips to the theatre etc which will probably cost another few hundred. Although technically these trips are optional they are linked to the curriculum and the work she will be doing in school. If they were to go to school by bus it would cost another £10 each per week for a bus pass as they are charged full fare, no matter what there age, in the morning until 9.30 (bit of a con there if you ask me!).

To be honest I hadn't really thought about it in total until reading this thread.

Class sizes are about 33, lots of supply teachers who don't always specialise in the subject they are teaching and the usual attitude at parents evening - "She so polite and well behaved". In other words she doesn't cause problems, isn't overly loud so I don't really know her that well!!!!! :mad:

Once they start GCSE's they have really gifted educators who manage to get to know them well. Of course I'm not cynical enough to think this is because high scores improve the Schools Value Added achievement.

Oh, by the way, I started off working in a main stream school. I do understand the pressure schools in the UK are under to perform well on minimal budgets, it just the whole system here that ticks me off. So if we do get to Calgary and I pay more for the girls education I won't mind so much if its worth it. So is it?

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I've got four of my five children in school in BC. Public (state) school supplies such as binders, paper & pens etc. for all four cost just over $450 this year. School fees for Band, gym, agenda's etc for two $275; fees for the younger two in Catholic school per year just over $3700. Other charges amount to just over $400 a year. Cheaper than the UK I expect, but questionable education standards in the public schools in my school district are (for me) a cause for concern.

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That is really inexpensive, even for a private school here in Canada. Even $8500 for one child is not expensive.
We sent our children to private schools too because the curriculum was broader and a higher standard so that if we returned to the UK they would not be behind at the high school age. Fortunately they did the IB programme and it was worth every penny. Though I do believe there are some public schools that provide the IB programme now.

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What do you mean? Are the school standards in Canada not as good as UK - I mean, standard to standard not private or independent... and what is an IB programme?

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My children took the IB (www.ibo.org) in the public system. They also had cramming classes for the SAT. No cost for either.

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Canadas education system is better than the UKs. Canada out performs most other countries (including the UK and way better than the US) in international literacy and numeracy testing. I also think that the system produced nice well rounded individuals in most cases too.

BUT, it takes a bit longer, HS grad here is 18 or 19, if you leave at 16, then you are at a severe disadvantage in the job market. I have zero qualms about schooling my kids here, although obviously the gap becomes a headache if moving school age kids either to or from Canada. But the system itself is OK.

Having to send a three year old to JK on the same bus as highschool kids... not so good. Not good at all :mad:

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Do you have a link for literacy rates? I thought they were much of a muchness, 99.9%-ish for both...

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Is this the norm :scared: i read a thread the other day about school buses in the usa forum, and the little ones being expected to travel with the bigger kids, what are people experiences of this, because the thought of me putting my little lad on a bus to school just freaks me out :scared:

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Red Deer is doing the backpack thing too, it is Sleep Country and also the Malls have drop off points for school supplies and Costco did last year, not sure about this year though.

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Here there are seperate buses for each school - There were 3 buses for my daughters elementary all with kinder - gr5 kids. There are seperate buses for middle with Gr6 - G9 (i thinks). and the Hight school kids use public transport. The Christian/French immersion/Catholic schools each have their own buses. My daughter loves riding the cheese wagon and the bigger kids keep an eye out for the littlun's - or her bus did anyhow.

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International Bacclaureat (Bac) = globally recognised and highly regarded second level qualification.

SQ

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Whether or not a school offers the bac is a good measure of how academic it is, that and offering courses geared to the SAT. All private schools and the better public ones are concerned that students do well in both. I gotta say it was like some sorta validation when one of the kids, who took the bac in French, broke 1500 in the SAT in English; 100% in the language paper is well good, innit?

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SAT= Scholastic Aptitude Test? I thought that was just for US universities? If so, why is it important/relevant?

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Yes.

Yes, though some Canadian schools will take note of student's scores.


I suggest that it would be imprudent for a Canadian student to rule out US schools. The combination of sports and academic scholarships available in the US makes university there an economically sensible alternative to university in Canada. Thus it makes sense to take the SAT, just to see if one is in the game.

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$138 here for number 1 son in Grade 1 Elementary.
$80 of that is for school lunch vouchers for the year (just for taking sandwiches). It pays for the lunchtime staff who watch the children (not exactly dinner ladies as there is no canteen/kitchen, but close)

On top of that, there is all the school supplies we have to provide, ie, exercise books, crayons, pencils, scissors etc etc. Not much change from $200 by the time its finished me thinks. :eek:

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Economically sensible? Doubt it. Educationally sensible? Doubt it even more.

What's more sports scholarships are anathema to academic success, while "academic scholarships" are very unlikely to offset the massively more expensive fees in the US ( unless you're a resident in a particular catchement are).

As you know, caveat emptor applies, but I've worked in UK, US, German and now Canadian Universities. Taking the SAT in Canada is not recomended (except by private schools who are innit for the $$)

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Your last comment surprises me because, at the kids school, they expected students who were thought to have a chance at breaking 1500 (on the old test)
to take the SAT. There was no fee for taking the test and my children were offered scholarships based on the results. I don't see why it would be not recomended to have a go.

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I took a school bus from kindergarden through to grade five with all the other students up to high school. It was definitely the norm and not a big, or any kind of, deal. I'm actually surprised to see people reacting to this to be honest.

Some kids might try to pick on younger kids but then those kids will usually be dealt with by other kids further up the chain. ;) Or the bus driver! :eek:

Seriouisly, in my experience the older kids usually look out for the younger ones. They were told and expected to do this. There was not a lot of bullying between different age groups. Of course, this was < cough! :eek: > thirty years ago and I guess it depends whether the community you live in has gone to the dogs or not. :)

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I know what you are saying is probably still the case (older kids looking out for the little ones) and i think my reaction is a knee jerk one, as in 'OMG hes to small to be doing that', it will be more of an issue for me than him i expect. I will let him take the bus, as i don't want him to feel left out (as my OH so delicately put it, you don't want him to be a billy no mates mummy's boy do you ?)

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aged 3 seems awfully young to be travelling on a bus without an adult, even if the bigger kids look out for the little ones! :eek:

But I do remember way back when in the UK, I used to travel to my primary school by (public) bus. It stopped right outside our house (serendipity) and at the bottom of the school hill. There was a lollypop lady who helped us cross the road near the school, and my elder brothers used to go with me.

There was a sweet shop known as "Toyland" where we'd buy sweets after school, then catch the bus home. We still have some of our own teeth! :D

Sometimes we'd walk, about 2 miles, if we'd missed a bus or something. Later I used to cycle.

I recall being very worried by the time my own youngsters were going to HIGH school and having to cycle along the same road!!

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[QUOTE=iaink]Canadas education system is better than the UKs. Canada out performs most other countries (including the UK and way better than the US) in international literacy and numeracy testing. I also think that the system produced nice well rounded individuals in most cases too.

That's what I thought - thanks for clearing that up for me :) Not that it matters so much at present cos we don't have kids but will do one day :D

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Thanks SQ :)

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Not worried about bullying. Even the "bad language" is not a major concern. We are worried about free handling of drugs, and casual sex acts. Even back in the 70s/80s my wife recalls that kind of thing as pretty "normal" on the bus..out of sight of the driver who couldn't really do anything about it anyway. We dont want our kids to regard that as normal!

The communal bus thing is a recent thing here, as a cost saving exercise. Instead of JK kids going half day 5 days a week...which required a lunch time bus run, they now go full day two days a week so they can combine bus runs. I guess it depends if the schools are in close proximity, which is the case for us.

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There is no problem in either country really, although in absolute terms Canada outscores the UK

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Data...ns.html#slides

there is a table if you scroll down a bit.

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Here in Nova Scotia the school standards are certainly not as good as in UK. Many local Canadians we have spoken to complain and wish they could afford to send their children to private school. You only have to drive around Halifax/Dartmouth and look at the condition of the schools to see that they have a point. We are fortunate that my employer agreed to pay for the childrens education so my son is now in his last year at the Grammar school doing his IB. Fees are close to 10000 CD a year here. Everyone told him it would be hard work etc but he is finding it is much more relaxed than the levels he has been used to. He has access to teachers online as well as their home phone numbers. If he has a problem he can contact them anytime. Not sure how good that is for the students - or the staff!

If you are moving to Canada with teenage children, it might be worth taking into account the cost of university fees here as well, especially in Nova Scotia, which has some of the highest rates in the country. It might be worth negotiating with an employer, as I did, and having the fees included in your salary package.

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I agree with you "iaink" that Canada is pretty good for teaching English & Maths and as good and if not better than UK schools. We were not keen on a text book education without much practical work at school.
I checked both Key stage 3 syllabus in the UK and grade 7 in Canada before we returned to the UK. The syllabus contents were very similar in structure for say science and maths. The only difference for my 12 year old is that he actually did real lab work and taught by teacher with a PhD in science and not someone with a sociology degree and a year of teacher training college.

My sons at 11 & 13 said "school much more structured in England and more interesting subjects than we did in Canada"

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Surely that is entirely dependent on the school chosen. Shortages of "real" science and math teachers are rife on both sides of the pond. Why teach if you can earn twice as much doing science for a living.

I dont really know about structure. my eldest kid is only just starting out. I imagine its good for some kids, but others prefer a bit more autonomy.

I'm guessing that if you are a UK kid, you are not going to have much interest in for example Canadian history compared to UK history, no matter how well taught it might be. Kids and emigration, Im glad it was a non issue for me. Doesnt make life any easier thats for sure.

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Hey Val, nice to see good experiences with my alma mater! I attended the Grammar School before they had the IB program, but it was a great school even then.

The superiority of Canadian vs UK schools comes up fairly regularly. It seems to me it is a bit difficult to compare them, as they appear to teach to different goals. From what I understand of the UK system (never having experienced it myself), it seems most classes are taught with the focus on passing a nationwide standardized exam, at least up to age 16. In Canada classes seem to have more of an emphasis on participation and debate of ideas. There are no nationwide standardized tests as provinces control education, and I don't think most provinces have standardized testing, either.

I think which system you consider better comes down to which you are most used to. I prefer the Canadian way as it is what I grew up under, and I think it encourages independent thinking and keeps kids more interested and challenged. I can see the argument behind having standardized tests so there is a consistent basis of comparison for everyone, but I think it also can kill kids' interest and initiative and allow bad teachers to hide behind an endless round of exam preparation.

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this is what the UK is doing to attract professionals into schools.

The Minister for Schools, Jacqui Smith, said there was "an historic shortage" of qualified maths and science teachers, but no government had done more to reverse it.

She said targets for recruiting new science and maths teachers were now being exceeded.

"But there is still more to do and that is why we have introduced such a strong package of incentives," she said.

"This includes golden hellos of up to £5,000, tax-free bursaries of up to £9,000, record pay and new initiatives to help people with real industry experience pursue a career in the classroom."


My cousin and her husband (in their late 30's) are school teachers and I was really suprised to find out talking to them a couple of weekends ago that they earn nearly £90k between them last year.

At my brothers wedding 2 weeks ago I was talking to his wifes sister brother inlaw who teaches Physics in Canada. They are thinking to come to the UK as he said he was offered close to £50k p.a contract to teach in the UK.

In the UK I studied American history at O'Level as well as UK history in the UK as well as other countries.