Schooling while moving????

Has anyone emigrated between term time? We're hoping to move either by the end of this year or early next year (visa pending). Our son started school last September, he turns six this December. We haven't decided yet whether to buy something small straight away, (with the intention of keeping it and then letting it out once we move to a permanent home), or renting.

Either way, the first home will be temporary.

My concern is that I don't particularly want to move my son between schools twice, once in Canada.

The idea is to try and find a temp place near a school we would like him to attend and then find a perm place in the same location so he can remain at the same school. But of course, things don't always work out as planned.

I'm wondering if anyone has gone through this dilemma and how did you avoid changing schools when you moved to your perm home?

Also, can anyone confirm if children start school in Canada a year later than they do in the UK? I'm sure I read this somewhere, but it was a long while ago. If that's the case, then problem solved and ignore the above.

Any tips and experiences appreciated.
Leila

Your best bet would be to contact the school board of that jurisdiction. Where are you planning on moving to? Most cities require that kids attend the schools that they are closest to.
My younger sisters are required to go to a certain high school later on because its location is more convenient, even if they wanted to go to another high school. I am also sure this applies to public schools. Private schools - anyone can go. That's what you pay the big bucks for - i know - my parents did it for m all through school - elementary and high school.
Fluffy

Don't buy if it's only short term. The realtor's costs etc are too expensive if you are not going to be stoping long.

Kids start at 6 in Canada. We have the same dilemma as yourselves, with our 13 year old. Don't really know what to do for the best. He is dubious about moving schools and meeting new people anyway, without having to do it twice in quick succession!

I gather that in theory, (as the UK) you can choose the school you want your kids to go to, but in practise (as the UK) you might not get your first choice if you are out of the catchment area and the school is popular.

You can get full details of schooling in whichever province you are going to, including what schools are available and details of the curriculum etc , by a simple internet search. There's a wealth of info out there. If you have problems finding it, give more detail of the area you're looking at on this site, and I'm sure somebody will find a link for you!

Morw

I think that's the case for most Western countries. It's easy enough to find out which school your kids can attend, but my dilemma is do I keep him out of school (eg. home-school him perhaps) until we are ready to move to our perm home or do we stay in one area just because he has settled into a school. I want to avoid the whole private school thing as this is what is bleeding us dry in the UK. Unfortunately, the two local schools are horrendous.

I've stayed in Calgary, (well, Aidrie, but we drove down to Calgary serveral times), for two months and I still do not feel I can make a choice as to which is a good/nice area to live. I need to explore some more. Hence the temp home to start off with. However, once we decide where we want to live, the school my son will have started off at, may need to change. And this is what I'm trying to avoid. Its stressful enough for them to change school just once.

Let's hope someone will tell me that they don't start school until they are six.

Ummm I thought I just did!

OK check this out

http://www.relocatecanada.com/schoolchecker.html

Thanks for the tip! I keep hearing this and just as well as this was the initial plan. Would have thought :scared: What have we done!

But we may now consider buying a condo with relatively good rental potential (whatever that may be!!) and then keeping it as a long term investment. What d'ya reckon???

Oops! Sorry Morwenna. I'm skipping back and forth. Just posted this one and then saw yours.

Thanks for the tips. It is a nasty dilemma especially when they are older. You've made me happy today! Glad to hear they start at six. Saves me the headache.

I've had a good old nose on the website and there is quite a lot of info, but one thing I cannot find is something that resembles our Ofsted reports or anything comparative.

Gonna have a look at your link now.

Cheers.

EXCELLENT! At last. I've searched for this for yonks! Kept looking at the Alberta Board of Education website. I've even called them up and they said there was nothing like that in Alberta - they don't compare schools! Fibbers!
Thanks again Morwenna.

You're welcome

There is more to schools than league tables though (obviously), so if you take a closer look at schools you are interested in (most have their own web-site) you can find out if they have a strong music/drama section, or sports or anything else that you feel is important!

Then ring the school maybe, have a chat with the principal or senior staff members. If you can get out there and talk to local parents too before you have to decide. Get a feel for the place.

Morw

Morwenna,

Not sure what the norm is, if you tell people or not...but just given you some karma! Hope it helps for something. Does the person with the most karma get a cookie or something at the end of the month???

Children start school at age 5 in Canada - where did you hear they start at 6?

Children enter primary or kindergarten if they have reached the age of 5 by December 31 (in most provinces), so many actually start in September when they are 4. When I was in school primary was only a half day, but I believe now it goes for a full day, or at least until mid-afternoon.

Well thanks.. just glad to help. I have no idea about karma, but I am partial to choccy-chip cookies!

Hi Leila

We faced the same dilema last year. We moved to Ontario last April. My son was 5 at the time - turned 6 at the end of December last year. We rented in the south of the city for 3 months and then bought in the north of the city. We knew this would be the case so I didn't send him to school when we lived in our temporary home as I didn't want him to be the new kid twice!

It worked out well to a certain extent although he ended up missing out on school for 5 months as the day we moved into our new house, was the day the kids broke up for summer hols. He has settled in well to his new school and it hasn't done him any harm although if I was to do it again, I would try to move during the summer hols to minimise the disruption!

Chris