Schools in Oakville.
 

We are planning to immigrate this year and would like to know what the Britishexpats think of the schools in Oakville.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

This one sits on a nice chunk of real estate : http://www.appleby.on.ca/

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

My kids are still to start school they are 31 months old and the younger only 5 months. I would still be interested to hear from parents that have kids around that age or older on there thoughts on schools on Oakville.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

I can ask a friend of mine who is a teacher and parent who is in the Oakville area if that would be of help?

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

my children have been going to oakville schools since grade1 (now grades 2 and 4). because we have moved house they have been in 3 different schools between them and they have all been very good; Pinegrove where they are now is a french/english school and is excellent in every aspect, although we do have to commute them there.
we moved here nearly 5 years ago and have got to know people whos children go to various schools and we have not heard any negative reports about any oakville schools.

how old are your children and what areas of oakville are you lokking to reside?

citizen

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

Hi

I have an open question regarding schooling in Canada. We might settle around Saskatoon but my questions are regarding Term Dates and Entry Ages.

When do the School Terms run from, ie do they start January 'til September February with Easter Holidays etc and 6 weeks in the summer - I read somewhere that schools close for a month every 3rd month instead of the 6 week terms we have in the UK. Is that true?

Also, my girls will probably be aged 8 and 9 years when we arrive (or another year or two older!) but I wonder what ages they finish 'Primary School' then start 'Upper School' (I assume your High School system) and until what age.

Do all High Schools have a Further Education system, and until what age, then College etc. Where is considered the better College/University.

Also, do different areas (ie Saskatchewan/Alberta/Manitoba have different term times as this could have an impact on when we arrive / move around etc.

If I sound like my head is spinning - you'd be right!

Thanks.
Slic

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

School generally starts the day after Labour Day and seems to end soon after that. It varies by location and by school board. Here's a start :

http://www.sbe.saskatoon.sk.ca/

click on 2005-2006 School Calendar.


It all depends but students usually move away for university anyway.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

Having lived in the Burlington/Oakville area all my life, I can tell you that for the most part Halton (the school board that serves Oakville) routinely scores amongst the top in the province for grade 3, 6 and 9 testing in reading, writing, language and math. Depending on where you move in the town is where your children will go to school. All schools in the district have boundaries which children fall under. Both public and separate (Catholic) schooling are free to attend, and only Catholic schools have uniforms for high school. No uniform for k-8. If you want to send your children to private school, it can be very pricey!!! Ontario does have a very good public school system and for the most part very good teaching staff. Parents are encouraged to participate as much as they want. When my children were in lower grades I helped in the classroom once weekly as well as being fundraising chairperson of the school's parent council.
As for the person who asked about Saskatchewan schooling, the year starts in September, usually the first Tuesday after labour day and goes until Christmas. The kids are then off for about 2 weeks and go back early January. Next term runs until March when they get another week off for March break. The year ends late in June. Check with the local school board, though as some boards have semestered years and others have 3 terms.
Overall, kids start school at age 5 for kindergarten and finish grade 12 around age 17 or 18. Colleges in Canada typically tend to focus more on trades and university on professional teaching. ie: you go to college to become a mechanic and university to become a teacher or nurse.
If you have any questions about Oakville such as what areas to look for housing in, please let me know. My hubby grew up in Oakville and his parents still live there. We are only 10 minutes away in Burlington, but moving to Perth in August.
Oh, forgot to say...If you Google 'Halton District School Board' or 'Halton District Catholic School Board' you can learn all about the schools in all of Halton.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

Yes that would be much appreciated.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

Hi

I agree with the quality of schools in Oakville. We are still new to Oakville having moved from London(UK) onle last December. However my 6 year old has fitted in from day 1 and has not looked back once. He was made very welcome by teachers and pupils.

He was going to private school in England. As dotnron said ... private schools can be very pricey...in fact we found them to be pretty much the same as we were paying in London (very expensive by Canadian standards). We thought we would give the public schools a try upto June and then decide what to do. From the few weeks we have been here, I think we have already decided to continue in the Public sector. His school is calle Captain wilson. It is fairly new with (in my opinion) amazing facilities such as the classroom itself, gym, library computers etc and the teachers and kids are great.

My wife went in to volunteer in the school library.....she was amazed ... they had a trained teacher that comes in the library to help teach read and, choose and enjoy books.

From an acedamic point.......not convinced .... we had my son assessed in a couple of private schools and they thought he was at least one grade ahead. However in terms of social, art, etc he has really changed for the better.....we wanted to get away from the immense pressure he had acadamically in London...it feels if he has got his character back in this short time and really enjoying life here.

Good luck and sorry to ramble on :)

Rgds
Mans

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

we wanted to get away from the immense pressure he had acadamically in London...

He's six years old.....ffs !!!

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

sorry to offend you with my comments...

everyone has different views, and experiences......

We felt he had immense pressure for a 6 year as his school was very acadmeci.....yes he did well and was well above the average kid of his age but he also had (for a 6 year old) heaps more homework than the average kid of his age which i did not agree with as he should be having fun at this age.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

All children in public schools in Ontario are given the Otis-Lennon test in 4th grade. This is sort of like an IQ test geared for 9 year-olds. If they score a certain amount, then they are given the Ross test of Higher Intelligence. If found to have a score above a certain mark, then the school will develop a plan of learning for your child's specific learning needs. This may be that they will go on to a self contained gifted program, or it could be that they will get an additional gifted education in the school where they attend now. My daughter was assessed in grade 4 and ended up being assessed as academically gifted. (she gets it from me. :p ) She is now in grade 6 in a self contained gifted program with other children who like her think differently. She does advanced math and sciences which are her strong areas and is expected to expand on other subjects. Instead of drawing a map, she is expected to do a topographical map with population statistics instead for instance.
In my opinion, there seems to be a great deal of pressure put upon children to be the best, smartest, fastest at everything. My daugter is intellectually different, but we have never put any pressure on her to be anything other than a normal 11 year old girl. They are only children for a short time, so why not let them be children. Adulthood is a very long process so delay it as long as you can.

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

I take it you're not a graduate of that school :rolleyes:

Re: Schools in Oakville.
 

My children were in "gifted" programs in Peel, except, that is, the one in the "retarded" program. The neighbours' children were also in "gifted" programs, as were the children of my colleagues. When it came time for IB selection some were suddenly more "gifted" than others were "gifted". When they got to the SATs (before the 2400 era), the formerly "gifted" scored between 1190 and 1520, that is, all over the map.

I'm afraid I think the "gifted" designation as applied in GTA schools means only "native English speaker with an interested and reasonably affluent parent". If such children are not "gifted" then they're learning disabled, ADHD, or otherwise in need of Ritalin. There aint no ordinary kids round here.