Dave n Ailsa

So, did you just march your kids up to the school and hope for the best, or had you already visited the school and booked them in before you all moved over?

I think what I'm picking up from a couple of replies is that, as long as one of the parents, or gaurdians is paying income tax, there shouldn't be a problem getting government funded education?

I'm still at a loss as to how to work out what grade they might be going into, and thus what schools to approach.

I can't find an age scale anywhere, so how do you know if it's an elementary, middle or high school?

My kids are 10 and 12 at the moment, so in the UK that's primary 6, and 1st year of secondary school.

Madhouse

Dave n Ailsa

We came over to Ottawa at the beginning of March to find a house, sort out schools and spend some time with my new employer. We got out work, open spousal and study permits at point of entry and these are the key documents you need to access services here.

We visited the schools soon after arriving to see if they were right for our children. We explained to the schools that we had recently arrived on work permits and were in the process of looking for a house to live in. They were both very understanding, as there is some choice in the public schooling system ('traditional' public, catholic, french immersion and french immersion in the catholic system and french) and school admissions are based upon catchment areas, so we wanted to choose the school so that we knew where to look for a house.

By the end of March, we had found a house and had a purchase agreement, which allowed us to make appointments to return to the schools to register the children. The schools ask for a fairly extensive stack of documentation - this list is straight off one of their websitesocuments required for registration include:

• Proof of Address (lease, agreement of purchase or a utility bill with parent name and address - not driver's licence)
• Health Card
• Doctor's Name and Telephone Number
• Immunization Documents as per Public Health Information listed below.
• Birth Certificate
• Student and/or Parent's Roman Catholic Baptismal Certificate (grades 7 and 8 only)
• Latest Report Card (MUST)
• Up-to-date Transcript from Previous School (Grade 10 and up only)
• Documentation if Student is Resource Student (IEP/IPRC documents)
• Student's current Vice-Principal/Principal's name and telephone number.

However, we only actually needed to provide a proof of address (lease, agreement of purchase or a utility bill), birth certificate, work permit and latest school report. We had not got a health card number or doctor at that stage, but hey said we could provide it later and because we were putting our children into the Catholic system, we needed to provide a birth certificate for either the child or one parent.

There was a big pile of paperwork and we had to send copies of the kids' immunisation records off to be assessed, but the whole process was relatively easy. We returned to Ottawa permanently last week, so the kids don't school until Monday, but we have just been contacted by the transportation board to tell us the details of their buses and we are taking the kids in for final familiarisation visits this week.

We had trouble figuring out which year the kids will go into too. Although the school year runs Sep-Sep, the cut-off between grade admission is Dec 31 (go figure!). This means that our two older kids (birthdays in Feb) have effectively gone back a year and the younger ones (birthdays in Nov) have gone forward! Our oldest was born in Feb 98 and will go into G8 in Sep 2011, no.2 born Feb 2000 will go into G6, no.3 born Nov 02 will go into G4 and no.4 born Nov 04 will go into G2.

Here in Ottawa, public elementary school seem to generally go up to G8 and catholic ones go to G6. I think there used to be middle schools here when we first started researching about 5 years ago, but they appear to have been phased out.

Long answers to short questions! Please feel free to PM me any specific questions, although it might take a few days to respond as we are moving into our new home tomorrow

Twitcher1958

I agree with a lot of what Madhouse says re what grades are applicable. My son should have moved into Year 8 in England last September (May birthday) but is in Grade 7 in Canada. Similarly my daughter would be in Year 12 in England but is in Grade 11 here (May birthday). I think there is a 'translation' table somewhere in Wiki.
Your situation may be 'complicated' further by the different rules applied in Scotland?
Both mine found that there were subjects they had previously covered ahead of their classmates - probably some the other way round too but of course they're not as obvious.
Here in Durham region, public/elementary school is up to and including Grade 8 then high school for 4 years, although a sizeable minority opt for an extra semester at the end (victory lap) perhaps to enhance grades or just to firm up on further education options.

Auld Yin

I think what I'm picking up from a couple of replies is that, as long as one of the parents, or gaurdians is paying income tax, there shouldn't be a problem getting government funded education?

One doesn't have to pay taxes to receive publicly funded education. If you live here legally as a TWP or a PR your children will receive free (as free as it can be) education.

Piff Poff

I emailed a couple of schools before we moved. DD ended up going to a brand new one. We chose our neighbourhood and found the closest school. Popped in one day and registered her, they asked for some details, it all took about 10 minutes, job done.

I agree with what Auld Yin says too.

HGerchikov

We came on TWP and then applied for PR. As noted in a post above the kids were given study permits at point of entry to the country. We had already approached the school while on a recce visit earlier in the year but could have just 'marched up' and registered them at any point (provided you can prove that you live in their catchment). I am not sure that all school boards operate the same rules - I actually called mine a few months ago on behalf of another family moving over and basically for this region, if you live in the correct area you can turn up on the first day of school and they will take your child there and then - you don't have to be registered months in advance. They are picky about the vaccinations though - and actually threaten to exclude a child that is due for a booster if you don't get it done on time. For this part of Ontario - kids born in 1999 will be going into Grade 7 this September, 1995 into Grade 11, you can scale up or down for relevant birth years for your children.

Dave n Ailsa

Incredible replies there, thanks you all so much.

Good luck to all of you

Zoe Bell

Just a point of clarification , It is not the school that makes the decision to suspend a child due to lack of vaccinations ( In Onario anyways)

we get instructions from Public health to suspend students with missing/incomplete vaccinations, we have no choice but to comply and get auditted yearly.

<looks at the stack of suspension notices sitting on her desk waiting to be mailed out and awaits the inevitably angry phonecalls>

Madhouse

Auld Yin is correct about only needing a TWP or PR in order to access education. My comment about paying taxes was just me being flippant. Sorry to have misled.