MenHealthNurse

Hi There

Does anyone know anything about Kings-edgehill school in Nova Scotia? We're moving out in a couple of years and are looking for good school for our boys.

Thanks
Alex

destinationnovascotia

I looked into it and I was quite impressed. Its just too far away from where we want to live and boarding is really expensive.

Judy in Calgary

Relatively few children in Canada attend private schools, and private schools tend to be very expensive.

When I say very expensive, I don’t just mean the tuition, although that too tends to be very steep. I mean the field trips to China and the other expensive activities that all the other kids will be able to afford but that will probably be a strain on the combined income of two nurses. Oh yes, and the horse riding, skiing, scuba diving in tropical locations, etc., that private school students tend to do but that may be beyond the reach of your children, which I believe would result in their feeling like Cinderella.

The two girls who live next door to us attended an expensive private school in the Calgary area (Strathcona-Tweedsmuir in Okotoks). Their parents easily could afford all that enrichment (the exchanges with students in Australia and Hungary, and on and on and on). One of those girls now has graduated from her first university degree, and is doing a year’s internship as she prepares to go to law school. The other girl is still studying for her first degree. They are charming, multi-talented girls. I believe that all the international travel they have done has broadened their minds, and they have benefitted from studying the fine arts (they play musical instruments, paint, etc.).

But, unless their parents easily could have afforded all of that, I think it would have been CRAZY to send their daughters to that school. It seems to me to be very unbalanced to cripple yourself financially just so that your children can have a Cinderella experience at an expensive school.

One of the biggest favours you can do for your children, in my opinion, is to secure your own financial future, so that you won`t be a burden on them in your old age. I know nothing about this Kings-Edgehill School. I looked at its website. Maybe I didn’t look thoroughly enough, but I wasn’t able to find its tuition fees. That in itself looks ominous. When prices aren’t published, it often means that they are high. If they are as high as I suspect they are, will you be able to pay that tuition and also look after your own retirement ?

As I said at the outset, private schooling is much less common in Canada than it is in the UK, and in my opinion it is unnecessary in Canada. If your children are academically inclined, they can do the International Baccalaureate program at a public (meaning government-funded) school. They don’t need to go to Kings-Edgehill to access the I.B. program.

I myself had a Cinderella experience at a private school in South Africa, and I don’t recommend it. My parents lived in the bush, and there was no high school in the vicinity, so they didn’t have much option but to send me away to boarding school. For my family boarding school was a necessity. But, for many of my classmates, boarding school was a necessity only because their parents travelled so much that they needed a parking spot for their kids.

During the holidays these girls went skiing in Switzerland (which was more than a hop, skip and a jump away from South Africa), participated in show jumping competitions ....... well, you probably get the picture. My main annual holiday was a month parked in a caravan at the coast with my extended family. Actually my siblings, our cousins and I had the most glorious fun, swimming, surfing, fishing, etc. I now remember those holidays very fondly indeed. But, when I got back to school, my caravan holiday at the beach in South Africa made me feel like a Gypsy compared with the girls who’d been off to Europe. I did not find it fun to be “poor,” albeit my “poverty” was an artificial perception that resulted from my comparing myself with my rich classmates.

In my opinion, one of Canada’s great advantages is that, compared with many other countries, it has a larger, stronger middle class. I’ve never lived in the UK, but I get the impression that private (I guess you call them public) schools are a much more common feature of life there than they are in Canada. Again in my opinion, there is no need to send a child to a private school in Canada (unless you EASILY can afford it, in which case it’s okay). If you do a bit of research and choose a decent public (government-funded) school, your child can get a perfectly adequate education, all the more so if he/she avails him/herself of the I.B. program.

To give you an illustration of the point that you can get a good education at a public school in Canada, you can look at the “school report cards” that the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank in Vancouver, publishes for schools in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec (I guess they are something like league tables in the UK). About a year ago I did a bunch of research into Alberta schools in order to respond to questions on this forum. I can’t be arsed to repeat my research, but at that time I found that Strathcona-Tweedsmuir (the afore-mentioned private school in Okotoks) received a very high rating from the Fraser Institute. But a public (government-funded) high school in Edmonton received a rating that was equal to that of Strathcona-Tweedsmuir. There also was a high school in Calgary that was close behind those two. So that demonstrated to me that it was possible to receive quality schooling in Calgary and Edmonton, even if you could not afford Strathcona-Tweedsmuir’s tuition.

Have you actually enquired about the tuition at Kings-Edgehill? I suspect that, if you do that, my long shaggy dog story will be rendered useless. I have a feeling that the whole discussion about Kings-Edgehill will become academic, because you probably will be gob-smacked by Kings-Edgehill’s tuition, if I have guessed correctly.

If you haven’t already done so, I recommend that you read the BE Wiki article on Canadian Schooling.

Maybe you should do more research into Canada generally. The very fact that you have asked this question suggests to me that you don`t quite understand the ethos of this country.

destinationnovascotia

The fees are published on the website http://www.kes.ns.ca/files/admissions/TuitionFees.pdf Whilst they are not cheap, they compare very well to UK private school fees which can easily be 3 times the price.

Judy in Calgary

Thanks for pointing me to the tuition page, destinationnovascotia.

Just out of curiosity, is private school tuition a tax-deductible expense in the UK?

montreal mike

I have no idea, but I certainly hope not. Were that the case it would mean that the working classes would help pay for the well-off to educate their kids.

montreal mike

28K for tuition for the little darlings is obviously only for the very well off, so if is 28K or 38K or 48K, big deal!

28K. Some people don't even make that sort of money, before taxes, in a year!

montreal mike

here is a super idea. Why not send them abroad to teen camp. Does it matter? parents who place their offspring don't get to see them very often.

The camp accepts girls and boys aged 14-19 of outstanding moral character. For this reason a letter of recommendation from camper's principal is required. It is understood that campers will conduct themselves in a manner befitting a guest in a camp in a foreign country and will abide by the regulations. The administration reserves the right to send home any camper who does not adhere to the above or does not respect camp rules. In this case no refund will be made. Also, no refunds will be made for a shortened stay, for any days, sports, activities or excursions missed. The same applies in case of withdrawal or dismissal or cancellation after the beginning of camp. Additional information and camp kit will be sent out after enrolment.

http://www.itc-ijc.com/itc/default.htm

destinationnovascotia

No, its not. Childcare isn't either.

Judy in Calgary

Thank you.

Coffeepot

Not all people send them to board, and see them just as much as people in state schools, they do not go abroad as much and certanly not while they are young at the schools here, Kimbolton and Kings at Ely are very good schools and cost between £12,000 and £ 16,000 per year, to the people who live where we are in cambs that is a good investment for there childrens future, at the end of the day they are paying 40% tax with there earning bracket as well as corp tax and it takes pressure of the state schools so if they earn it why not ?
sue

Coffeepot

I do agree with Judy we have been to look at several schools for our son both private and state when visiting and felt there wasn't nec a need to put our son into private when we moce to CA

cheers sue

montreal mike

Agreed, if private schools are the solution and one has the means then this may be the way to go.

I went to three private boarding schools for 8 years and although I didn't ask my dear old dad I do not think it was considered an investment per se. Fact of the matter it was a family break up, somewhere to conveniently park the kids.

As to taking pressure off state schools, in theory yes but as a proportion of those going to private as compared to public, I figure the impact, if any, is negligible.

I myself find it somewhat distasteful sending kids off to be cared for by total strangers. Even in the animal kingdom parents instinctively take care of their young. As to upbringing, discipline, good moral values, and all the other good stuff, well at the end of the day a kid can turn out to be just as rotten whether it be public or private schooling.

MenHealthNurse

How incredibly rude !! You have no idea about our finances/situation. We may just be two nurses but we're intelligent, sensible people just looking at our options. I don't quite know why this subject seems to bring out the worst in some people - all i wanted to know was if anyone had any experience about this school.

Judy in Calgary

I wìll not pass Go, I will not collect $200, and I will go straight to jail.