For Lee - Moving to Poole

lee
Junior Member



Joined: 23 Oct 2004
Posts: 14
Location: southern ontario

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:29 am

 

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Yes, I hear you .... my kids have been in the gifted program in Ontario, which is an advanced, enriched program for kids falling within the top 2% of the population on the WISC Intelligence test, and so they've had very good education. Having been in a program like this, I just want to make sure the transferring to the UK system is not going to shove them back a year just because they look at the grade they are in, in Ontario. The gifted kids remain in the appropriate grade for their age here, they just finish their year in a 1/3 of the time and spend the rest of the time, exploring and delving deeper into each subject area. I'm talking about grades 10 & 12, for next fall, so I think it will make a difference to teenagers what type of school they go to in the UK -- very much so, especially as one of them would be ready to go to University in 1.5 years if he were to remain in Ontario.

If Brenda is correct, he may have to repeat a year in the UK high school, which I think he will not want to do. They will not be able to visit until March Break, so we have some time to set up some different tours. It's not easy to decide what to do by looking at things on the internet, so I appreciate any advice you all can offer.

Would they be better off in a private school vs a public school system is another question? How expensive might this be? Any comments?

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Brenda
Super Member



Joined: 21 Feb 2004
Posts: 178
Location: Stirling

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:34 pm

 

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I'm not sure how much the fees are for private schools but I'm guessing that they would start at a few thousand pounds and increase from there.

Just to make things confusing for you, what we refer to as private schools in Canada are called either public or independent schools here.

If your eldest intends on attending university in Ontario, he may want to research the transferability of his courses if he finishes his schooling in the UK. Is correspondence an option?

Have you asked what benefits your husbands company will be providing for your family? If you can get private health insurance, you want it. The difference between having private insurance and not having it is waiting for 5 weeks to see a physiotherapist vs seeing one almost immediately.

As far as I know, they don't really do dental insurance here. If you can swing that, it would be a bonus.

-Brenda

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lee
Junior Member



Joined: 23 Oct 2004
Posts: 14
Location: southern ontario

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:41 pm

 

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Hi Brenda,

The insurance(s) are all taken care of, I'm almost positive. But good points to know about.

I think I had better make an appt with the high school counsellor here, and see what their thoughts are also. Correspondence .... I never thought of that. Something else to investigate. I'll look into that.

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