Off Topic Schooling

[Iwannabemargo]

I have read many threads on this forum talking about gymnastics and schooling. From a different country persepctive I wonder if you could clarify what your school days involve ?

I seem to have picked up that you have Public school, Private school, Homeschool. We have those here too, although Private Schools are generally known as "Public School" - go figure, and the homeschool sector is tiny.

Generally our smalls go to Primary school from the September before their 5th birthday (rising 5's/reception) to the year of their 11th birthday (year 6).

They then transfere to secondary school to 16 (years 7-11) and then Tertiary college (which is sometimes their secondary school) to 18.

After school is get a job or University, but there are no offical funding programmes for sports scholarships. However, I went to university with a National Team Rugby Player who was nominally on my course - the only time I saw him was on the field or in the bar ! However he was funded by his Rugby club, not the university.

Our school day here is 8.55-3.25 (primary) and 8.30-3.00 (secondary), with my primary smalls getting 1/2-1 hours homework a week and my secondary small ( year 10) getting 2-3 hours a week ( however he can start his homework in lesson time if he has finished his core and extension work, so he generally has less to do at home).

The school year is 40 weeks long split into 3 trimesters or terms. Usually its 1st week in septemer to 2nd week in December with 1 week break in October (half-term), 1st week in January to Easter, this year easter is early so they break up on good friday and go back on 15th April, with half-terrm in February ( next week in fact), then in school till the last week of July with half term at Whitsun (May/June).

What are your hours/days/years/holidays?


Just me being nosey really.

'Margo

 

[bogwoppit]

In Canada, schooling is like in the USA. EXCEPT in the Province of Quebec, where we have a different system.

Children begin kindergarten the September after their 5th birthday. They stay in elementary school for grades 1-6 at approx. age 12. The then go to high school for grades 7-11 and then they graduate with a high school diploma, you need to attain all the core subjects to graduate including French and history.

Most kids then go onto CEGEP for pre university or vocational studies. This tends to be a two year course, though it can be longer. Unlike 6th form college in the UK the course followed are diverse and the basics of English, French, Humanities and Phys Ed have to be continued. After completion of CEGEP students can then go on to Uni.

Further education is heavily subsidized in Quebec. Uni fees are about $6000 a year, even for medicine. McGill, one of the best medical schools, is that cheap too. Though our students constantly complain about the high costs! Students of lower income families (under $56,000 a year) can get loans and bursaries to help with costs as well.

 

[bogwoppit]

Oh and holidays

In grades k-11 the students have a two weeks off at xmas, one week in early March, 3 days at Easter and Thanksgiving (October here) about five occasional days and from about June 10th to Aug 28th off each summer, long, long holiday.

In CEGEP the students have two very short terms. Aug 20th to Dec 20th and the Jan 24 - May 11, that is roughly how it works.

Uni is much the same as the UK.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

so sounds a bit like the French system post 16 - more BAC than A levels. There is talk here of a BAC style system, however our system is more geared to specialism than generalism. I did Double maths, Physics and Chemistry for A's, hence my interest in the technical side of gymnastics so Arts education stopped for me at 13 when I opted for a science based curriculum.

It seems your school year is more concentrated than ours, and formal education starts a year earlier. There is more and more emphasis on formal education starting earlier and earlier here with free places in nursery school from aged 2.

 

[Faith]

There is more and more emphasis on formal education starting earlier and earlier here with free places in nursery school from aged 2.

I think that's misleading though. I don't know any nursery setting that offers 2 year old places, as they have too many 3 year olds needing places. Most only offer 2.5 hours a day, if they do more you have to pay, although again now many are struggling with resources so don't offer any more than the minimum.

I remember when I had DD1 assuming that nursery was free. Got a shock when it turned out it was 2.5 hours a day from age 3, so mine had to go into a private nursery setting until school while I worked.

Stepdaughter in year 7 secondary gets 45 mins-1.5 hours homework a day. Which I think is far too much. She does no sports or activities outside school. An 11 year old should be doing more than school-homework-bed, they wonder why obesity levels are rising!

 

[bogwoppit]

In Quebec we have daycare for $7 a day until they start school. This came in about ten years ago.

 

[Seeker]

Wow....that woulda been nice! I paid about $1,800/mo for daycare for 3 years. Nearly killed me, but there was no where else to go so we ate a lot of Ramen!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

true its part-time Faith, but we do have a lot of provison down here so maybe semi-rural is a good thing in that respect. I agree though it can get costly full time - mine went to a lovely childminder til I had number 3 when it was cheaper for one of us to stay home that pay someone else to look after them. Again I think Bog is benefitting from the French system, I know when I lived in France childcare was free and if you ahd three or more children the state paid you to stay home as it was cheaperr than childcare funding.

 

[Faith]

Wow....that woulda been nice! I paid about $1,800/mo for daycare for 3 years. Nearly killed me, but there was no where else to go so we ate a lot of Ramen!

Realistically, daycare here is £1000 a month. If you work and actually need the daycare, the *free* provision is useless. The only people it benefits are parents who are at home anyway. The intention is to reach out to children from deprived families so they can get into a social setting as early as possible so they learn less anti-social behaviour from their parents.

 

[Aussie_coach]

In Australia.

the school year goes from January to December here. We also have public school, private school, homeschool.

Public school is known as State school. You can send your child to any state school, it doesn't have to be your local one, so there is quite a bit of co,petition between schools. Private schools are very popular. 30% of primary school students attend private schools, and 40% of High school students attend private school.

homeschool is big, but most attend what it's called the school of distance education. So they attend this school but do the work at home. They meet with their teachers to,do phone and Internet lessons. A lot of kids attend boardning school too. Because we have many outback and farming families with no local schools.

Primary school goes starts with a grade which is called a different thing in each state. It can be called prep, kindergarten or reception. In my state it is prep. So primary school goes from prep to grade 6. Kids can start prep in the year they are 4 turning 5 if born in the first half of the year and when they are 5 turning 6 if born in the second half of the year. The cut off date varies from state to state.

They then go to high school for grades 7-12. They would be age 11-17 if born early in the year and ages 12-18 if born late in the year.

after high school you could get a job or go,to TAFE if you want to learn a trade or go to university if you want to learn some,thing academically. University is subsidised, you can go on the HECS scheme which means you don't have to pay for your spot at the time. It's like a loan and once you start earning over a certain income you pay it back. If you never earn over that income you never pay it back.

our school days generally run for 6 hours in both primary school and high school. The average day goes from 9:00AM-3:00PM. Primary school kids susally have the day divided into three sessions. Morning session followed by morning tea and a play break, middle session followed by lunch and another play break and afternoon session then go home.

high school can vary any thing from 4 x 70 minute lessons a day, to 6 x 45 minute lessons or even 7-8 35 min lessons. They also get morning tea and lunch with a big break at lunch where they can play sports and things.

The school year is 40 weeks divided into 4 ten week terms. The long Summer holiday is 6 weeks long over Christmas. Then the school year starts in January and the 10 week terms each have a two week holiday in between them.

There is not a lot of Homework.

Most schools have a strict uniform.

 

[bogwoppit]

My oldest dd is to start cegep this August and she will be doing a BAC if she is accepted. It is arts and science, so the best of both worlds as she is strong in both. This gives her more time to decide in a UNI course too.

i did A's in geography geology, sociology and religion. I like the variety in the Quebec system as it does give students a chance to explore options.

 

[gymgal]

It is really hard to explain the system for the US because each district (which, depending on where you live, could be your town, city, county, region, or state) has its own system. Different rules for when children can start (cutoff dates for starting kindergarten), number of days in each school year, vacation calendar, traditional vs year round calendar. Hours during the day, start/finish times, how they separate their grades most do elementary, middle, high school but some separate elementary into two different buildings: primary and upper. Even within districts, there can be differences. Each district also decides the curriculum for each grade, though most states have minimum requirements. In the past two years, some states have adopted a set of guidelines called Common Core, which outlines what should bee taught at each level. It is supposed to align the country's system together so there is unity. When families move, students will be have an easier transition because they will have been taught the same material.

We homeschool but I am familiar with our local system. Students must be 5yrs old to go to kindergarten. The state just adopted common core this year. We have a county system here, so several towns are grouped together to form a district. Within our county, we have traditional calendar and extended year calendar (more vacation breaks throughout the year, less summer break). Other counties also have year round calendars using a track out system (9 weeks in school followed by 3 weeks vacation, year round; one 1/4 of the school is on vacation at a time, except Christmas; the classrooms rotate based on who is in/out of session. Sounds confusing but actually works really well).

Our county schools are mainly set up as k-5, 6-8, 9-12. some districts offer vocational training starting in 9th, where the students do their basic academic requirements and spend more time learning a trade. Thevschool day is 6.5 hrs, start times are staggered due to bus routes. Older students start first, get out first. Traditional schools are in school from late August to beginning of June, with 1-2 wk breaks for December holidays and Easter, as well as smaller 1-3 day breaks during the year for national holidays. The lower grades are supposed to get 10 min of homework per number grade (1St gets 10min, 2ND gets 20, etc). I believe middle school is 20 min per subject, but only the 3-4 core subjects are supposed to be able to give daily homework. High school - anything goes. Now, these are the written guidelines. I know from dds friends that these rules are not always followed, and usually they end up with more.



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[Iwannabemargo]

Wow gymgal, sounds complicated. We now have the national curriculum here so supposedly transfers are easy(ier). Logically the Austrailian system sounds very similar to ours, but inverted summers naturally. It is interesting seeing how different countries try and acheive the same goals.

When I went to Uni is was free, with grants available for those who qualified, but only around 5-10% went, now it cost a fortune, I worry who needs £45,000 in debt and a degree in surfing !

 

[gymgal]

The intention is to reach out to children from deprived families so they can get into a social setting as early as possible so they learn less anti-social behaviour from their parents.

...studies show that young ones in full time daycare are more aggressive and have more anti-social behavior than those who stay home... Of course, there are other benefits to quality daycare for disadvantaged kids that outweigh those negative behaviors but personally, I would rather have programs that do parent training so that the kids have an enriched environment 24/7.





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