Schools in Nova ScotiaWhen we moved to Nova Scotia back in 2007, we were very fortunate to settle quickly in a great neighbourhood that had a very good schools.

Nearly all primary and secondary Schools in the Nova Scotia are public schools maintained by the provincial government’s Department of Education. The public school system runs from Primary through to Grade 12.

There are a handful of private schools in Halifax and throughout the province and from the information I have gleaned, tuition fees are much less expensive than in the UK.

Children usually start school in the September of the year they turn 5 (cut off is the 31st December).

Unlike the UK, finding a school rating guide is a little more difficult. Not all schools are created equally and you will find people moving into the right neighbourhood to be at the right school. It is now mandatory for each public school to publish an annual report and you can access this information via the Halifax Regional School Board www.hrsb.ns.ca.

The attendance of a particular school is governed by the area in which you live and the local school catchment area. In our particular neighbourhood, we have three Elementary Schools and one of them offers the Early French Immersion program.

Our son was three months short of turning 6 years old when we first moved here and started in Grade 1. He had a wonderful teacher and settled very quickly. As he had been in Primary School in Cardiff since he was 4 years old, he had a head start on a lot of his classmates and following a meeting with the school (at their request) it was suggested that he be moved up another grade to challenge him academically.

At this stage, our priority was his emotional needs so after much thought, we decided to keep him with his peer group. And we definitely made the right decision. He is a smart, sociable, confident young man and is soaring through life.

Our daughter was 4 when we landed and having been in Primary since September in the UK, she was deemed too young to start Primary in Nova Scotia until the following September. She started in a private pre-school for three mornings a week and started school in September 2007.

At the time, it seemed an inconvenience, but again it has worked out very well. She has just moved up to High School after completing two years in Junior High.

Both our older children took the Late Immersion French Program in Junior High (2 years) and have both continued with this program into High School and will graduate with a Diploma in both French and English.

All Canadians under the age of 20 are entitled to free education up to the end of High School and school attendance is mandatory up to the age of 16. There is also the option of Home Schooling which is surprisingly popular here and as such, there is a huge amount of home schooling resources available to this growing community.

In general, Elementary schooling is from Grades Primary to Grade 6. In our neighbourhood, children then move onto Junior High from Grades 7-9 (in other areas, Junior High covers Grade 7-10). Our local High School is from Grades 9-12.

There is also the option to take the International Baccalaureate (IB) program which is a two year program and offered at certain high schools throughout Nova Scotia.

The private schools in Nova Scotia tend to wear uniforms but the public schools do not. My three children LOVE not wearing uniform but I honestly think it looks a lot smarter 😉 but that’s just the old fashioned momma coming out 😉

Children are transported to school by Stock transportation and their Yellow School Bus. That was probably one of the most exciting parts about starting school for my children. Again, we are very fortunate where we live. Our bus stop is right at the bottom of our driveway for all three schools in our neighbourhood (our local Elementary, Junior High and High School are all within a minute or two of each other). Love this…..because I remember having to traipse miles to school.

If you have an idea of where you want to live, you can access School Finder by tapping in your address into the Halifax School Board website (as above). It will give you a list of the schools in your catchment area and from this information, you can have a look at the bus schedule on Stock Transportation via the schools’ website.

The school bus is available for children whose home is more than 2.4km from their local Elementary school and 3.6km from Junior High/High School. It is possible to access the school bus if you live closer, but it’s considered a courtesy service.

I have nothing but positive things to feedback about schools here in Nova Scotia but then again I have worked in partnership with the school in all areas of their education (apart from French because I am clueless :). Come with an open mind, be prepared to adapt and fill in the missing pieces if necessary and you will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

Hope this helps!

Give us a shout if you need any further information.

Have a great weekend.

Jane and Richard

hello@moving2novascotia.com

1-902-489-1804