School In Canada - Small Differences, Big Impact

by Aisha Isabel Ashraf

Trawling online recently I came across an article about a UK school defending its decision to suspend a pupil over a wrestling logo shaved into his hair; and before that, another story about another school apologizing for insisting a parent supply a photograph of their chickenpox-stricken child for absence monitoring.

Taken together they were a startling reminder of the differences in education and social attitudes between Britain and Ontario, Canada, where we‘ve lived now for nearly four years; almost long enough to forget all the small ways life overseas can be strikingly different even in countries broadly similar.

Held Hostage By The System

Every summer in the UK the same old debate rages over the stranglehold parents endure from inflated holiday airfares and restrictions on removing children from school during term time. The ages of compulsory attendance in the UK are 5-16 and those who fall foul of the law can end up facing heavy fines, as Natasha and Stewart Sutherland discovered when they booked a week long autumn trip to Greece a year in advance...

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