Help with school, day to day

Report cards, homework, days off and getting started in BC.

By grade

What kids learn in each grade, and what comes with it.

Report cards

What "Developing" means, and when to worry.

Homework help

Today's math methods explained for parents.

No-school days

Pro-D days and breaks, in your calendar.

New to BC

Your child's grade, how to register, and open deadlines.

Everything else on FirstBell

Decisions · Which school choices are coming, and when?

  • School paths · Where kindergarten, French Immersion and Catholic choices lead, district by district.
  • Specialty programs · Mandarin, arts, sport and mini schools: which ones change your school.
  • Math pathway · The Grade 9–12 math choices that keep university open.
  • Guides · In-depth guides: French Immersion, gifted testing, private schools, university.

Activities · What can my child enter or join this year?

  • Contests & programs · Math, coding, science and writing contests, camps and scholarships, filtered to your child.
  • Free programs · Volunteer tutoring, math circles, chess and coding clubs that cost nothing.
  • Get ready · A month-by-month plan for each contest, with free practice.
  • Calendar · Every deadline, month by month, and in your own calendar.

Schools · How does my school compare, and what does my address lead to?

  • School ratings · Metro Vancouver schools compared with the BC average, and how to read it.
  • Find by address · Your catchment elementary and secondary, and your options.
  • Thinking of moving? · Which catchment areas lead to strong schools, and what moving doesn't guarantee.

Read in depth

How to get your child assessed for gifted in BC

What "gifted" means in BC schools, how to ask for an assessment, what a private psycho-educational assessment is, and which programs it can open up in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Kindergarten and French Immersion 2027: Vancouver and Burnaby dates

Who's eligible for kindergarten in September 2027, when to register, and how the French Immersion draws work in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Born in December or January? When your child can start school in BC

Can you delay kindergarten for a December baby? Can a January baby start early? What BC law allows, what happens after a delay (usually Grade 1, not kindergarten), and what research says about being youngest in class.

Getting into university in BC: why Grade 10 matters most

Which grades UBC, SFU and UVic look at, the Grade 10 and 11 math and science choices that quietly close science, engineering and business, and what actually helps when your child is 7: reading, math basics and the free RESP money.

Private school admissions in Vancouver: deadlines, tests and timeline for 2027

When to apply, which tests each school uses, and the September 2027 entry grades and deadlines for 11 Metro Vancouver independent schools.