Glenlyon Norfolk School

GNS

Hugh Williams....?

Beautiful campus with a brand new sports field.

Awesome teachers, facilities, a real community for my son. I'm very thankful we can afford to send our son to this excellent, supportive, first class school.

My son has been at GNS since he was a Junior Kindie. We highly recommend the school because it provides a supportive and caring learning environment. He is in Grade 8 and loves the school. His teachers support his exploration and learning. There is a strong sense of community. The students are encouraged to learn, make mistakes, and learn from their errors. The school supports and encourages the unique and the original. There is no sense of a cookie cutter education. There is a sense that GNS wants every child to succeed and is committed to that success. The fees are a lot of money, but the value is priceless. I would sell my car and skip vacations to ensure my child could grow at GNS. Michael Butterfield

Unfortunately the school has really done down hill in recent years. Math and science courses are being taught by unqualified teachers. A middle school biology teacher should not be teaching high school math. The nearby public school uses actual qualified teachers. Another good option for private is St Michaels. Look elsewhere!

The only reason I'm giving this school a one star review is because It needs to be at least one star. The teachers are unqualified and simply read off a PowerPoint. Do not send your kid here, you overpay for something that isn't worth it in the long run. Waste of my time and money send you can do better for your kids.

"Excellent school. Freedom. Customized programs. Caring, thoughtful teachers. A big-hearted community. The perfect place to learn and grow. A place where challenges are embraced.'- That is the unedited review from our 12-year-old daughter who entered for Grade 4 and watched her older brother graduate happily when he spent Grade 12 year at GNS finishing his IB diploma after beginning it internationally. I have directly experienced 'The Beach' and the Junior School, Middle School, and the Senior School via our son and daughter's experience. Our 12-year-old sums it up accurately based on my observations. We have lived in multiple countries and have a fair share of school experiences under the belt. GNS is very unique for being able to draw upon very strong core values that are timeless and go back whole generations. It is a place that feels 'larger than yourself' and as a result, develops incredibly powerful characteristics around courage, service, work ethic, problem-solving, kindness, fairness, politeness, and perseverance, because these are all parts of the GNS DNA. Remarkably, for being such an old institution it has the dynamism and vision of the kind of organization that one might expect more from Silicon Valley. The GNS I have experienced is very forward-looking. GNS' response to COVID-19 has kept the children's lives largely normalized but very, very safe- their commitment to a plan and their execution has been exemplary as one example. That they have been an authorized IB Diploma program since 1996 is another. They are one of the few schools in all of Canada that runs the IB program through all of the grades- it's impressive to see the curriculum synthesized from the youngest to oldest. If you care about critical thinking, global perspectives, project-based learning, problem-solving, and learning to deal with challenges, GNS is a school that incorporates all of this into its curriculum. This very old institution works extraordinarily hard to deliver a very 21st Century education and I believe they succeed. The magic lies in the teachers whom I have found to be committed beyond measure and among the kindest and caring I have ever known. The idea that GNS sets out to care about and nurture each child individually is not marketing, I have seen this mission carried out in the classroom, at provincial sporting events, in debate club, at graduation, and remarkably beyond graduation. GNS is more than an ordinary educational institution because what transpires during the school years carries over into life-long friendships, relationships with teachers and families, and in the preparation for a life well-led. Your student won't be a statistic or a test score, they will, however, be challenged to be the best person they can be in character, action, and academics. Worth visiting the campus for yourself and taking in the culture- it is palpable. If this review seems long it is coming from the heart- this is our last child in school of three and we feel very grateful for the educational experience and community that we have found at GNS. There is recently a new Head, I don't believe the one star reviews reflect the caliber of teachers and environment that we have experienced first-hand.