How does the schooling work...public/private?

Well for a start, in the UK the public schools are the ones that you pay to attend...  I have no idea what grades you have in Canada, but here grades are used to measure performance in examinations.

In short, the system is so radically different from anything that you have experienced that you need to learn a new vocabulary and probably should sit down and do some reading.

Hi there, the government schools in Scotland are very good but do depend on area/suburb. Children generally start school at age 4/5 depending when their birthday is. It goes from Primary 1 to 7 then high school which is called S1-6 (senior 1-6). School terms are August to October with a 1 week break, then October to December with a 2 week break for Christmas, then January to April ( half term week off in February ) with 2 weeks Easter holiday then it's April to the end of June. There is pre school/pre primary for the infants before school but it is only for 2.5 hours a day. The private schools are excellent but they can cost you a good £1000 per month per child and that is without the extra costs of uniforms, lunches, music lessons, stationary etc. before you decide on council schools or private you can read the government reports which are accessed from the council websites. Hope that helps

Forgot to mention 99% of council run schools are co ed. And there is a mix of single sex schools and co ed for the private schools.

I brought my daughter from Spain in the summer of 2012. Got her a place in a public school, her catchment area school. She was 10. She spoke very little English and she has high functioning autism. She's now 12, on her first year at high school, she speaks English, she's fine in mainstream school with some support and very happy.
Public schools in Scotland are free and they are, in general, very good. I'm  so grateful for that. So don't worry

Public Schools in Scotland are just that. the confusion between Public School and Private school is entirely an English problem. In England people talk of State schools which every child has the right to attend free of charge and Public schools which are an elitist group of schools encompassing the more expensive end of the Private school system.