ratliffe

Can anyone recommend any primary and secondary schools in nz especially in tauranga.there are so many different names which to me could mean anything in maori.you tend to pick up the language a bit but you cant understand everthing.Ideally looking at papamoa/mt maunganui/omanu but the best school is the priority.also what is an intermediate school?Where in nz would you find the best schools (primary and secondary).

twinkle

Been trying to find out myself how to locate good primary and secondary schools in NZ but have so far drawn a blank. Suppose it might be like here in the UK - depends on where you live as to how good the schools are? Would like to know if you have any luck on this as I AM GETTING WORRIED! Was suggested to me the best way to suss a school out was to stand in the playground at home time but don't really want to get arrested just as I arrive in NZ!!!!


Twinkle
xxxx

lizzie

My partner went and visted a primary school in Christchurch, they were happy to let him look around and speak to some of the children. The headmistress was particularly interested in helping him. I looked on the web for primary schools in NZ - they all seem to have their own website and you can get a bit of an idea which schools you would like to consider e.g. by what extra activities they provide etc. We are planning on renting a house from February and our landlady has offered to find out about the local schools available for us.

Lizzie

ratliffe

Hi lizzie&twinkle,Thanks for the replies
as i am looking at living in Tauranga ive been looking all around as lots of the schools do have there own web sites. unfortunately they are all on there summer holidays now until jan 29th ish. so i can't have any direct communication with them just yet.Although you keep hearing that there standards are lower than ours and that they are 10 years behind us its difficult to tell how they teach there children etc.
I'm going over to nz in April for 2 weeks so i will be making plenty of appointments with schools to see what they are really like.

muppetking

An Intermediate school is from Years 7/8...what used to be a Middle School in England. The best schools in NZ, Primary and Secondary are found in the small pockets of wealthier areas or in the private sector where it will cost you anything from 5000 to 7000 dollars per annum.....not including uniform and little extras!

pamcorry

Go to www.ero.govt.nz then search reports-I found this today. It will give you reports on schools in tauranga etc, they are the most similar that I have found so far to UK Inspections.
Hope this helps!!!

muppetking

try www.ero.co.nz for individual reports about schools by the official inspection teams.......like OFSTED but without the jackboots!

muppetking

sorry that should say www.ero.govt.co.nz

sofistek

I don't know what their service is like but NuKiwi.com offer a facility for helping you find schools. They put it this way: For a fee, we can help you locate schools in the areas of your choosing, obtain hardcopy literature, zone maps, the latest ERO report, contact names and the latest exam result rankings."

They probably make some reference to the service in their web site but I have an email address if you'd like it.

ratliffe

Hi tony
Yes i would like that e-mail address .
Thank you
Gavin

jajpe

thanks for this link. i've saved it in favourites for nearer the time -should come in handy.

pamcorry

Glad to be of help.
Muppet King and I are obviously on the same wavelength!

Muppet King....
Have you had any chance to look at my private message yet?

firing1

We've enrolled our daughter at mt manganui primary school.We visited while we were on holiday and the headmaster and staff were very helpful and friendly.The school was built for up to 400 pupils but only has about 250 so class sizes are really small compared to here. They had loads of computers etc and have PE lessons on the beach. I'll let you know what its like when she starts in Feb. We looked at private schools as well but even if NZ education is behind the UK we will support and push our kids so that they do well.

muppetking

sorry for the delay in replying! Wanted to give it some serious thought! Well here goes....
Hours: Officially 8.30 to 3pm...but as in the UK teachers work far longer. Significant differences though seem to be the extra duties expected. ie lunchtime supervision (usually half hour twice a week, road patrol starting at 8.15 and 3pm to 3.30pm and the usual number of meetings etc. There is a willingness to give up some time at weekends and in my experience in some schools you are frowned upon for not doing so. One Head here even celebrated the fact, in the local paper, that her staff were often to be found in the classroom at 10pm on weeknights as if that made them better teachers! In service days may be taken in your own holiday time and no one seems to mind! In my previous school there are now Saturday year group meetings!! Children are allowed in to the classrooms upon arrival and your 'quiet' space is gone!
Curriculum: There is far more freedom to plan your own day/week/term thus far more time is spent on creative aspects of teaching. But this can feel very much like you are just drifting along picking and choosing! You are expected to produce a unit plan for every subject taught. This is planned individually and people can be precious about sharing. We have found the paperwork to be more cumbersome. Each unit is evaluated, both before you teach it and afterwards, usually by a formal test. Each child has a copious set of records that you keep up to date regularly as well as the testing every 2 Terms. Reading testing is taken VERY seriously and is far more rigorous but cumbersome. (miscue ananlysis etc) up to Yr 8. The curriculum itself is far less invesigative. History is pretty well non existent unless you include early settlers!
Children: They do not have the same relationship as can develop or is encouraged in the UK. They lap up structured work but find problem solving a struggle as it is not encouraged here. In general the curriculum is 2/3 years behind England. The recently introduced numeracy project seems to bear this out catering for the lowest ability but not stretching the bright.
Schools: Funding is a real problem and you end up buying a lot of your own resources. Children provide their own stationary and books. Schools appear by UK standards to be attractive with ample space and playing fields. Classrooms are invariably wooden huts. There are a significant number of ESOLs in most classrooms as they provide valuable income for the school.
Naturally alot of this is dependent on the decile of the school but I have worked right across the socio/economic scale for the last 2 years and would stand by these generalisations. Less is expected of children on an academic level and they are far less competitive about their work. The Tall Poppy syndrome is alive and kicking. Don't stick your head above the parapet or try to stand out in any way. Very few people have ever asked me about my experiences in England and when I have shared ideas the reaction has often been negative. Kiwis are VERY precious about their education system and regard themselves as world leaders and truly innovative. However true this might have been 10 years ago it isn't today. They tend to be defensive and react badly to advice from outside influences.
I hope this has been of some help. I wrote it in conjunction with my wife who has also taught here for 2 years in different schools.

pamcorry

Muppet King
Thanks so much for the reply!!!

I really appreciate it. Does each class have a Teaching Assistant? As this seems to be the way its going in the UK.

Like any job, it has been obviously tough and of course a culture shock, are you glad that you made the move to teach in NZ? Are you happy teaching there? Cos I'm at a real crossroads in my career!

A big thanks to your wifes' input as well!