Kebabo

This has probably been discussed before , but can somebody enlighten me,

What are the schools like in NZ?

Read on another post that they were ok around CHC, is this the same for the rest of NZ or should we heading to CHC for a decent education for the kids?

Don

Old JWW is going to give us the lowdown on Christchurch state schools, already got it from Paula.

Cheers - Don

JWW

Ok, I should be working but here goes...

Our experiences of schools in Ch'ch have been very good. Our two both went to Kindy and are now at Primary. Far more emphasis on the kids socialising and sport, as well as life skills stuff. For instance, they learnt to gut fish and put up a tent while at Kindy.

All the schools have very large playing fields, and normally have swimming pools...as Paula said they swim every day during the summer months. There are four terms, no half terms, and they will concentrate on a particular set of sports in each term. Autumn-cross country, winter-soccer/rugby etc. They seem to do some sport every day, plus the teachers seem happy to be involved in after school activities (music etc). Parents are also encouraged to be involved, they call it Kiwi sport.

Academically, there is a huge emphasis on reading and basic maths during the first couple of years at primary. At Kindy they do nothing but play and some topics.

Everyone starts primary the day after their 5th birthday, so initially we panicked a bit because friends kids back home were at structured school, reading while ours were playing in the sand...but looking back they weren't ready to learn and when we went back at Christmas ours seemed to be reading better and weren't stressed out by stats tests or whatever they are called. The class sizes appear much smaller here too, ours have been in 23-25, whereas friends kids are in 29-32 in UK.

At the end of the day everyone wants the best for their little darlings, even in NZ, and if you settle in a reasonable area you'll get a reasonable school. Without wanting to upset the PC crew out there, there is a very small proportion of maori and pacific islanders in Ch'ch compared to other NZ cities, so the schools don't tend to suffer from the problems other areas might, such as language, attendance, bullying etc...

Although we have no experience of it, the private schools in Ch'ch have very good reps and appear to actually be quite cheap compared to UK...about NZD 2 grand a term. You pays your money, takes your choice.

Akaubear

I'd like to ditto the above posts (and Paula's from the other day). We're in Papamoa, and my 8 year old loves his school.

I have to say it's very different from what he was used to in the UK. The curriculum is much stricter there in that you have “literacy hour�, “numeracy hour�, whereas here they tend to follow a subject for weeks at a time. Sometimes they are learning without realising it. I was worried when my son came home from school saying that he wasn’t learning anything (major panic!) When I asked what he’d been doing – turns out they were doing more practical things like graphs (going round the class asking what books people had read). It just wasn’t “sitting at a desk with a sheet of questions� like he was used to! And also like in Paula’s “cooking� example, where, without knowing, they are covering maths, reading and science – and cooking!!!

And as for sport… well… it’s all been said before! My son isn’t the sportiest kid in the world, but he’s enjoying it much more here. They all trained up for a triathlon earlier in the year – and the feeling of accomplishment when he finished it – WOW!!

Nicola.

Jaffa30

The NZ Qualifications Authority have released online results of secondary schools throughout NZ which is a helpful tool when trying to choose a school. With our Caleb only recently turned 2, it'll be a while before we use it but we already know where he'll be enrolled.

Here's the link:
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualificatio...chool/index.do

There are a wide range of schools in every NZ city. Some excellent, some average and others you'd be best to keep driving past

It's a definite fallacy to think that you need to go to Chch to secure a good education for your kids. From the link above, the top 2 Wellington schools with the percentage of students acquiring an A bursary are Samuel Marsden Collegiate (70.2%) and Chilton St James (65.1%) whereas the top Christchurch school (Burnside High School) was 60.7%.

Auckland's St Cuthbert's College secured 76.1% so though Auckland has significantly more Maoris/Polynesians who don't do as well academically, your kids can do well by either going to a private school, or, the better state schools divide up each year's students into separate classes so that the bright ones can forge ahead.

Best bet is to do your homework, meet the principal or even ring the local Ministry of Education branch to acquire the latest assessment of the school.

Don

Thanks JWW old pal, Nicola, Jaffa. Sounds encouraging, Little Don #1 is 2.5 years old so we've got a fair bit of time to check it out ourselves. Starting to think that house-hunting may well be seriously affected by catchment areas...

Cheers - Don

Watt Dabney

It is known for people to buy 'investment' properties in the right area, but the schools don't like it and there can be consequences if found out if you are not living at the investment property.


Paula

Kebabo

Thanks for that guys, I feel a lot more reassured now. Looks like our eldest will enjoy the schooling life although only 4 1/2 she is much more hands on than nose in book type kid.

Really started to worry about education after reading all about oz schools, but its definately fall steam ahead to NZ now,
all I need is a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good day
Donna