movingtonewzealand

Great thank you for your help!

southerner

Other definition to look out for is Integrated schools. These are typically high schools that were once private, but opted to integrate back into the mainstream, government funded "public" school system, whilst retaining control/responsibility over their core assets such as land and buildings.


They sometimes give a bit more of a private school type of experience, whilst not charging nearly the same fee levels.


In Dunedin for example where I live, all the private schools integrated, and our kids attend two of them which we are very happy with.


A few other points:
Public school means public (available to everyone)
There are no 6th form colleges - high schools are typically years 9-13
But there are various other year configurations:
Generally:
Y1-6 primary
Y7-8 intermediate
Y9-13 high school (college)


Alternatively
Y1-8 primary/junior
or
Y7-13 high school
or
Y1-13 area school (generally more remote schools with smaller rolls and logistically makes sense all ages on one campus)


Hope above makes sense.


My 14 year old is likely to do IB (at the one school that does that in Dunedin out of around 10 high schools), mainly because it may be more transferrable globally, but also we like the learning format and it will challenge him a bit more than NCEA. But we did not necessarily choose the school for that reason.


One of the posters made the comment about doing stuff one year later than in UK. I think it is hard to draw too many conclusions from that as the curriculum and order of learning different subjects are completely different. I've heard the comment the other way round too, where NZ teaches something earlier.
Ideally one would focus on the end outcomes (literacy, numeracy, tertiary participation, employability, citizenry, other), but that is notoriously difficult to benchmark.

wakwak

Hi all
I'm really interested in this topic as we move in Feb next year and have two little ones aged 8 & 5, both adopted.
Both are meeting milestones and are bright but the school system here puts pressure on hem and they do struggle to conform in some ways.
Our 5 year old had 3 pieces of homework, she's just started school and it's her first term in reception. She sobbed her heart out because she couldn't sound the word fluff and said it's getting too hard for her.
Made me very sad.
I'm hoping the NZ way of teaching will suit these gorgeous children.
My worry is the first month or so while we are in temp accommodation, do I home school for a bit until we form up which area we will settle? Otherwise it could mean a change again...
We are headed to Tauranga area but will look to be out of the city and more rural

Thoughts?

A Rush And A Push

Regarding your 5 year old, although most children here's start school on their 5th birthday, legally they don't have to go till they are 6. So if she is still 5 when you move there is no need to enrol her until you are sure of the area you will be in.

Even if she is 6, I doubt whether anybody is going to chase you up for her not being at school for a few weeks while you all settle in. She will be learning plenty from being in a new country and will be adapting to the changes herself.

My kids were born here so my last experience of UK primary schools is when I went in the late 70s/early 80s - so it's a bit hard for me to compare with NZ schools. I hear that UK schools can be quite pressured with SATs etc. My 2 (aged 6 and 8) are both doing very well at their school and there seems to be an emphasis here on encouraging and celebrating other areas of success as well as academic - musical, sporting etc. I'm amazed by how many lunchtime clubs there are for them to take part in if they want to - not only sports but at my daughters' school they have three choirs, drama, robotics, garden club, ukelele, guitar and more. Their school is a big one though so not all may have that many!

A Rush And A Push

And regarding homework, do you mean your 5 year old had 3 pieces of homework every night? Here for the entire first year my daughters just had one short reading book every night.

wakwak

She has a story book, then two sheets of sight and sound words, then once or twice a week a sheet with her new letter on which she has to practice writing and colour in the picture!!
At our local school most children sit the 11+ too and all the parents are pressured into having them privately tutored two or three times a week!!
So much pressure for the little ones!

He loves all the extra stuff, makes him happy to busy and do music or sport

I'm sure a few weeks won't hurt, I'd rather hold them back and put them in the right school first time I think

MrsFychan

unfortunately in some primary schools here the need to have extra personal paid tuition for the children to enable to get them up to the level to be able to cope with college is a must.

wakwak

That's what I'm desperately trying to escape from for my children's sake so they can experience life.

I don't mind extra tuition if they are struggling in a subject but I will never enforce it to push them into a good secondary school just because I want them to do well

I want them to be themselves

MrsFychan

no its not a "good secondary school" its the main stream for the catchment area, thats the point. Personal experience from the first school my kids attended 80% of the kids needed extra maths tuition just to cope with what was going to be expected they had learnt in the colleges open to them, and they are were just the "normal" colleges not the "good ones".
My daughter ended up going to college a year early having come from year 6 in the UK.

wakwak

I think we are crossing wires but on the same wavelength in some ways

Here it's usually that you go with your secondary school that's within catchment. As you probably remember

Where we live there are a couple of options because we live in a village... we have a number within catchment. Some regular secondary (as I would class them - an old comprehensive)
Then there's other public funded secondary schools that are for the top performers. Results led. Everyone wants their kid to go.

That's where my comment came regarding extra tuition and the expectation we would conform so they could get in to these schools!

I had extra tuition as a child but that's because I struggled in maths.
Heaven help my kiddies when they bring their homework to me lol!

At the moment I have no concerns, they are doing well x

jmh

It's unusual for kids to have to do extra tuition unless they are applying for a school with an entrance test. Otherwise, most go to their local primary and move smoothly onto the local high school. Local principals for all schools meet regularly and they would be aware of any poor performing primary and might even work with them to bring the teaching up to the correct standard.

School inspection results are here: Early childhood and school reports | Education Review Office

Also, as in the UK, many parents share their experiences around the school gate so it's worthwhile making an effort to meet them.

I am aware that some rural schools may be a bit behind in subject areas like maths, but it's usually picked up at high school in the first year. Shouldn't really be a problem. Children develop at different ages, so comparing them to others is probably not that helpful.

Homework is not common here, but it's often found in the 'better' schools because parents expect it and demand it.

Home schooling is an option - Google home schooling NZ.

MrsFychan

Unfortunately this is not true, personal experience. I would say majority of the parents in our previous primary school had to do private tuition to get to the standard required to not be extremely behind when then moved on to local college/high school. Also heard it talked about for other primaries.

MOSO

Mrs F, your previous school was a very small decile 10 school.

As Jmh says, private tuition is not normal or required before kids go to college, unless there are special circumstances/learning needs. Primary schools work closely with colleges and they all follow a linked curriculum.

maquis

Mrs F, that sounds like an awful school

Kids have been at their new school for a week. My eldest has found it the most difficult, after a year in a grammar school and coming into Y8 at a primary school. However, he has already been put up to the top maths group who are working on Y9 curriculum, and covering things he hadn't, so I'm relieved he's being challenged. Unfortunately, he's behind in woodwork, as he never did that in the UK! Got moved to cooking instead.

MrsFychan

It was and we got the education minister involved, but not about the need for the external tuition, but as I said have also heard it from other expats about other schools. It depends on how strongly you feel about your kids education, I have seen other parents really not bothered about how the kids feel, how stressed they are etc.

Glad to hear the school seem to working with your childs strengths rather than treat them as an inconvenience.