Schools. Questions.
 

I have a ten year old daughter and she is in fifth grade. Where would she fall in NZ standards? Are uniforms required for all schools? Any input would be helpful.

Re: Schools. Questions.
 

It will depend on when her birthday is. The school year here runs from Feb - Dec.

My daughter is 10 and has just started year 7. She was born in April 2000 and is one of the very youngest in her year. Our school considers April to be the cut off (this can vary per school) so you do find some children born around then have just gone into year 6. It's not as clear cut as in some countries such as the UK. Our school certainly took into account our preference as parents as well as the academic/social side of things.

Just to complicate matters further, some areas class years 7 & 8 as intermediate and they have their own schools. Our school is a "full primary" ie. year 1 - 8 and then year 9 is college.

Lastly a lot of schools run composite classes so 2 years are taught together. My daughter is in a year 7&8 class and my son is in a year 4&5 class. Again this varies per school mainly due to role numbers. If you live within a certain school 'zone' they are obliged to take your child regardless of numbers so this can result in composite classes.

Use of uniforms again varies per school. A lot of primary schools don't have uniforms but nearly all colleges do.

Re: Schools. Questions.
 

Hi, we are in North shore. Auckland.
My son is 10 ,December birthday 2000. He has just started year 6, he is in composite class of years 5&6.
I would say a low decile school wouldnt have a uniform , but all the Primary schools I have seen in our area have uniforms and have to be bought from the school and are expensive. ;)
I would also say that I am very happy with the schools here. My kids seem to be thriving.:thumbsup:

Re: Schools. Questions.
 

Hi, not true on the Kapiti Coast unfortunately, all the primary schools round here are decile 8 - 10 but only one has a uniform which they introduced about 3 years ago under much protest! I wish they did, it would make life so much easier (speaking as a parent and teacher). There were 4 girls in my class yesterday wearing banned sleeveless tops because it was hot:frown:

The education system is different here to the UK and presumably the US too, but I'm very happy with it and am pleased my daughter is here rather than revising for her SATS exams which her peers are currently doing in the UK.

Re: Schools. Questions.
 

DS Oct 2000 year 6 now, he was not in uniform in Wellington Decile 10 school,

it seems 90% of all Auckland schools have uniform, DS is at Torbay uniform consists of a blue polo shirt, black shorts and sun hat in colder months blue fleece (wish my uniform in the UK was like that at 10 ties and blazers were the norm)

Re: Schools. Questions.
 

Uniform. Drives me mad.

I get MOSO's point about some kids coming in inappropriate dress but surely it would be better to exclude them from outside play rather than confine all the kids to a childhood in polyester. Also, the polycotton uniforms (of which almost all uniforms are made of) is terrible for kids with eczema and similar skin conditions.

Anyway, OP, contact the school you're interested in and discuss your child's birth date, abilities etc and I'm sure they'll use common sense to put her in the right class as it's somewhat more flexible here. I'm very happy with the education system- I was happier with it four years ago though because we're currently having a run of a standards and tests-driven policies coming from the powers that be ... based on the likes of the UK, grrrr! However the system here is still very good and produces good results as well as offering kids a much more well rounded education.