Schools in Wellington, New Zealand/ Education.

[madasabeach]

I started a thread recently about a possible move to NZ. We are strongly considering Wellington at present. It sounds like a fantastic city although I understand that the weather is very windy.

Can anyone help by giving my any insights into the NZ education system? They don't seem to have GCSEs there, just the NCEA. Can anyone explain how this works please? If we did decide to return to the UK, would the children be behind? I'm also wondering how the potential lack of GCSEs would impact.

Does anyone have any information about secondary schools in Wellington, both state and private. We would consider both depending on what seems best for DC.

First of all, how old are your DC and do you have boys and/or girls? Secondary education in Wellington is predominately single-sex in the state, private and integrated (typically religious schools with state funding) sectors. There is one co-ed secondary, Wellington High.

NCEA has three main levels (four if you include Scholarship). NCEA Level One is roughly equivalent to GCSE. Normally the number of subjects studied is different - seems to be in NZ you study fewer subjects at NCEA L1 level than typically at GCSE, but at NCEA L3 you study more subjects than what UK students typically do at A level. There are no letter grades but the grades Achieved, Merit and Excellence.

It's hard to say if your kids would be behind as it depends a lot on their ability, motivation and which school you choose in Wellington.

I went to school in Wellington and have a good understanding of what the schools there are like, although my knowledge might be a bit out of date now. Oh and the previous poster is incorrect, there are several state coeducational high schools in Wellington (but probably they meant only one in the central city which is Wellington High).

Some of the private schools do international exams but I’m not sure which, look at Scot’s college, queen margaret or marsden if you are considering central Wellington, the hutt has some private schools as wellZ State schools are zoned so it will depend on where you are planning to live unless you can get in out or zone. Wellington girls college or Wellington college (boys) are good single sex options, Onslow is a good co-Ed option, again these are in Wellington itself, not the hutt or the coast.

Onslow, Tawa etc are not really in Wellington itself. They are in the outer suburbs.

Pretty sure I know where things are in my home town!!

Thank you very much @ghislaine @papageipapagei and @freesia86 for your replies.
I am starting to understand the NZ schooling system a little better. I hadn't realised that there were different levels of the NCEA. I have managed to speak to an NZ teacher who has also explained the new curriculum which started recently. There seems to be more flexibility in the NZ system as to where the child is placed and it sounds as if facilities tend to be pretty good compared to UK schools although I guess that must vary a lot. I also now understand that zoning is pretty strict so we would need to take this into account when picking a school.
The children are relatively academic (in grammar system). My main concern has been that they might be at a significant disadvantage academically if we decided to return to the UK but I am feeling more reassured about that now.
I will see what happens with jobs and then look into the schools that you have mentioned.
Thank you again.

We absolutely loved living in ngaio the when we were in Wellington. Wadestown is lovely too and better for secondary school zoning though as well as mt vic, roseneath or Thorndon.

New Zealand used to have a reputation for good schools, but in recent years there has been a move towards very holistic, child-led learning and a “refresh” of the curriculum which seems to be very much about skills and extremely light in terms of content. I know a couple of people who’ve had kids in schools in NZ for a while in the past couple of years; the schools, teachers and atmosphere were extremely nurturing and kind, the schools have nice facilities and they did have a lovely time, but there was little doubt that NZ schools’ academic standards are well behind those of England these days. New Zealand’s TIMSS and PISA scores have slipped pretty drastically since the early 2000s and it looks to me like the schools have taken their eye off the ball.

Apparently there are some private schools that teach the Cambridge curriculum, which is similar to the England curriculum and is sound; I’d look for Cambridge curriculum schools if you are going to be going back to the UK and want to make sure your kids are not behind when you return. www.cambridgeinternational.org/nz/about-us/find-a-cambridge-school/