Could you tell me about the school system in New Zealand?

[Elf]

Hello NZ dwellers - I hope to join you soon!

We are home edding here in England and have various reservations about our English system - large classes, little autonomy and too much testing, for instance.

Is there something you can tell me about the NZ primary school ways? Are classes run in an old fashioned way by stressed out teachers? Is it a bit more relaxed? Are the children tested a lot like our SATS etc?

Don't know if any of you have primary school aged children, hope so because I would love any info you can offer.

Also, assuming Mrs John Cusack, that you are reading this, , I thought Christchurch sounded like a great city and then someone told DH that there are a lot of drugs and gangs Is this true?

Thank you very much everyone.

Hi. I think schools will vary the same as the UK. DS1 is 8 and I love his school. Max 20 per class teacher and teachers aide, also what is quite different is parents are encouraged to help in the class for special projects so e.g. I help with supervising school swimming lessons, sports, crafts and sewing. I have heard bad things about the quality of education v the UK (my sister and sil are teachers/local govt workers) but that is not my experience to date. SOme people critisise education at senior school level and opt for private (we are considering this route) but again alot depends on catchment areas and head teachers at the time. The children get tested once/year but it is not a big deal and used to group them for appropriate activities for the next year.

Some other local schools have more than 30 per class and another friend moved her child from a smaller one to the larger one because they were results focused and he wasn't doing too wel.

My experience is very positive and ds1 is in a MUCH better school than the one he would have been in if we had stayed at home. In fact he was registered for provate at home and I'm not sure it would have been any better.

As for drugs and crime. I've never been to Christchurch (mrs jc is the authority as you say) I'm in Auckland but it is known on the news for boys racers and youth crime. What I will say is that crime here did come as a shock to me, more because it is different from home. Boys racers, gangs and gang related activity (think patched gangs you see and hear about on US TV shows) and house break-ins are rife. The police are under resourced to clamp down enough. There's alot of reasons for this imo - driving age 15 no thrid party insurance, no limit on cars for young drivers, US culture big with maori kids, gangs existed from 70's etc etc etc.... but I feel safer here than I did in London. I don't know anybody who has been mugged, had their bag stolen when out, threatened on public transport, sexual assaults few and far between, child kidnapping hardly heard of etc.. I felt more scared coming home from London where I had always lived than I ever have here. I just don't have a flat screen tv or many things in the house cos the buggers keep breaking in and would 'nick it'. .

Strewth Sibble, thanks for all the info. Re schools - your info is interesting and I'm sure you are right, different schools have different qualities and problems and as you said the head teachers are very important too. Still, it is so interesting to hear from the horse's mouth. Good to hear there is less testing and you can have smaller classes.

You say you are in Auckland, but even so, it is a bit shocking to hear about the burglaries! How many times have you been burgled? Does it depress you?

Thanks Sibble, it is so great to 'talk' to someone who is really there!

Probably communicate with you again, as time goes by, thanks again.

Anyone else up yet?!

Hi Elf,
We've been here for just over a year and have had very positive schooling experiences for DS1 who is 6 1/2. MUCH less test focussed than the UK and much more about learning through play and projects. The schools seem to have much more freedom to try different approaches too and I think are more progressive in their teaching. Also much more flexible about which year your child goes into and when they move up. We started school in London and poor DS1 was a victim of the system as August birthday and really hated school. He's much happier here.
As Sibble says, I think High School might be different and a bit more variable.
As for crime... We're in Wellington, and yes it does exist as it does in ANY city I would say. But the media, inevitably, make more of it than necessary and having lived in Urban London I find it much much safer here.

Shells, again it's great to hear from you. What you described is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to hear, but of course had no previous knowledge of NZ schools and couldn't guess. DD1 is your DS1's age so that is doubly helpful. Thanks a lot.

You can read ERO reports on line of various schools if you've got an area in mind for living in. They're like Ofsted.

Just to follow-up I spent yesterday with a friend who moved here to Wellington last year with her 4 children. 2 are at school. She was really pleased with their school, felt it was different to the UK in that education emcompassed more art, crafts, music, PE etc the school playground has climbing frames, gym type equipment and encourages ball sports during break. This apparantly was not the case in the UK. SHe feels that the system here is probably more life skills based - project management, team work etc than pure learning. She feels her children are doing so much better being taught in this way.

ds1's homework last week (age 8) was to create a word search based on 'the zoo' so we created a table on the computer and he did the rest and to make an animal enclosure for an animal of choice taking into account human and animal safety food water etc.... fun but educational as well. They then had to present their project to the class and hand their wordsearches around to be done by somebody else in the class.

Last terms focus was art - picasso in particular and they all had to recreate a few picasso paintings!!! I can't remember doing anything like that at age 8.

oh bloody hell I just typed a really long post and it's GONE FFS
will do it again later, no time right now. Sorry!

Shells, I'll try and have a look at that ERO stuff, thanks.

Sibble, great news, you are so right, as I said we are home edding but I hear that the arts and sports do suffer in English schools at the moment. It's so good to hear about real people!

Mrs JC, I know just how frustrating that is, but if you can be bothered to repeat yourself, I'd be interested to hear it! Thanks for trying!

i have to leave right now and will be back on Saturday
will type then, I promise!

precis was, there is crime in ChCH but it is lovely and hardly overrun with gangs/drugs - it's just that people assume there is no crime in NZ, so when there IS, it gets blown out of proportion. I can assure you that I feel much, much safer than I did in London and people are lovely and friendly

more when I'm back from holiday....

Hi Elf
Did you find the ERO website www.ero.govt.nz?
Will let MrsJC tell you more about Chch but here in Wellington I would say crime is much less obvious than in Auckland where Sibble is. That's not to say there are no gangs here but MUCH less of a problem. To answer your question about burglaries I've experienced this twice in my life - once when I was about 10 and once when I was about 25. THe second time it was a schoolkid and he was caught.
I suspect part of the reason for the higher rate is that houses here are easier to get into - single semi-detached dwellings with fewer neighbours to keep an eye out etc.
My DD is 6 on Friday and has had a very positive first year at school. Class size now is 24 in a school total 225 kids.

I'm back. I have been to the arse end of nowhere (in the Marlborough SOunds) and bitten to pieces by bastard sandflies. Grrrr

right. well, anyone who thinks ChCh is overrun with gangs and drugs is seriously deluded. Honestly. We do have crime, but goodness, I look at the BBC website and then I look at the NZ news ones and there is no comparison.

Where NZ does have a major problem is with family violence, which is terrible and suprisingly widespread, but won't generally affect you IYSWIM. There is other crime as I say, but I come from London and it's just a different world here. People think of NZ as a lovely version of 1950s Britain and are shocked to find there's crime. It's a problem here, yes, but NOTHING like London or other parts of the UK.

the other thing we have here in ChCh is boy racers - very, very annoying and of course dangerous, but not really associated with any actual other crime. And there's a lot of drinking and general punchups,but unless you're planning to go out on 'the strip' until 4am and get bladdered that shouldn't bother you either!

There are drugs, but there always have been TBH - I have 4 very hippy cousins in ChCh who are aged between 40 and 50 and have dabbled in drugs way back when, and a sweeter, gentler bunch you could never hope to meet. There are hardly drug dealers hanging out on every corner, or heroin addicts lounging about the streets.

Honestly, come. It's great

Ds started school a month ago on his 5th birthday - I also work in 3 schools as a music teacher. I live in Christchurch. I have no recent experience of the UK education system.

Firstly I keep reading that NZ has a world class reading recovery programme that other countries envy. It is also true that dyslexia was only recently recognised by the department of education. Which just goes to show that how good something is rather depends on your particular needs.

Children don't start school until their 5th birthday - so you have no young children in a class, they are all at least 5. Some schools have a year 0 which I guess is reception and move children into year 1 when they are ready.

From next term no school can have more than 18 children in a class of 5 year olds. However I know of several schools who have 34 in year 5. I know of quite a few children who have missed out years, and some that have repeated years. This shows the system is quite flexible.

I know the children are tested, but more to identify any extra help that is needed (either extention or remedial help) than just for the sake of it, and also to provide information for Education Review Office reports.

There is a new primary curriculum from next year which teachers actually seem to like.

The secondary system has come under lots of flak this year for the NCEA. I have no direct experience of it - but as an outsider it does feel a little like the stuff that was talked about when GCSE came in.

Now, last time I tried to describe Christchurch on MN someone who had visited about 10 years ago came on and told me I was talking rubbish...but my own impression is that the newspapers often have space to fill and so the place seems worse than it is because they report every single thing.

Prostitutes do stand on manchester street each night, party pills were recently banned, 16 years olds go to parties I wouldn't have gone to as a Uni student, children drive powerful cars at 15. How much this bothers you - well that would depend on what you have in your home town at the moment. I have no hesitation in bringing up my son here.

Oh, and there are lots of home ed parents in NZ and an organisation to help you fill in all the forms etc.

twentypence - I remember that thread!!

Mrs JC, re sandflies - I have two wonderful treatments if you want to pop around. Both of the zap the itchy spots with electric variety.

Well, to the latest helpers, thanks a lot. Mrs JC, thanks for getting back to me so quickly after your biting holiday. I see what you mean about the crime being hyped up and also not really going to bother me as I can't remember the last time I was out at 2am.

These boy racers, where do they do their racing? Is it confined to the city centre or all the suburbs as well? I had rather hoped these chaps would be too busy doing some wholesome kayaking and surfing to be getting up to anything quite so ghastly.

Twentypence, thanks for more info on the primary school system. The thing that struck me the most was that you said the teachers actually seem to like the new system. Maybe the govt is listening to the teachers? How refreshing.

Anyway, thank you so much everyone, there's only so much you can gain from the internet and books, hearing from you people who actually live in ChCh with your families, is so helpful. I'll let you know how we get on with our emigrating progress! And probably ask some more questions if that's alright.

The boy racers use the more rural roads just outside Christchurch, If you look on wises maps for Styx Mill road and macleans Island those are two of the hotspots.

I had to laugh at your posts about England in the 50's. It is the reputation NZ has and even though DH is kiwi and I'd been here once I know I was suprised at the reporting of crime. I think I was guilty of expecting Dixon of Dock Green to be parading past my gate nodding 'evening all' . I also agree that, at least when I first came 5 years ago, there was an element of suprise/shock in the reporting that it was happening.

yep just as twentypence says
they also use a few of the more central roads like Moorhouse Ave, but none of them are roads you're likely to live on anyway

a fair proportion of chaps ARE out kayaking/cycling/hiking/surfing etc. though

twentypence I migth come and check out your zappers but right now am laid low with a disgusting cold threatening to turn fluey, am confined to the house at the moment. yuk

Sounds horrible - worth mentioning here that the health service is very good.

A quick update as we had our first parents evening tonight. Ds has a fabulous teacher that manages to teach, record progress and test all without being visibly stressed.

She had done a whole heap of paperwork though, which I can imagine a less able teacher would have got bogged down by at the expense of teaching.