Figure 1.--Independent schools in New Zealand as in other countries offer the advantage of more individual attention such bas this boy in Christ Church is receiving as he practices his reading skills.
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Figure 1.--Independent schools in New Zealand as in other countries offer the advantage of more individual attention such bas this boy in Christ Church is receiving as he practices his reading skills. |
Images of New Zealand schools provide a much more effective glimpse of New Zealand schools than the authors could accomplish by describing the schools. Further insights are provided through the writing and musings of the children and their teachers. The writings came from a wide range of sources. They include student musings and written work, comments to us, school publications and prospectuses, interviews, staff writings, and others to provide a wide range of views about the New Zealand school experience.
New Zealand schools offer a wide range of learming enviromments. There are some very large secondary schools as well as one room primaries. Some schools are very new while others have already a substantial tradition. There are several different types of schools in New Zealand. The basic division is the state and private sectors. There are other types based on gender, residential arrangements, and religious affliliation. New Zealand has one of the smallest private sectors of any modern democratic country. This is in part because many private sector schools abnd the Catholic system have been integrated into the state system. This was done with the understanding that the schools could retain their traditional character such as the religious affliliation and program. There are no little red school houses in New Zealand. The rural elementary schools are normally white wooden buildings. Many of the older secondaru schools show the enduring influence of the British public schools. Newer schools have the increasingly universal look of subruban one-story schools common in America and Europe. Some of the traditional preparatory and secondary schools have, like their counterparts in England, lovely grounds.
New Zealand school boys are noted for cycling to school. This has declined in recent years. Fewer young children now cycle. Some schools require them to reach Year 4 (Std 2) to ride bikes to school. All children must wear cycle helmets. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the bike is in a safe condition and that the child can ride safely. The Police give cyling workshops at school to ensure saftey. Older children now also less commonly ride bikes. An increasing number now come to school in cars. Even so, cycling is still common, but they also walk, take the bus, and are driven by mum and dad. Crossing guards ensure saftey. Once at school the little ones have a bit of a job getting down to their work uniform, especially at the more formal preparatory schools.
The first day at school is always a little unsettling, but it soons settles down to a comfortable routine. New Zealland students have widely varying views on their school expeiences. This varies widely from school to school and even by children at the same school. Many students take advatage of the many opportunities offered while other can't wait until they can go home at the end of the day.
A study needs to be done of lockers at school. They are wonderful extensions of the students' personalities. Some are neat and tidy. Some are simply with the detritus of the school year. Others have clippings and photographs.
New Zealand class rooms are often brightly decorated sunny rooms. The elementary classrooms are full of interesting collections and decorations. Many teachers use considerable imagination to create an exciting, interesting classroom. The secondary classrooms are more utilitarian, in keeping with the growing maturity of the pupils. Secndary classrooms are often well equipped with specialized equipment.
The first day at school is always a little unsettling, but it soons settles down to a comfortable routine. Have a look here at the various age-level classes from new entrants to year 13. A wide variety of different learning activies are cairred out in many cases breaking with decades of tradition.
New Zealand schools deal with a wide range of subjects. Primary schools still stress the basics, but often through interesting projects to engage the children's interests. Secondary schools, especially the larger ones, have quite diverse course offerings. Have a look here to see how different subjects are being taught. The academic results achieved are a key measure of the students's performance and the school program. This is the first statistic that many look at in assessing a school. This is a topic not commonly touhed on in the children's writing, but commonly addresed by the head masters and principals in the annual reports. Some caution needs to be used in coparing the effectiveness of the different schools. The school progam is obviously critical, but it is not the only factor affecting the academic results achieved.
While New Zealand is a country which places a heavy emphasis on sport, schools also have important programs in the fine arts. This varies somewhat from shool to school. The fine arts have a dual status. They are both part of the academic program as well as part of rge extra-curricular activities program. This varied somewhat from school to school and by descipline. Art and music was most likely to have both an academic and activities program. Drama and dance were more likely to primarily a part of the activities program. But some of the larger schools do have academic courses on dance and drama as well. All of these disciplines played important roles in the activities program.
Participation in extra-curricular clubs and activities is expected at many schools. Some schools use the term co-curricular activities as the activity program have been worked into the overall academic program. At many schools, sports are the most popular activities, but schools offer a wide variety of other activities. The fine arts are an especially important component of the activities offered. Students take part in musical events, annual dramatic productions, team and individual sports, as well as outdoor activities which are a special feature of school life at many schools.
Figure 2.--These primary children and Fruitvale School have found a comfortable place to read in the library. |
Most New Zealand schools have excellent libraries. They are stocked with a wide range of reading and reference material. Even in the digital age, books on a favorite topic are a strong attraction. The elemenary school libraries often have comfortable spots to curl up and read a book.
The school day is a kalidescope of behavior. The children are polite, cheeky, rude, funny, cooperative, obstinate, curious, bored, active, daydreaming, and points in between. Have a look here at some of those behaviors.
After a morning of classes, most New Zealand students have worked up a healthy appetite. There are not many cafeterias, so the students bring a lunch or buy sandiches and sacks in well-stocked canteens. Except when the weather is bad, they sit down outside in a comfortable spot and discuss some of their favorite topics while muching on crisps--which is what chips are called in New Zealand.
The busy modern child especially appreciates his free time. This is especially true of children at boarding schools where so much of the day is tightly scheduled. Even in day school, however, children appreciate the free time at recess or lunch to relax with friends or perhaps steal a few quiet moments amid the frenzied activity of the school day.
Computers were new and exiting stuff in the 1980s when schools first started getting them and adding them to the instructional program. Students and many teachers in the 1990s have a hard time understanding how schools ever functioned without them. They are a greatvassett as the younger children look on them as toys and clever programers can build programs that educate while entertaining. Older students take a more sphphisticated approach with substantial differences between boys and girls.
Figure 3.--Sports are enormously popular in New Zealand. At breaks and lunch there are always small groups tossing balls are engaging in pickup games. Rugby is of course the most popular. |
New Zealanders love their sport. There are few countries in which sport is more popular than in New Zealand. Besides the popularity of support, the level of participation is particularly notable. Rugby of course has pride of place aong sports in New Zealand, but schools offer widely varried sport opportunities. Most schools have sports programs that encourage participation by as many students as possible rather than for a small number of the most talented. We have sought in these pages to show New Zealand students engaged in informal games or at practices rather than formal inter-school games. This is what the children look like on normal school days as they enjoy their sport.
Many New Zealand schools have gone to great length to accomodate students with special needs. These children are mainstreamed as much as possible, but many schools have a variety of special facilities to meet their needs. Authorities believe that both the handicapped and the other pupils will benefit from the resulting interaction. Some schools sponser sensitivity training to help their pupils understand the difficulties that handicapped children must overcome.
Students at New Zealand Schools pursue a wide range of recreational activities during their free time at school, from gameboys to skateboards. One of the most popular, of course, is chatting about that awful assignment, unfair teacher, or the cute new boy or girl.
Many schools, especilly private schools, have a school pet. Many elementary schols keep animals of all descriptions in their classrooms. Larger animals have an honored place at many rural schools on "Calf Day." Innodern New Zealand, schools have often expanded Calf Day so that non-farm children can bring their small pets to school.
Students serve in allmkind of official and informal positions. The best knmow are the head boy and/or girl. There are all kinds of other positions, sports team captain, prefects, studen council representives, tutors, violence mediators, library assistants and a variety of other less formal roles.
It is some of the individual portraits that are the most interesting photographs. It is fascinating to look at these fresh young faces and wonfer what they will become and achieve in the coming years. Some writing by the children provide some insights as to the issues and concerns which they confront.
Often some of our best and enduring friendships are made at school. It is at school that we first learn to make friends and enemies away from the careful guidance of our mums and dads. Some of these friendships will last a lifetime.
And of course the teachers. It is the teachers in the final analysis that determine the success or failure of any school. We all remember some of our teachers, usually the best ones and the worst ones. Some made indelible impressions on us, forming our characters in ways we often do not even preceive. Others are long since forgotten.
New Zealand schools reflecting their British origins are organized into houses. Of course at secondary-level boarding schools there are boarding houses along the same lines as British public (private) schools. But many state schools also have houses. This is a way of organizing the students for a variety of purposes. Here the most important are counceling and also competitions. Many state schools have boarders, but these are normally cared for in hostels. The school houses are for different purposes.
A wide variety of annual events occur at New Zealand schools. One of the most memmorable is ANZAC Day to honor the heroic deeds of Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the two world wars. Calf Day is amajor event at rural schools, showing the counties rural roots. Awards Day recognized the accomplisments of the students, often focusing heavily on athletic accomplishments.
New Zealand today is an Anglo Polynesian culture. The primary Polynesian group is the Maori who occupied the islands when the British arrived in the mid-19th century. New Zealand has since its colonization by the British been dominated by European or as it is expressed in the country, Pakea culture. The Scotts and Irish immigrated in important numbers and were followed by other European immigramts. The Irish and This was especially true of the schools. Maoris at first avoided European schools nor were they at first particularly welcome. Modern New Zraland schools embrace the country's Maori heritage. Many Maori children, however, have academic difficulties in the school, a problem that the schools are addressing with varying degrees of success. After Workd War II Polynesians from associated Pacific Islands began arriving in New Zealand. In addition to the local children, quite a number of foreign students attend New Zealand schools. And New Zealand students particoparte in a number of exchange involving academic experiences n other countries.
School uniforms are widely worn at New Zealand schools. Uniform trends are generally influencedby British school uniforms, although there are now considerable differences. Most secondary schools require uniforms, although the types and styles of uniforms vary widely. Most elementary schools do not require uniforms, but private and catholic elementary schools usually do require uniforms. Schools have a range of uniform regulations. There are some common patterns, but the reguklations are set locally and thus unique to any given school. Here we collect some school rules as well as comments by the faculty and students.
New Zealand students participate in a wide variety of non-atheletic competitions. New Zealand schools offer a very extensive range of cultural, sporting, and social activities in which students can participate. Excellent facilities exist to support these activities. Participation in these extra-curricular clubs and activities is expected at many schools. Some schools use the term co-curricular activities as the activity program have been worked into the overall academic program. At many schools, sports are the most popular activities, but schools offer a wide variety of other activities. The fine arts are an especially important component of the activities offered. Students take part in musical events, annual dramatic productions, team and individual sports, as well as outdoor activities which are a special feature of school life at many schools. One of the most hard fought each year is the annual maths competition. The science competitions and fairs that attract a great deal of interest.
The annual outdoor camp is an event that many New Zealand school children look forward to. The camp event is carefully worked into the overall educational program. The children, however, look at it at fun. Older secondary pupils often participate in camps focusing on peojects for specific specialized classes.
New Zealand state schools are secular in nature and there is no religious instruction in these schools. Although there does not see to be a problem with saying non-denominational prayers to open school assemblies. Many private schools have religious affiliations. Many of the prep schools and private colleges have afiliations with the Anglican church. The Catholic schools have been integrated into the state system. These integrated schools are permitted to retain their traditional chrcter and religious affiliations even after integration. Many of the schools with religious afiliation have chapels of varying size on the school campus. The chapels are often used for school assemblies and other activities.
Many private schools were set up on the tradition of English boarding schools. Many public schools in New Zealand also offered boarding. Here boarding both served the needs of parents who travel or have other special needs as well provide an educational environment seen as benedicial both academically and in character formation. Quite a large number of New Zealand secondary schools set up boarding facilities for students unable to attend as day students. This was particularly important before transportation improved after World War II, but many students still live far enough from the school that daily trips are impractical. Thus state secondary schools continue to run boarding hostels.
Often students do not connect the academic skills they are acquiring to the real world they are preparing for after school. New Zealand schools have programs and projects of various value to help students understand and prepare for the job market.
New Zealand schools in the 1980s and 1990s were undergong a range of reforms and reorganization. This included the integration of some private schools into the state sector, expanding local controls, and changes in how the schools were financed. The integration process begun in the 1970s with the Catholic schools was largely completed. The remaining private schools by the 1990s were largely financially sound and committed to remaining in the private sector. The integration process has, however, left New Zealand with a very small private or independent sector. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has also persued policies to shift the management of schools to the local level rather than from Wellington. The MOE has also made major changes in how the schools were financed. One of the the affects of these changes has to intensify competition between schools which now have to attract students more than was the case earlier. MOE authorities believe that the resulting competition will result in more effective schools.
