Schools in new zealand?

Question

What are schools like in new zealand? Do they have a resonabily good education system? We have just mirgrated here from sydney and we love it here. My son is about to start his first year here, and i just wanted to get some background info. Im living in Hawkes Bay by the way, in the village of Havelock north.

Sensible asnwers please and if i get another anti kiwi answer, I will rip out your eyes and throw them down your mouth until you cry from your teeth, lol

Cheers

Answer 1

Public education in New Zealand is fantastic. Certainly I had a perfectly good, well-rounded education in New Zealand.

The education system in New Zealand is similar to Australia. There are 13 Years, because what NZ calls Year 1, Australia calls Prep. Therefore:

Prep = Year 1

Year 1 = Year 2

Year 12 = Year 13

You get the idea. Children can start year 1 on their fifth birthday, but they can be withheld from school until they are six. School is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16, teenagers can leave secondary school at 16 with parental consent but are in most cases advised to stay.

Years 1 to 8 are the primary school years, and years 9 to 13 are the secondary school years. However, most primary schools only teach years 1 to 6, with years 7 and 8 being taught at a separate school, known as an Intermediate school. Secondary schools can be known as High Schools, Grammar Schools or Colleges, in New Zealand.

The current secondary school qualification if known as NCEA, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. There are 3 levels, Level 1 is taken in year 11, Level 2 in year 12 and Level 3 in year 13.

However, the system is very flexible and classes for certain levels can be intermixed with classes from other levels. That is to say, a student could take 4 classes from level 2 and a class from level 1 in year 12, if that student had failed to achieve their level 1 certificate.

This system is highly effective and generally stops underachieving students from ever having to be held back a year.

NCEA certificates are attained by gaining a certain amount of credits throughout the school year. While the bulk of these are obtained through end of year written exams, many are obtained through smaller scale assignments and practical exams throughout the year. For example, to attain level 1, the student must obtain 80 credits by passing the required number of level 1 assessments and exams. Of these, 8 credits must be gained from a numeracy subject (Maths) and 8 from literacy (English).

NCEA has gotten a bad rap recently, mostly from students and teachers trying to blame their poor understanding of the system on the system itself, if you ask me. I found it to be a great system, very flexible with a nice balance of written and practical assessment (after all, life is practical! We use skills practically, we don't do exams for the rest of our lives).

Anyway, hope that helps. Enjoy New Zealand!

Answer 2

Lol! Nice to hear you like it. The schools are good, good as anywhere else. Have an ask around the place to get a feel of what the best schools are in your area. I have two friends that were educated in Havelock North and they are both super smart and well rounded. A few less distractions than a huge city but kids will still be kids. There have been ups and downs and a lot of media attention on NCEA qualifications since it was introduced a few years back and several schools are opting out of it. Find out as much as you can from the schools and how your children will be assessed.