Let's talk about schools

A question that often pops up is "what is the best school to send my child to?".  One thing to keep in mind is that most schools are pretty good and more than adequate.  But let's talk first how schools generally seem to work:


Most kids start at the age of 5 (on or around their 5th birthday).  Depending on what time of the year that is, they might start as a new entrant or a Year 1.  If they start as a new entrant, then they will likely do Year 1 the following year.  However, if you strongly feel your child is not ready for school by age 5, then you can by law keep them home until they are 6, but you will find that daycare options stop when a child turns 5. 


Primary schools have a main focus on writing, math, spelling, reading and the topic.  A lot of what they do will be assessed in class to work out what their particular level might be and within a class you might have 3 or 4 different groups based on level.  Some schools have composite classes where you might have a Year 1 / Year 2 in the same class.  We have not had any issues at all with our kids in this setting as again everything is level-based rather than all Year 1's do only this and all Year 2's do this, etc.  So for instance if your child is a strong reader but not so strong with their math, it means that they might slot in with a more advanced reading group, but will be with a math group similar to the levels they are on or the areas they are currently focused on.


Homework, I found for our kids in primary school, is minimal.  For my Year 5 (she is now 9), she does spelling words every week, she is expected to do at least 10 minutes of reading each night and she might have some math either in a worksheet format or on mathletics or Sumdog or one of those applications.  But she doesn't spend a lot of time on her homework.  Every so often she might have a bigger project where she might "report back" at the end of the term, etc. 


All her books are kept in class so she uses her bag for her lunch box, water bottle, a jersey and maybe a reading book pretty much.


In my daughter's primary school, they do not have a school uniform, but some primary schools do have school uniform.


Schools generally start around 9am and finish around 3pm.  They would have a morning tea break and a lunch break.


My daughter is in a full primary school (to Year 8) and they do not change classes.  Some schools go to Year 6 and then become intermediate and usually there would be school uniform and I am not sure what their structure or homework expectations might be, but can't imagine it would be significant.


My other daughter is in Year 9 (first year of college / high school).   She has a lot more books, but has a locker that she can use.  She uses uniform and change classes for every subject.  At some point she will participate in the NCEA exam setting, but I am not yet familiar with that.  Here is a site that might be useful (click here).


The main thing to keep in mind is that a lot of schools are zoned.  If you are in the zone, then it is not a problem getting in (so no need to worry about having to register years in advance), if you are wanting your child to go to a zoned school when you are out of zone, then you will need to be part of a ballot system.


When people read ERO reports (this tells you about the school and where their strengths and weaknesses are and their cultural and gender make-up), they often notice the decile rating.  The decile rating is not an indication of how good or bad a school is.  It is purely an indication of the income group in that area.  I know some decile 10 schools that I don't think are all that good and some lower decile schools that are brilliant.  So please do not be guided by that as an indication of whether the school is for you or not.


The first question in your immigration journey is where your jobs are, once you have established the likely city and where the employment is, then start looking at the suburbs you are likely to want to consider (and again, don't make a final decision until you have actually taken a drive through the suburb), then find a list of the schools in that area, read their websites to get a sense of what they are all about, read their ERO report (it won't be done every single year, so just find the most recent), and then circle the school zone (most schools would have zones) on a map.  Now when you start looking at rental homes you can see which school is in the area, meet with the principal, then look at things like public transport, whether you feel comfortable with the street it sits on (some streets can be quite busy with not much in the line of parent parkings), look at the after school options and so on.


Schools are not free.  The school donation is optional, but schools appreciate parents contributing simply because they get limited funding and with the school donations they can achieve more in terms of facilities, etc.  However, most schools will have activity fees which is expected (unless you elect for your child to be excluded), there are stationery costs and there could be uniform costs.  Most extra-mural activities will carry a cost of some sort.


Another note to make is that some parents prefer to homeschool, check the relevant websites to make sure you fit in with legal requirements, but there are a number of parents who do homeschool and that works for them (I can't tell you much about that as I am not a homeschool supporter myself).  There are some schools with a religious focus and there are a number of private schools.  There are also schools that are girls only or boys only. 


Only you will know what feels right for your child.  All schools will have people who love it as well as people who hate it.  The best way to tell is to actually go and visit the school and meet with the principal, have a chat to who is likely to be your child's teacher and let them take you for a walk through their classes, etc. 


Good luck :-)