New Zealand Schools

Over the last couple days I have had the privilege of being introduced to my new school and students here in New Zealand. It all started Monday morning when Denise took me in to her office at Waikato University to meet with her boss Mark. Mark is the head of the student teacher placement department and was kind enough to set up the meeting to get me familiarized with the NZ school system and curriculum.

I was very intrigued by many of the things that Mark told me about how things are run. In NZ they do not have school districts the way we do. The NZ government sets standards and (to a degree) curriculum, but then each individual school acts separately with its own individual board of trustees. They are somewhat akin to charter schools within the US.

In addition, NZ’s funding structure is also rather different. Each school is given a decile ranking based on the average family income, wealth of the area, and types of employment within the school’s boundaries. Lower SES means a lower decile and higher SES means a higher decile. Low decile schools then receive the most funding from the government and higher decile schools receive less since parents are able to contribute more to their own schools.

One last thing I found interesting is that in NZ students start school on their 5^th birthday. Instead of there being a “cut-off” they join the school as a “New Entrant” right at age five and attend a special room in the school until they are ready to move to the main school grades.

After meeting with Mark, we went to the school where they took me through a traditional Maori welcome ceremony called a Powhiri. At the beginning I waited by the entrance to the school grounds until one of the female faculty members called to me in Maori to invite me in. As I entered, I was led to the school hall where the students were singing in Maori as I was seated. Then Mark and one of the male faculty members did an exchange where they spoke back in forth in Maori. Mark told me beforehand that they would be exchanging information about the school and myself and that the faculty member from the school would formally extend me an invitation to join their school. In between their exchanges the student body sang traditional Maori songs. It was really neat and special and I felt really honored and welcomed by everything they had put together.

Entrance to School Grounds

I have discovered since then that including teaching about Maori culture and language is part of the national curriculum. At Frankton, where I am, the teachers are all required to teach the students Maori songs and poems, most signs include both languages and the teachers themselves will often give simple instructions (such as “sit down” or “line up”) in Maori instead of English. I have found it to be a really neat experience to see how they blend the traditions and heritage of the Maori people into their everyday school experience.

The Students' "Mihi". Everyday one student takes a turn presenting it to the class. It is a Maori way of describing one's genealogy or place within the community.

I have found many other things about their schools that are fun and different from the US. For example, at Frankton shoes generally seem to be optional. Most students take them off in the morning and leave them in their cubbies until they leave in the afternoon. None of the teachers seem to care and the students all seems very used to it. Also their school is built very differently. Instead of one big building their campus is made of several small building that house different age groups as well as a building for the library and one for the assembly hall. In between most of the buildings are large grassy areas for students to run around and play in. I have also noticed that many of the architectural aspects that I noticed in Denise’s home stay true such as their propensity for having lots of large windows.

My Classroom

Play Area and Other Buildings

One thing I found interesting in their curriculum is that swimming is an almost compulsory part of elementary education. At Frankton (and, from what I've heard, most schools) they have their own swimming pool and every day each class is required to go out for 20 minutes and learn and practice swimming. It makes sense when you remember that they live surrounded by ocean, but it is still very different to think that I have to make it a part of my day.

Lastly, I thought I would bring up that in the morning they have a half hour break that they call “morning tea time”. The students are released to play and have a snack while the teachers are invited into the staff room. There the school provides mugs, milk, and hot water (which comes from an installed water heater just for this purpose), and the choice of coffee, tea, or Milo (a malted barley drink) for the teachers to enjoy. I think it is a really fun idea and I get the feeling that I will enjoy it a lot during my time here (especially when they provide cookies as well)!