In NZ, schools are given a 'decile' number. The lower the decile means that the school is given more financial funding from the government because it is in a lower socio-economic area. The higher the decile means less funding. Therefore, parents have to pay a bit of money each year to cover certain costs such as stationery and travel costs for school trips.
Since being in NZ, I have been in 3 different decile schools. Here are some pictures of what each school looks like. I've only taken photos of displays, but it gives you an idea what goes on in the classroom and what the teacher expects from the students.
Decile 1 school - Year 5 and 6 class
One thing to note about NZ teachers, they are very creative and usually end up making their own resources. I've spent hours making things for my classroom!
They style of education in NZ is different from the UK, US, Canada or Europe. It is based on the belief that we learn better when we work together. Group teaching is huge here. When I teach, I don't stand in front of the class the tell them what to do. I have groups. I teach one small group and the other groups are off doing focused, independent activities that are suited to their learning needs. You can see from the picture above that this teacher has a 'task board'. It is common and good practice to have one of these established in the classroom. I'll teach one group for 15 minutes and then rotate to another group. It works really well. I love it!
Decile 10 - Year 1 class
Most junior classrooms have these big tables where children are encouraged to work co-operatively. This is handwriting time (or writing) so children are focused on their work.
They were learning about the water cycle and were encouraged to ask questions about water. This was part of an inquiry unit. Children ask questions at the start of the unit and then throughout the scheme of work, we aim to address these questions. At the end, we refer back to the questions they asked at the beginning and see if they know the answers. I love inquiry units! They are so much fun and kids love it, too.
The children doing a 'water dance'.
In NZ, there is an emphasis on learning Te Reo - the native (Maori) language of New Zealand. I'm not from NZ, but I am quite confident with speaking basic Te Reo. I've had to learn quickly. I enjoy it.
Decile 8 - New Entrant/Year 1 class (my classroom)
This was my very first classroom! Room 9. It was an open plan, shared classroom with another teacher. I had one half, she had the other half. It is a lot of fun.
That's all I have for today. I thought I took more pictures, but I didn't.
I am glad that Robert and I chose to do our teaching training and teacher registration in New Zealand. We have been told that NZ trained teachers are highly regarded on the international field of education because we are creative, flexible, professional, positive and have a can do attitude. Yeah, I'd say we have those qualities, but I'd expect that from most educators.
We've had a great experience teaching here, and we shall be taking with us many wonderful positive qualities of the NZ education system.We value how children are taught to learn and grow in a very caring, nurturing environment where there isn't pressure to be successful or to make the grades, but to enjoy childhood, discovery, inquiry, learning to be the best you can be and to think for yourself.
So nice to hear a teacher so excited about teaching-- lucky kids, lucky schools.
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