[Bubbles]

Hi all,
My wife raised a very valid point concerning one of my daughters and her exams. Basically, if everything goes to plan we hope to be in NZ sometime around Oct / Nov 2005, which is smack bang in the middle of Molly-Ann's final year. She should be taking her final exams in May / June 2006. We know she still has to attend school in NZ because of her age ( She would be 15 1/2 yrs when we would like to get out there ). What happens in NZ with regard to exams, and at what age do they sit them ?
We have spoken to one of her teachers at the moment, who is a Kiwi. He seems to think she could continue with her Uk exams in New Zealand on some sought of correspondence course which he believes is called " The cambridge Plan " ( Sounds like a diet to me ), he thinks, which would allow her to gain her Uk certificates in her chosen subjects.
Has anyone out in NZ, or the UK for that matter, with children of a similar age heard of this before.

Any info' to put my wifes mind at rest would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't seem to bother my daughter, she's got the "Can Do" attitude and just wants to get out there.

TIA

John

P.S. I posted this some time ago, but alas, no response. Thought I'd bring it back to the top and try again. Surely there's a teacher on this forum with some info', isn't there ?

[Graham Barnes]

Hi Bubbles,

I'm a UK Physics teacher hoping to move out to NZ, probably this time next year. My brother's been teaching out there for two years.

The 'Cambridge Plan' means that your daughter could take International GCSEs in NZ, through the Uni of Cambridge exam board (CIE). An increasing number of schools now offer this option, since the introduction of their new NCEA system. It's all very political...but 40 or 50 of the top academic schools offer the CIE exams to their brightest pupils, as they have found that NCEA does not stretch them sufficiently.
(NCEA is very similar to this new Diploma system proposed for the UK in a few years' time...)

Of course, you'd have to live in the Zone for such a school for your daughter to be able to go there...and they tend to be amongst the most popular schools because they are successful, and almost exclusively decile 9 or 10.

I'm afraid that I'm not sure how she mught be ablt to do these exams privately, if she is unable to attend such a school....but I'm sure there must be a way somehow!!

Graham

[Bubbles]

Thanks Graham,
I can see this could get quite tricky

John

[Timbo]

National News

>> Home >> National News


Two weeks until school starts, 350 teachers short

17.01.05
by Stuart Dye


With just two weeks before the start of term, more than 200 teaching jobs in secondary schools and nearly 140 in primaries have yet to be filled.

As of last Wednesday, 216 secondary teacher vacancies were advertised on the Education Gazette website.

Despite the shortfall, Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope said secondary schools faced the lowest shortage of teachers in recent years.

There were 18 per cent fewer vacancies than the same time last year and 45 per cent fewer than for the same time in 2003.

Mr Benson-Pope said Government action to keep teachers in the profession had helped to reduce the shortage.

"The Government has established 1800 extra secondary teaching positions since the start of 2003," he said.

"The fact that there are fewer vacancies this year despite the increased workforce shows teacher supply policies are working."

Many of the vacancies are in subjects such as mathematics, physics, technology and te reo Maori, which are traditionally difficult to fill.

Mr Benson-Pope said in September last year the Government had announced further scholarships to address these shortages.

There were 137 vacancies in the primary sector, as of last Wednesday. At the same time last year there were 197.

"Schools are better placed for the start of 2005 than they have been for some considerable time," said Mr Benson-Pope.

"In a [secondary] workforce of some 21,600 teachers the vacancy rate is just 1 per cent."

[Graham Barnes]

Same old story for the last few years, because of an ageing teaching population on the brink of retirement, and increasing rolls at secondary level.
Demand for teachers is expected to peak short-term in 2006/07, but with ongoing shortages expected in the future.
Of course, much depends on the individual subject...and there are greater problems in certain areas of the country.
From a personal point of view, I got two offers from outstanding schools last year without any real difficulties; UK teachers with prior experience are well regarded in NZ, and the Heads involved all had experience of the UK independent school system (which is my background). But we have had to postpone our move for a bit, so had to turn them down unfortunately.

My brother (and his girlfriend who teaches IT) teaches in Dargaville (Northland), where a good half of the teachers are overseas trained...mainly from UK and Canada. Having plenty of expat colleagues has actually helped them to settle in very quickly.

Graham