[Kerry and David]

Can anyone tell me or recommend any smaller schools in Auckland?
We are over on a reccie in a few weeks time and want to book in to see some schools.
We are interested in Bucklands Beach area and Wattle Cove.
My 3 year old son (4 in July) is due to start school this year and although hopefully he wont need the place (we want to move to NZ Sep) I really like the school we have been given - it is a village school, small classes, small number of pupils in the school and has great outdoor provisions which would really suit all of my son's individual needs.
I know that he wont start school until he is 5 in NZ but we want to think about schools before moving to an area.
I have looked up some threads on the Forum for these areas and have done some research on the internet but the schools I seem to have found seem to have large numbers of pupils!

If you live in these areas I would appreciate any general feedback on how you find the schools!

Thanks for your help!

Kerry x

[gil]

Hi Kerry,
We are very pleased with Pigeon Mountain Primary, although by the numbers you mention it is a "large" school. Have a look at Bucklands Beach Primary, Mellons Bay Primary and Macleans Primary. I don't know sizes, but would imagine bigger than you mention. They are all local to Bucklands Beach. I believe Mellons Bay is currently very popular.

Other areas of Howick have good primaries too, although, again, I don't know numbers: Cockle Bay Primary and Howick Primary. Steer clear of Owairoa as it is the "largest primary school in NZ" !

Please ask any thing you want about this area and I'll do my best to help,

Gil

[dharder]

One thing to bear in mind would be that full primary means year 1-8, so even if they have a larger number altogether, they may have smaller classes than we are used to in England because the number of children is spread out more.

In our kids' school, it also varies by year, there are three year 4s, for example, but only 2 year 6s (I think it was 6), so that might vary, too.

At this school, there is also a playground for years 0-3, and then another for older children, so for the little ones, it may feel smaller than it is.

Good luck with the search,

Daniela

[Kerry and David]

Thanks Gil for your recommendations I will have a look on the Web and hopefully set up some visits for when we are over.

I'm sure I will be back with some more questions on the area soon!

K x

[Kerry and David]

Thanks Daniela and for your feedback on the classroom sizes. What I have also noticed from the research I have done is that the space and openess of the schools are great in NZ so I guess even though the numbers may be bigger it wont be like our local primary school where it is like sardines in a can!:roll
K x