[klicker]

Hi,- my OH is looking at schools tomorrow and any info about Wellington High and i think he mentioned Onslow High is greatly appriciated. My son is 15 and he likes the look of Wellington High (no uniform and he loves playing the guitar and wants to play in a band,,he saw the photos on the web) and he doesnt want to go to an all boys school either , so if anybody has kids in High school around Wellington..... would love to hear from you ! Oh is also looking at houses for us ,so we need to be in the Zone...like the look of Khandallah ??thanks, from Susannex

[Hope]

Hi there
I cannot be of any help from personal experience but our son will be turning 15 the week we arrive in NZ and so I have been searching the forum madly trying to find as many opinions on the high schools in Wellington as possible.
This is one of the threads I added to my subscriptions:http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14830&highlight=high+schools+wellington

I went over some of the school websites with my son earlier and he seems quite keen on Tawa. For us personally, we are hoping to getting him back into a school uniform as he hasn't worn one since we left the UK and the amount of time he spends in front of the mirror every morning is driving me nuts :laugh

[nifta]

ok, so i'm going to be no help here at all as a) i went to rongotai college (all boys college near the airport), and b) my last year at college (high school) was '99.. but.. a few of my friends went to wellington high and my cousins went to onslow.. they all seemed to turn out alright, but that was nearly 20 years ago (20?? argh!) :)

[klicker]

Hi Hope, I know what you mean about Boys and the mirror, my son is forever styling and gel-ing his hair... I looked at Tawa and showed him.... he said NO WAY, when he saw the picture of the uniform... grey shorts with long socks !!! Oh its so difficult ,but all we want is for them to settle in quickly and be happy as its a huge thing to move to NZ !!Are you from Finland ? I am from Germany, and the thing i liked about Wellington High is that there are lots of international students?? And its in the centre, so its easier for them to meet with their friends ??

[Carol]

NO WAY, when he saw the picture of the uniform... grey shorts with long socks !!! ?


Actually - most colleges (with a uniform) have long shorts with long socks in NZ.
looks ridiculous - but in all honestly - the kids couldn't give a flying ****

:nice1

P.S. We've had two lads go through Tawa College (one currently in Yr 12) and we are VERY happy with it.

:clap

[sizzlingbadger]

Some of the secondary school boys here turn up in Grandad slippers with shorts and long socks :exit:D

Like Carol says they really don't care, probably because they've been bought up with it. Our primary school uniform is long shorts and socks in the winter, kids love it :o

We have friends with two children in Wellington High and they really love it, they're from Singapore so used to lots of hard work.

[Carol]

Some of the secondary school boys here turn up in Grandad slippers with shorts and long socks :exit:D

.



Yeah - that's a happening thing here too at the moment....
hahahaha
I love that they don't care!

[Hope]

he said NO WAY, when he saw the picture of the uniform... grey shorts with long socks !!! :laugh
I didn't show him the uniform part of the website, he can discover that for himself :exit

I showed him the Wellington College website and I think he preferred Tawa because it is co-ed (and girls are suddenly a really big deal). We know we will want to live quite centrally and having read so much praise for Tawa from Carol, I haven't really looked so much at Wellington High but I will do now.

We are not Finnish but we have lived here for quite a while, I am British and my OH is from South Africa.
I know exactly what you mean about wanting them to be happy and settle quickly as this feels like quite a tough age to be moving him...

When we moved to Finland in 2003, we initially put my son into the international school here but we took him out after a year and put him into a Finnish government school that teaches in English. We had a number of reasons for this but the main one was that in the international environment, he was with lots of kids that knew they were only there for a short time and were unwilling to assimilate or learn the local language and ways. When we moved him to the Finnish school, he settled far better and made long term friends, although the attitude towards learning the language stuck. I think which ever school he ends up in when we get to NZ, it will be far more culturally diverse than where he is now and I think that something that I think he is missing out on here.:)

[Hope]

[QUOTE=sizzlingbadger;236777]Some of the secondary school boys here turn up in Grandad slippers with shorts and long socks :exit:D

[QUOTE]:nice1

I love the sound of that! I showed my son of the posts about people going to the shops in their pjs or barefoot and he said we will never catch him in sandals never mind barefeet. :laugh
I give him 3 months before he is in jandals.

[Carol]

These are both good schools too..... both private though. And no girls. lol

http://www.hibs.school.nz/

http://www.wellesley.school.nz/


I got talking to a teenager on the train a few weeks ago from Wellington College - he was very happy there and told me lots of good things.

(The fact that that situation arose at ALL is actually a testament to WC I think! :laugh)

[Mels]

We are visiting schools right now, Onslow yesterday, Wellington College today. PM me if you want to see how we got on.

Mels

[eternalkiwi]

Tawa or possibly Rongatai would be the schools I would recommend, though I have also heard some positive feedback on Wellington High.
Wellington High is a larger school with a very diverse student population of both local and international students, and no uniform!
The feedback I have received on Wellington College has been mixed, so I would be a little more cautious on choosing this school.

Shawn

[Hope]

Thanks for the links Carol... Also good to know that kids are volunteering happy feedback about the Wellington College.

Mels, thanks for the offer of your experiences -I have sent you a PM.




The feedback I have received on Wellington College has been mixed, so I would be a little more cautious on choosing this school.

Shawn


Shawn, could you please give me an indication of what kind of negative feedback you have had about Wellington College?

[Carol]

Shawn, could you please give me an indication of what kind of negative feedback you have had about Wellington College?


Before that happens - don't forget there is no better way of choosing a school than visiting it and talking to the staff and principal. You have to "get a feel".
Opinions are just that. In particular, negative feedback can be skewed if you are only hearing one side of the story....

[Hope]

True Carol - I realise it is best to go and get a feel and that everything is subjective but I have read so many positive things about Wellington College that I am curious about what might have been said that is contrary to that.

It's definitely one on my list of schools to visit when we get there in October (which suddenly feels so so close :) )

[Carol]

when we get there in October (which suddenly feels so so close :) )


it is!!!
:nice1