[willowshouse]

Thought I'd share ..

I have two daughters 7 (she had just started Y2 in UK) and 11 (finished Y6 in July) and we arrived here just 4 weeks ago on visitors visas as our PR application was still being considered. Both of the girls started at our local catholic primary school within a week. Even though we didn't have our stamps the headteacher said we didn't have to pay international fees (very nice of her!) she would just wait for paperwork to come through. The catholic schools here don't seem to have a 'zone' which you have to live in .. but they do require a priests reference - as they do in the UK. The fees for their school are $800 a year, part of that is for the school and part for the diocese to go towards to upkeep of the buildings.

My 7 year old has been put in a composite Year 2 / 3 class and according to the teacher is working at the upper level of the class. I'll have to wait to find out what class she will be in next year - the teachers decide and let you know during the last week of term, she could stay in the same class or move up to a Year 3 / 4 composite. This is quite different to what we're used to and if she does keep getting put up to the next class, she could finish primary a year earlier than other children her age (I chatted to a woman whose daughter this had happened to and got the impression that it wasn't that uncommon).

My 11 year old had to go back into Year 6 .. we didn't have much of a choice really - it was by far the most sensible choice. Now she will start High School in February along with everyone else her age - a natural transition rather than a forced one. She attended an interview for a great oversubscribed catholic girls school in Remuera, Auckland called Baradene on Friday and got a place on Monday! Yippee!! Baradene is quite an expensive catholic school and the fees are $800 a term (4 terms in a year = $3,200) .. it is the most expensive (apparently) but it is our closest catholic school. I'm told that mostly the fees are $800 - $1000 a year - but coming from the Uk where you pay nothing it is something that is important to bear in mind. Incidentally, all schools have fees but I think mostly they are just a few hundred dollars a year (approx £100).

Apart from the fees there are also uniforms to buy .. $80 for a pinafore dress, $30 for a shirt and $40 for a sweatshirt plus you have to have a specific type of sandal - $75 .. that's just for primary. By the time you get to secondary it is ridiculous .. blazer, shirt, cardigan, skirt, tie, PE kit and tracksuit come to $800 .. that is 1 of each and does not include shoes. I'm afraid I'm used to buying 3 shirts for a tenner and it came as quite a shock!

Hope you find this useful, If I can be of any help to someone considering a catholic school - feel free to contact me.

Dawn

[Tia Maria]

I'm not catholic, but this is useful to me as the whole composite class thing always confused me.

So am I right in thinking that you would have for instance:

Two Year 1 entry classes, then a Year 2 class and a year 2/3 composite class and then a Year 3 class and a Year 3/4 composite class, then a Year 4 class and so on.

And that these classes are based mainly on ability rather than where their Birthday falls in the School year?

Is it seen as a kind of academic streaming? And if so doesn't this lead to everyone wanting their child to be in the older composite class?

Also do most schools follow this model, or does it vary greatly from one school to another?

Or have I got it all confused?!

Cheers

Tia

[willowshouse]

I'm a bit new to this - maybe someone else could offer their take on it .. but here is mine anyway!

In my daughter's school they seem to have:

new entrant/year 1
year 1/year 2
year 2/year 3
year 3/year 4
year 4/year 5
year 6

But they have just got a new classroom which will be a year 3 class (I think), and with this new class it should mean that most children spend a year in each class. At the moment the children have to do 2 years in the same class unless they get moved up because of their ability.

Children cannot start school until they are 5 and so you have new children starting school alll through the year - this leads to a wide range of ability within the class (not due to intelligence but just because of the amount of schooling or lack of). The teachers deal with this by putting all the children into little ability groups. It is really flexible - in my 7 year old's class for reading they have one group which is 3 kids and the next group is 15 kids so they seem to really try to keep all the teaching appropriate for their audience and they move the kids up and down from there. Because of that I think there is not the natural urge for parents to want their child to be in the top group all the time .. they are only ever going to be as far as they can go when they finish the school (hope that makes sense).

When I found out that kids got moved up irrespective of their age I thought maybe our eldest (who is good at school) should have been moved up. Then I realised that it makes no difference - whether she finishes school at 17 or 18 .. she'll still finish school in the end, and it may even be better for her to be that little bit older than kids who have been 'pushed' up quicker through the years. I guess there are plus/minus for both ways.

In answer to your specific questions -

The kids are put in an age appropriate class and are only moved/kept back if they are not managing the work or finding it too easy.

Mums I've spoken to here are not academically driven - they leave it to the school to advise them mostly and if the school is a good one they will get the best out of your child.

Haven't got a clue if all schools are like this but I'm pretty sure composite classes are the norm. Bigger schools who have more than a 1 class intake will probably have single and composite classes.

Best of luck,
Dawn

[Tia Maria]

Thanks for the info,

Yes our school has a 2 class intake, so that's why I wasn't sure what the difference was between the standard class and the composite class.

I think we find out where he is placed next week. I find it harder to determine how he is doing here than I did in the UK, and as there is a chance we would return to the UK, I wouldn't want him to have to play catch up on top of having to settle into a new school.

I guess I should just ask, but it is difficult to find a polite way of asking if he is at the same level for his age in NZ, as he would be in the UK. And I have no idea whether they would be able to answer such a question anyway.

Cheers

Tia