My son will be 15 years old in September this year, and he came to New Zealand to study in grade 10, which is equivalent to the second year of high school. Today I would like to share with you those things about high schools in New Zealand.
新西兰的教育年限设置
In New Village, children start primary school at the age of 5 and can go to school as soon as they reach the age of 5, regardless of the day, so there is no concept of starting school, which is very different from in China.
I studied in elementary school for 6 years, and I entered junior high school at the age of 11 and studied for 2 years, grades 7-8. At the age of 13, he began high school for 5 years, grades 9-13.
My son is about to be 15 years old, and the school placed him in the 10th grade, which is a junior in high school. In the first few years, the curriculum was relatively simple, starting in Year 11, students were required to take the NCEA course, which is the main secondary education in New Zealand, and the scores are assessed according to internal and external examinations, which is to accumulate credits and then enter university.
中学课程设置
The above is my son's class schedule, each student has their own time table, social science, science, English, mathematics, physical education are compulsory courses, there is an elective course in the 10th grade, my son chose computer programming, it feels similar to the things learned by the programming training institutions in China, and these can be learned for free in New Village. Other elective courses include art, drama performance, cooking, etc., which I dare not imagine in China that these can be studied as a course, and the learning is quite in-depth, not just superficial and superficial.
The more courses you can take in the higher grades, the more you will choose from your hobbies and specialties, and you may not be very good at graduating in the future, but you will be happy and excellent (compared to yourself).
上课所需用品
When I went to school here, I didn't have many textbooks in my bag, but I did have notebooks and stationery boxes.
Notebooks required for school
My son's English is relatively weak, after all, it has only been less than a month since he arrived, and the school has arranged for students whose native language is not English, and opened an ESL course, so that students can learn English for free, so that they can quickly improve to the level they should have.
ESL Workbook
I shared another exercise sheet for math class, and my son said that although it is not difficult, many words are not clear, and he often has to look up them on the computer, not only him, but even local students have words that they can't know. By the way, middle school students in New Village are required to bring their laptops back to school every day, and they can consult materials and do exercises online at any time.
新西兰中学的作息时间
As you can see from the class schedule, classes start at 8:30 in the morning and end at 3 in the afternoon, each class is 1 hour with a 20-minute break in between. Take an hour's break at noon, including time for eating. Students bring food back to school to eat, and the school also has a cafeteria, but few students buy food in the cafeteria.
After lunch, there is no lunch break, and most of us exercise outdoors or sit together and chat.
My son was not familiar with the first day of school, and the school arranged 2 friends to help him, so that he could get familiar with the environment and go to school as soon as possible, which was really humane.
儿子的真实感受
After a period of schooling, my son fell in love with New Zealand schools, with no heavy school bags, no endless homework, no comparison of grades, and no competition.
He said that in the past, he used to read books in his domestic classes, and even if he had very little time to do his hands in the experimental class, he came here and spent 2 hours doing all kinds of experiments, and the teacher did not teach them hands-on, so that the children could do it by themselves and try a variety of methods, even if the experiment failed, it would be fine. He does not resist going to school, and even looks forward to going to school, saying that learning in New Village is more free and easier, and he can truly experience the joy of learning.
In fact, my son is only in the second year of junior high school in China, and his junior high school studies have not yet been completed, so many people feel sorry for me and say why not let my child complete junior high school in China, at least he can get a junior high school graduation certificate. But I'm glad that this timing has brought my son out, so that he can keep up with the New Zealand high school curriculum and have more time to improve his English before going to university, instead of continuing to float in the "whirlpool" of the country.
I know that we can't get all the approval of this choice, I just know that this is the way we like and the most suitable way, that's all.