NZ Education System
New Zealand's schooling is broken down into three levels: early childhood, primary/secondary, and further education. Students are considered early childhood from ages birth to 5/6. Students may then move into their first year of primary school as soon as they turn age 5...they do not have to wait for the new school year to begin attending. Primary education goes from Year 1 to Year 8 and secondary education goes from year 9 to year 13.
Term I runs from January to April, Term II runs from May to June, Term III runs from July to September, and Term IX runs from October to December.
Education is free at schools that are funded by the national government.
Schools that teach in English, follow the New Zealand curriculum. On the other hand, schools that "teach in the Māori language use Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (a curriculum based on Māori philosophies)" (www.education.govt.nz). The New Zealand curriculum can be found here: nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum . In addition, some sample lesson plans/units can be found here: nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/Financial-capability/Resources-for-teachers/Planning
Term I runs from January to April, Term II runs from May to June, Term III runs from July to September, and Term IX runs from October to December.
Education is free at schools that are funded by the national government.
Schools that teach in English, follow the New Zealand curriculum. On the other hand, schools that "teach in the Māori language use Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (a curriculum based on Māori philosophies)" (www.education.govt.nz). The New Zealand curriculum can be found here: nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum . In addition, some sample lesson plans/units can be found here: nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/Financial-capability/Resources-for-teachers/Planning
Private vs. Public Schooling
There are three types of schooling in New Zealand: state, state integrated, and private. State schools are ran much like our private schools in the US. State integrated schools are run by a particular faith or specialized education. About 10% of students are enrolled in state integrated schools. Lastly, private schools enroll about 5% of students and cost about NZ$20,000.
Swanson School
Swanson School is a charter school located in Auckland, NZ. Their classes are taught in teams named after native trees from NZ. The team name for the class I will be with is Nikau (see picture).
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