Figure 1.--New Zealand streets used to be full of children cycling to school. This has declined in recent years, but many students continue to cycle to and from school. |
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Some basic information about the schedules of New Zealand schools, both the annual and daily schedule provide some basic informatin about school operations.
The annual school schedule in New Zealand is set nationally and not be individual school, There are some differences between elementary and secondary schools.
The school year is divided into 4 terms. Schools have to provide 394 half-days of instruction for elementary schools and 380 half days forvsecondary scghools. A representative annual schedule is as follows:
Waitangi Day: February 6
Good Friday: April 21 - in school holidays
Easter Monday: April 24 - end of school holidays
Easter Tuesday: April 25 - end of school holidays
Anzac Day: April 25 - same day as Easter Tuesday
Queen's Birthday: June 5
Labour Day: October 23
Local anniversary day: Various
School hours are generally from 8:45 am to 3:20 pm. Many schools have special short days to provide time for afternoon activities. Lincoln High School, for example, ends school on Wednesday at 2:30 pm to permit time for sporting activities. Many schools also provide longer lunch hours for sports and cultural activities which are unable to operate after school because of the school busses.
Representative schedules at different academic levels include:
Some differences exist between elementary and secondary level children. For the most part the younger elemementary children have a somewhat shorter day with fewer after school activities.
Primary
Representative primary school schedule:
9:00 am School commences for day
10:30 am Morning Interval
10:50 am School recommences
12:30 pm Lunchtime
1:30 pm School recommences
3:00 pm School finishes for day
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Secondary
Representative secondary school schedule:
8:30 am Library opens
8:45 am School begins with Family Forum or House Assembly
9:00 am Period 1
10:00 am Period 2
11:00 am Interval
11:20 am Period 3
12:20 pm Lunch
1:20 pm Period 4
2:20 pm Period 5
3:20 pm Classes ends
3:25 pm Busses leave
3:45 pm Library closes
Boarding schools have more elaborate schedules for the boarders. A representative schedule might include:
A representative schedule at a elementary (preparatory) school would be:
A representative schedule at a secondary boarding school would be:
7:00-7:45 am Breakfast in the Dining Hall. Back to the House to tidy up and prepare for the day
8:20 am Direct to class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) or Chapel (Tuesday, Thursday). Two classes before morning break, then another hour until lunch.
3:30 pm Classes finish. Time for the rest of a busy day: Sports practice (Monday); Choirs, debating, sports (Tuesday), Competitive sport (Wednesday, when classes finish early)
First team sports practices; Duke of Edinburgh Award, drama rehearsals; team practices (Thursday); and Town Leave (Friday).
5:45 pm Dinner, then a chance to relax until...
7:00 pm Supervised prep, followed by House Meetings.
9:30 pm Juniors bedtime. Final year students may visit friends in other houses until
10.00 pm bedtime at about 10.30pm.
Weekends: Two classes are timetabled on Saturday morning, followed by sport, then a relaxed evening with no prep. The whole School community attends Chapel on Sunday, but otherwise it is a day of rest and relaxation, with opportunity for leave (to be arranged with Housemasters). A few Sundays are designated 'Clear Sundays', with completely voluntary Chapel attendance and the chance for overnight leave with family on the preceding Saturday. For those who choose not to go on leave, the School's sporting and recreational facilities are all available, plus there is an organised, voluntary program of activities every Sunday ranging from skiing to go-karting.
Here you can see images of activities at New Zealand schools throughout the school day. Here we will mix all kinds of different schools to provide an inkling as to what as happening at a wide variety of schools throughout the day. We will organize on a time line and try to cover most of the major activitiies. We will begin with coming to school in the morning. Bicycles are very common in New Zealand and many other means of transportation are used. Of course thaere are boarding schools with the children already at school.. Many schools open the libraroies early and operate them for a while after classes. There are morning assesmblies, although not always on a daily basis. Classes fill up the morning activiries. The younger children have their classes broken up by a morning break. Quite a number of secondary school also have a morning interval. Lunch is followed by a rest period at many private preparatory schools. Older children often have a little free time which many use for sport. Afternoon classes follow lunch. At private schools on some days there is often a major sports program, following the British system. While most children attend day schools, there are some boarding schools which have afternoon programs, free time, and prep for the children before bed time.
