Figure 1.--School uniform regulations in New Zealand vary from school depending on the level and type of school. Most secondary schools do require uniforms. The uniform rules tend to be especially struct at the private schools.
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Figure 1.--School uniform regulations in New Zealand vary from school depending on the level and type of school. Most secondary schools do require uniforms. The uniform rules tend to be especially struct at the private schools. |
New Zealand has one of the smallest private or independent school system of all the western democracies. Successive governments have made a concerted effort to absorb private schools through policies of reducing state support to private schools and generous financial enducements to schools agreeing to integration. Many parents, however preceive decling standards in the state system. Declining discipline standards which has affected academic achievement in particulsar has concerned parents. This has created continued demand for private school education. Generally speaking the discipline standards are higher at private schools. These schools also tend to give more attention to school uniform than the state schools. Some state schools do give attention to school uniform, but there is more variation in the state system. The privates schools almost uniformally plasce considerable attention to the school uniform. There are differences depending on the type of private school.
Many private schools in New Zealand are preparatory schools. These schools are based on the British preparatory schools that prepare boys for the public schools (private secondary schools). The school program and the uniforms at New Zealand prep schools are very similar to British prep schools.
They are essentially primary schools. The basic prep schhool began in the mid-primary years and continued through the intermediate years. This would mean children about 8-13 years of age. Many of these schools have opened pre-prep units to provide full primary year coverage. Others are colleges which offer both prep-school programs as well as secondary programs. Most prep schools are single-gender schools. Generally speaking the preparatory schools give more attention to uniform than most other New Zealand schools. This contrasts with the state primaries which commonly do not require uniforms.
Private secondary schools would be essentially what the British call public schools. That term is noy used in New Zealand as it conveys the meaning state school. Secondary schools vary as to the age range. Some schools will begin at age 13 when the children finish their preparatory school. This is the case of the colleges with primary-secodary full-term programs. Other schools have programs beginning at age 11 which is when children in the state system finish rimary school nd begin middle school.
Some private schools are colleges. To Americans this means small universities, but in much of the rest of the world it is a secondary school or a school providing a full term primary-secondary education. Not all full-term schools are called colleges, but many are. You can not always go by the actual name of the schools. Some colleges in New Zealand are schools that were once private and have since been integrated into the state system and not all private colleges offer full term progeams. Many of the colleges that do offer full-term programs, have separate campuses for the younger children which is t=run like a preparatory school. This varies from school to school. Separate campuses mean that the advatage of sharing facilities is lost. Most private schools are either primary/preparatory schools or secondary schools, but there are a few full-term schools as well. Normally the students at these schools, both the primary and secondary students, wear essentially the same uniform.
There have been a number of private schools with a more religious focus that have opened in New Zealand during recent years. Religion has been a part of New Zealand education from the beginning. Many early private schools were associated with the established Anglican church. And as Caholics reached New Zealand, the Catholic church founded its own system. But the schools we are referring to are relatively new schools. They are Protestant schools which place a considerable focus on religion. Some are relatively small schools, but others have had considerable success.
