Kia Ora Tatou
This week has been my first week back since visiting schools and learning about the education system in Finland and also looking at wellbeing initiatives both in Finland and the United Kingdom.
With regard to the Finnish Education System and what has traditionally been, high placing in rankings in the PISA assessments, I have walked away feeling that what we offer in New Zealand is very similar in terms of the classroom context.
However, there are some significant differences in Finnish society which support positive achievement in education. Firstly, formal schooling starts at the age of 7, when children attend school for 4 hours per day. Compulsory schooling finishes at age 18. All children are expected to attend early childhood education which is preparation for children to learn. Children from an early age are expected to be independent. On a visit to an early childhood centre, I saw three year old children get themselves dressed and organised, lined up in the playground ready to go to the forest. There was minimal input from the teacher other than an instruction to go get ready to visit the forest!
Secondly, there is a very high expectation of student independence when they do start school. This starts before they even arrive at school. During my school visits, there were no school buses and no parents dropping off children to school. Students were expected to be organised and get themselves to school either by walking or by bike or in winter, skiing!
The third significant difference is that every child receives a free cooked lunch at school. This is fully funded by the state. It means that children are able to focus on their learning.
Whilst these are some of the visible differences there are other more subtle differences such as a high level of trust in the education system and that schools are working hard to provide the best education for all students.
Whilst there are some things we can adopt, so much relies upon a change in culture and adequate funding to be able to incorporate if we are to follow the same system. To be fair, not all of their systems would suit our situation. We cannot expect students to be completely independent getting themselves to school when we draw from such a large rural area and rely upon buses. But we can expect that our children get themselves to the bus stop or walk or bike to school each day and be on time!
SNOB
This evening is our annual senior ball and I am looking forward to greeting students as they arrive. I encourage members of our community to come and see the arrival of students at the event. This is typically quite a spectacle and some of the vehicles are great to see. The SNOB will conclude at 11pm. Students will be released at this time into the care of their parents. The school does have high expectations for all attendees at the SNOB and the usual school rules do still apply.
I am sure that this will be a wonderful night for all students.
Relief teachers required
As we approach winter we are expecting that winter illnesses, such as coughs and colds, will increase. Teaching staff are not immune from these infections. In the past we have had a reasonable supply of relief teachers. Unfortunately, due to appointments, retirements and other reasons we now have very few relief teachers available. If any of our parent community are qualified teachers, or know someone who is, we would love to talk to them about the potential to do some relief teaching for South Otago High School.
If we are not able to recruit any new relief teachers we may need to curtail some curriculum trips or roster year groups home if we are not able to cover for absent teachers. Neither of these options are what we would wish for our school or students and we understand the disruption for parents.
Are you able to host an international student?
This week we say farewell to our second group of international students. We look forward to new groups arriving later in the year. South Otago High School has worked hard to re-establish our international student programme after the pandemic. This supplements the government funding that the school receives and allows the school to purchase additional resources and fund programmes for our own New Zealand students.
However, the school does rely upon the community to provide homestay accommodation for our international guests. For families, that are able to host, there is a living allowance that is paid to the homestay parent. For many hosts it is also an opportunity to learn about a different culture and also develop a new friendship with the student and their family in a foreign country such as Thailand, Japan or China.
If you would like to be considered to be a homestay host then please do contact either:
Winter sports and other extracurricular activities
I have in previous newsletters stated how grateful I am for the dedication of our teaching staff to provide such a wide variety of sport and extra curricular activities for students. Teachers voluntarily give up their time to organise and provide these opportunities. Whilst I was in Finland I asked a principal what extra curricular activities do teachers provide. His response was, “None”. He went on to explain that it was the community clubs and parents responsibility to provide these opportunities. Whilst I acknowledge that sport is a significant part of New Zealand culture, I do believe that our students are so very fortunate to have so many opportunities which are provided by the good will of teachers. I would expect that this is appreciated and not taken for granted.
Board meeting dates for Term 2, 2024
5 June
3 July
Paid Union Meeting
On Monday 20 May there is a paid union meeting for teaching staff. A letter to whanau has been sent out to whanau. School will be open for instruction for the morning with lessons 1-4 scheduled as normal. The canteen will be available to sell lunches but students will be able to go home from the start of lunchtime.
Finally
This week has seen some very cold mornings. It is a timely reminder that as winter starts the weather is going to be cold. We do have clear expectations for students to both dress appropriately and also abide by the unform expectations. This week we have some students who have been wearing hoodies and these are not part of our school uniform and students will be asked to remove them.
Ka kite ano |
