Academics vs. Athletics

     We can hardly believe that we have been in NZ almost 3 months. The time has really flown by and we know that the next 9 months will pass even quicker. We have had enough time now to somewhat understand how the school works but still trying to understand what sports are played when and even how to play some of the sports! The educational system here in NZ is quite different than back home. They really value the whole child and try to nuture and develop all aspects of the child. The academic,physical and emotional well-being of the student are all equally important. And as we are learning they do not let Academics get in the way of Athletics!!! I have found myself thinking more than once "when are they doing any school work?" The kids will often miss school for interschool sports (competitions against other schools) or other athletic endeavers. The events take place after lunch.  For example the last two weeks the school has been a represented in the North Island Ski Championship, Board-X-Cross Snowboarding Event, Round the Lakes Relay Event, Cross Country Competions, Taranaki Road Relay Champs, and Tournament Sports Day at Bell Block. Now keep in mind all of these activities take place during the school day, not after school. They also had a World Rugby Cup Day, which the kids where taught different rugby skills. I was REALLY hoping that the All Blacks were going to show up to demonstrate, but I was sadly disappointed (google Sony Bill Williams or Dan Carter and you will understand)!! They also have Math Spectacular, Technogoly Challenges, Art activities and Musical lessons held during school hours, where at home most of this is considered extracurricular activities and held after school.  Owen decided not to play mini-ball (basketball for little ones) but if he would of played practice was held Tuesday mornings after tea time. Lindsey gets on a bus every Friday morning and goes into town to do wood-working, metal and or cooking. All Primary schools in NZ have a small pool and each student learns how to swim, and the Oakura school takes the kids down to the beach in the summer term to surf and build penguin houses. Lindsey has very little homework, her latest assignment was to build a house, and to furnish each room and they could only use recycled items. I have hardly seen any worksheets come home in the backpacks, and they go on quite a few educational field trips. Next week the school has a planting activity which requires walking to the beach, eating lunch, planting Spinifex on the beach and collecting rubbish on their way back to school. Every morning the whole school has tea time and then they have a 20 minute playtime, and then later the whole school has lunch together and another 20 minutes of playtime. I will blog later on the grading system as I am still trying to figure it out.  Depending on what rankings you look at New Zealand ranks in the top 5 educational systems in the world, so they must be doing something right.

   We missed out on the Winter Sports here since we arrived towards the end of the term. But winter sports here are soccer, net-ball, mini-ball, basketball and Rugby. The Spring sports are field hockey, and cross-country. Every student participates in cross-country. They train at the school every day for 3 weeks. The school has a large field that the kids train on, and most train without shoes. They held  a school competition last week. The younger kids ran on the school field and the older kids run in a park nearby. Owen turned 6 the day of the race so he had to run with the 6 year olds. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and crossed the line with a smile on his face! Skyler runs like a Gazelle and came in first and Lindsey also did excellent considering how nervous she was the night before. Both girls advanced to the Coastal Cross Country and they once again placed in the top 10. The Coastal Event  was true Cross Country!!! The  2km course consisted of hills, gravel roads and running 30 yard in thigh deep water. The kids had a blast and Brad and I loved sitting out there all afternoon watching these young kids run. The girls will now miss another afternoon of school as they represent the Coastal Schools at the Taranaki Cross Country Championship. They are very excited and Brad and I are so proud of them!!

The 12 year old girls heading up the first hill.

The nine year old girls at the start. 

Skyler running along the lake. 

Skyler heading up the first hill.

Lindsey running through the lake.

Lindsey coming down a very steep hill.

Skyler coming in first. 

Owen celebrated his Birthday 2 weeks ago with a trip to McDonalds and having 3 buddies over for a party.  We went down to the Skate Park so they could practice their scooter tricks!!

Brad spending his NZ Father's Day on his new Stand up paddle board. I was hoping to get a picture of him standing up on the board but those moments went by quickly!!!  Brad will be excellent at the sport by the time summer rolls around so hopefully he can show me how to use the board as the air and water temp. are way to cold for me this time of year.