Schools in New Zealand differ markedly from schools in the US, both at the university level and at the intermediate level. Tammy has been teaching at the University of Otago, one of the 2 largest universities in New Zealand and the biggest one on the South Island. Joe and Sara have been attending MacAndrew Intermediate School here in South Dunedin.

For Joe and Sara, the first decision was which school to attend. Children can elect to attend any school in the city for the most part, and if they can't walk, they tend to work the transportation out in a variety of ways, including city busses, taxis, and parents. Most if not all of the secondary schools in the area are single sex, and all students wear uniforms in Dunedin, although every school has their own particular uniform. As an interesting aside, all schools in NZ seem to be on the same schedule - they all start the same day at the end of January, their 2 week break at the end of the first term is at the same time, etc., right through to the end of the year. The school year ends around the 20th of December, and then everyone here gets about 5 weeks off for their summer break. In essence, everyone here goes to year round school. It worked out great for us to arrive in January - Joe and Sara started going to school at the beginning of the year rather than showing up mid-semester.

We decided that since we would only be here for 6 months, we would make the school part as simple as possible. The closest intermediate school to us is MacAndrew, about a 10 minute walk from the house. There are primary schools, which are for years 1-6, intermediate schools for years 7-8 (form 1 and form 2), and secondary schools, which can either go from years 7-12 or from 9-12. Joe could have attended Kings High, which is also around the corner, and if we were staying here for a long time, that might have been the choice. However, since he and Sara could both attend MacAndrew and the years roughly coincided with their years in the Lewisburg schools, we decided that was the better option.

Of course, the first thing to do once we decided on a school was to invest in uniforms! Luckily, the stores here have been doing it for a long time - they have the routine down pat! We were able to get leads from the school on a couple of items that were more expensive, like Sara's kilt and Joe's jersey (sweater), so we were able to purchase them used. We also found out what they needed from the school, and then we struck out on the town, armed with a list of items from jumpers to shirts to shorts to socks to shoes.

There are a number of places to buy uniforms, and the sales people know what uniforms MacAndrew requires. From there, it was a matter of choosing how many of each item ("How many pairs of socks do you think you'll need, Sara?" and "Do you think you need 2 long-sleeve and 1 short-sleeve shirt, Joe?"). The final list:

Joe 3 pairs gray socks 1 pair gray shorts 1 pair track pants (long sweats) (for gym or the winter) 1 woolen gray jersey (sweater) 2 long sleeve gray shirts, 1 short sleeve gray shirt 1 white MacAndrew polo shirt for gym 1 pair red MacAndrew shorts for gym 1 pair black leather shoes

Sara 3 pairs short white socks 1 woolen tartan kilt 3 white button-down blouses 1 pair track pants (long sweats) (for gym or in the winter) 1 woolen red jumper (sweater) 1 white MacAndrew polo shirt for gym 1 pair red MacAndrew shorts for gym 1 pair black leather shoes

Obviously, we do a lot of washing but it sure simplified the decicion about what to wear in the morning, and there weren't any concerns about fitting in!

MacAndrew Intermediate
http://www.macandrew.school.nz/

The first thing that Joe and Sara had to get used to was meeting people! After so many years in Lewisburg, the idea of walking into school and not knowing a soul was a little different for sure. Another big difference was the idea that just about all of the classes would be one teacher, in one room, to the same group of around 32-35 students - in other words, they wouldn't be moving from room to room for different subjects with different teachers and different classmates.

The school day starts at 8:45 and ends about 3pm. They have interval (tea) at about 10:50-11:05 and lunch is 12:35-1:35. They have total freedom during lunch - they can wander out to the park next to the school to play cricket or rugby, they can roam the halls or the grounds, or go wherever they'd like near the school. They can stay in their rooms, play on the playground, or go to the library, but there isn't a cafeteria. Very liberating and quite different from the strict rules and quick lunches in Linntown. You can buy things for lunch at the canteen like pies, sausage rolls, microwave ramen noodles, hot chips (fries), chips, candy, drinks, etc., or you can bring your lunch.

For extracurriculars, they've got a lot of options! Joe and Sara have both been doing peer mediation, touch, and movie makers club. Sara has also been doing chorus, class lunchtime librarian, and kapa haka (Maori culture songs and dances). Joe has just started playing soccer. Most of that is during the school day, although touch and movie makers are after school.

During the first term, both Joe and Sara had art as a special - they go two times a week and they've both taken a field trip to the Dunedin Art Gallery. Joe has done stone carving, inking, and clay. Sara has done clay, painting at the museum, pastels, and linoleum cuts. This term, Sara will be doing metal work and Joe will be doing wood work.

As a form 2, Joe got to attend camp for a week with his class. The class left on Monday morning for Wanaka, about 3 hours from Dunedin. They stayed in a camp, part of the time in cabins and part of the time in tents. Each day brought something different - hiking up to the Rob Roy glacier, swimming in Lake Wanaka, hiking up Mt Iron, and rock climbing. He had a terrific time!

Touch

Touch is a form of rugby that can be played by teams of boys, girls, or both. Joe played on a form 2 boys team and Sara played on a form 1 mixed team. The games were on Tuesday afternoons at a city field near our house, where all the schools from Dunedin came to play.

In touch, you have no forward passing, 6 players on the field, and a rugby ball. The team that has the ball tries to get as far forward as possible without being touched by the opposing team. If they haven't scored before being touched 6 times, they turn the ball over, and if they drop the ball, it also goes over to the other team. The defensive team has to move back 10 meters after they touch the player before the play starts up again. Basically, it is a very quick game of endless wishbone offense in football.

The halfs are each about 15 minutes, and halftime is about 2 minutes, and there is free substitution. Lots of running, lots of trying to fake other people out and quick laterals from side to side. It is a terrific game - Joe and Sara are going to try to teach it to their friends.

Cricket

Well, a lot of students play cricket, and Joe and Sara joined them, but they didn't play organized cricket, and the rules remain an absolute mystery to us all!