Mairehau School

Mairehau School was a delight to visit. The teachers and the children were very welcoming. I liked this mural they painted on the side of one of their buildings. It was very colorful and cheerful. I visited many different classrooms in this school, so I was able to see what the youngest children were doing, as well as some of the oldest.

This school, like the others I visited, had lots of room outside for the children to play. See how big their grass area is? They also have a fitness area, similar to those of the other schools, and playground equipment as well. You'll notice in the picture of the kids outside, that shoes are optional. This is true inside the classroom as well.

Not only did the kids walk around in their classroom barefoot on a warm day, but some of the teachers did as well! What do you think? Good idea?

You can also see the children eating lunch. It is not common to have a dining hall at school. This school is typical in that the children eat their lunch outside. If the weather is bad then they eat in their classroom.

In class, they listen to the lesson sitting on the rug near the teacher. Then they go to their desks and practice what they've just learned. As you can see, the classrooms are colorful and welcoming. The schools in New Zealand do not have art teachers, so the homeroom teacher teaches art to their students. You can see some of their paintings in this photo. They also don't have music teachers, so the homeroom teacher plays a song on a CD and they all sing along together.

The homeroom teacher also teaches PE to the students. There are no teachers who teach just PE. Relay races are very popular for PE. In this picture, you can see the teacher explaining the throwing exercise the students are about to do.

There are also no school nurses. If a child isn't feeling well, there is a room in the school for him to lie down for a bit. If this doesn't help, then the school secretary calls his parent to pick him up and take him home. If the child needs medication during the day, it is given to her by the school secretary. If there's anything complicated about it, then the child's parent would need to come and give it to the child.

Have you been noticing the color of the uniforms at the three different schools I've visited? Each school has a different color.

While I was at Mairehau School, the children were practicing for a school DVD they were making. On performance day, Skoolstars Production Company came to the school and filmed and recorded the songs and dances from each class. They put them altogether onto a DVD with special background effects. They had a special "Night at the Movies" where parents and kids got to view the entire DVD on a large movie screen. Those who wanted to buy it could then have a copy to take home. I bought a copy and I think it's super! It would be fun to do something like this at Cottage Lane.

What special school activities have you done that were a good idea? Why were they worthwhile?