If the land that the teachers' training college is on right now was sold and used for more housing, there'd be even more pupils knocking on the door looking for entry at Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar. If it was retained for educational purposes, in this case a school, not a teachers' training college, it would also mean there's a bit of green grass in a highly intensified area.
I love the idea of it being available to any student across Auckland, no zoning, which begs the question around zoning full stop. Why should your child have to go to the state school nearest you? Why should you not be able to shop around and decide for yourself which school aligns with your child's educational abilities, your child's educational needs, and with your family's values? Is zoning archaic? Being told you have to go there, you don't have a choice. School zones don't just affect education, they also affect property prices too. Zones drive up housing and rental prices in sought after areas, sometimes adding massive premiums to homes near top performing schools, and buying into the area, even if you might have gone to that school and you'd quite like your children to go there, but you can't afford to get there, your family connections count for nothing.
Is your child going to the school you want them to go to, or are they having to go to the one that's in your zone? And if you have been resigned to the fact that they have to go to the one that's in zone, are you happy with it, or given the choice, would you send them somewhere else that you think delivers more on your aspirations, your belief about what education should look like? Should families be able to decide for themselves where their children receive their education? Is it time to put an end to zoning full stop and just let parents decide? Are you for or against the idea and the reality of zoning? If you could, would you send your child to another school, or are you perfectly happy with the one you've got now? And for those who are living in the leafy suburb of Epsom, what's the ideal use of the vacant teachers' training college? A school? Sold for more housing? I think I know what you'd prefer.
Kerre McIvor, is a journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. Currently hosts the Kerre Woodham mornings show on Newstalk ZB - where this article was sourced.
I love the idea of it being available to any student across Auckland, no zoning, which begs the question around zoning full stop. Why should your child have to go to the state school nearest you? Why should you not be able to shop around and decide for yourself which school aligns with your child's educational abilities, your child's educational needs, and with your family's values? Is zoning archaic? Being told you have to go there, you don't have a choice. School zones don't just affect education, they also affect property prices too. Zones drive up housing and rental prices in sought after areas, sometimes adding massive premiums to homes near top performing schools, and buying into the area, even if you might have gone to that school and you'd quite like your children to go there, but you can't afford to get there, your family connections count for nothing.
Is your child going to the school you want them to go to, or are they having to go to the one that's in your zone? And if you have been resigned to the fact that they have to go to the one that's in zone, are you happy with it, or given the choice, would you send them somewhere else that you think delivers more on your aspirations, your belief about what education should look like? Should families be able to decide for themselves where their children receive their education? Is it time to put an end to zoning full stop and just let parents decide? Are you for or against the idea and the reality of zoning? If you could, would you send your child to another school, or are you perfectly happy with the one you've got now? And for those who are living in the leafy suburb of Epsom, what's the ideal use of the vacant teachers' training college? A school? Sold for more housing? I think I know what you'd prefer.
Kerre McIvor, is a journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. Currently hosts the Kerre Woodham mornings show on Newstalk ZB - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
A very meritorious suggestion of' Seymour, and well promoted by Kerre's comments.
I expect ( being cynical), this will encourage all the rent-a -mob crowd to decry the idea as 'elitist', and counter that it should be developed as a rehabiltation centre for meth addicts instead!🤣
Kerre: Please deal with the problem of how all these no-zone kids are going to be transported to their schools of choice which may be many kilometers from their home. Surely part of the rationale for zoning is to reduce transport times and costs.
Most parents want a good structured education for their children . They value things like firm , discipline and rigorous academic standards . That is why the grammar schools are so sort after. Parents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on 'buying ' into the right zone to get their children into the right school zone. What percentage of the population , I ask would prefer that their children attended a private school ? Here they would usually receive, but not always, a more structured , disciplined traditional education . Just like we used to have .
'White Flight ' is what usually happens with no zoning . The more affluent travel across the city to the preferred higher achieving schools.
No, Kerre , it isn't about transport as much as what parents prefer for their children.
There needs to be a very very serious look at the phenomenon of Katherine Burbalsinghe 's London low decile Secondary school where the students have academic standards comparable to Eton College , Needless to say she uses traditional methods, as we used to have in NZ.
Contrasting progressive schools cannot produce these results and never have .
We are at crossroads in schooling in NZ and parents need to have considerably more say in what they want .
As educationalist Michael Johnston said on BV, last week -:" schools do not exist for teachers , experts or the ministry but for the parents of the children who .attend the schools". Gaynor
And Burbalsingh was born in NZ too. Talk about prophets without honour in their own land - because the Teacher’s Unions, (which exist to embrace the lowest common denominator, protecting those teachers that can’t, rather than promoting the welfare of those that can?)wouldn’t like it.
I misread the headline and found myself agreeing that “school is archaic”
And indeed it is. A system developed to train Prussian soldiers is past its use by date.
Since my daughter’s schooling has actually been detrimental to her health, I have advised her against wasting money at university.
Everything she needs to know is available on YouTube on demand.
Putting lipstick on a pig but opening a new school in Auckland is throwing good money after bad.
Cancel public school and give parents back their tax money with vouchers for the poor. Let parents choose how to educate their children.
I agree with Anonymous 2.01 comments. Let's look at how to use Katherine's methods across NZ so we can drop the zones and up outcomes. Re instate school rural buses. Give parents 'agency', like they are supposed to within the triangle [ parents, teacher, student]
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