AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND VISITOR!
On Wednesday 1st October, the Vice-Principal of Ormiston Senior College
in Auckland, New Zealand visited St Johns. The visit was prompted by her
interest in international school
teaching methods and environments, which also linked in with her
sabbatical. Throughout the meeting with the College Captains and Head Boy/Girl we spoke about the way our
school was run and how effective that was. One of the main points raised was
how much input the students had in our school and its changes, frankly, a lot
more than Diana’s school back in Auckland! We also spoke about the teachers and
their professional relationship they hold with all of their students to provide
the best education possible, something which we all agreed on.
As that meeting came to a quick finish, the next meeting
with Global Ambassadors began.
Throughout the meeting, the topic of conversation changed to our global
portfolios and how they are useful when applying for sixth form, colleges,
university and finally jobs. This was something completely new to Diana as her
school has no such thing of a global
portfolio, or anything to put certain achievements in. Although, we didn’t
only speak about the differences, the similarities were a huge topic to cover
in such a small amount of time. The biggest similarity was the D of E programme. We found that this
programme was a part of the curriculum back in Auckland, a small difference to
the optional choice in St Johns. Our final point raised was the wide range of
facilities St Johns provided for all students; such as cameras for photography,
interactive white boards in most classrooms, recording studios and sporting
equipment. This particular conversation started a huge difference realisation
of how Diana’s school doesn’t have classrooms; only large rooms to hold many
classrooms at one time (just like our enterprise suite). And guess what? Their
students also wish they could wear blazers, another very odd point!
By Ashlen Sowerby
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