Start of the School Year (2021)
Our Kiwi school year is officially underway! (I’ve got an overview of the school system here if you are new.) This year I am not taking it for granted that I can drop off my kids each morning. Two lockdowns last year and the horror stories from friends back in the US who have been homeschooling since last March have engrained in my mind that I can’t take school for granted anymore. However, I take some solace knowing that every school now has a plan if we need to go into lockdown again. I also know that if we do go into a level 3 or level 4 lockdown and schools shut, it will be for a finite period of time, and when things reopen they will be safe. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for my American friends to be on a constant roller coaster of will-they-open-won’t-they-open (safely). That purgatory sounds terrifying and stressful. Some recent American arrivals have said as much when they describe the PTSD felt on the first day of school in New Zealand. Seeing all of the kids, teachers, and parents in close proximity without the need for social distancing or masks was triggering for some of them.
One of the unexpected positives from the lockdowns last year that I’m trying to take into this new school year, is not over-scheduling the kids. When everything shut down last year, all of our extracurricular activities were either paused or put online. There was no way I was going to try to do online preschool ballet with a five year old who just spent hours on Zoom calls, so a lot of our activities I simply dropped. And I didn’t pick up a good chunk of them. Ballet and basketball were out. Soccer was done for the year. Choir practice was on hold. Swimming happened at home and mainly consisted of cannonball competitions. We kept online chess class, but that was about it. It was shockingly delightful and stress free to not do much of anything. The kids were able to chill out more and get to bed earlier. I want to find that balance between exploring different after school activities and not driving everyone mad with an elaborate spreadsheet of timetables for after school activities.
One of the plusses of life in New Zealand is that there is less pressure to excel at everything like the US. However, it seems like there is still a lot of pressure to try everything, especially when it comes to sports. It’s impressive how many different sports are on offer for young kids in a recreational way. At school, the kids can try soccer, tennis, flippaball (still trying to figure this one out. Apparently it is some kind of mini-water polo?) swimming, basketball, rugby, and cricket. There’s even more as they get older - everything from gymnastics to sailing, to skiing, to netball, to table tennis.
Schools also offer music, speech, and drama instruction during the school day. It’s not required, but if you’re interested in learning a musical instrument, chances are you can sign up for lessons with a teacher during class time. There’s been a little interest from my kids on picking up and instrument, but we haven’t moved forward yet. I have mixed feelings about missing class time for a violin lesson, though. I’m not sure my kids are responsible enough yet to make sure they complete any missed classwork yet. If your kids are taking lessons during the school day, how are they at making up the school work? Am I worrying about nothing here?
So my resolution this year is to try to find balance between trying as many new activities as the kids want and can handle, and staying relaxed with the schedule and able to bail from any and all activities at a moment’s notice. Wish me luck!
P.S. I want to give a school uniform update. One of the big expenses at school in New Zealand is the uniform costs. Most - though not all - schools have a uniform to wear. When my son started in Year 1, I was surprised by how much I shelled out for all of the pieces of uniform, but we’re now in Year 3 and wearing the same uniform pieces. Not only have they withstood all of the wear and tear of boys, but he hasn’t outgrown them. The only thing new we’ve bought for school is shoes. From a cost-per-wear perspective, these items are doing a fantastic job. I wish I could go back and tell myself that I would be getting years of wear out of these clothes, and I shouldn’t assume I’d be doing the same back to school shopping spree like I’d do in the US.
