New Zealand Education

Compulsory Education

Compulsory education starts at age 5 and ends at age 16.

Class Size

The number of students in a class is 30 students.

Classrooms

    Students from Years 5-8 stay in the same classroom for most subjects and move to other classrooms only for specific subjects. In Year 9, students take some courses With their homeroom class and some optional classes with students from different classes. Starting from Year 10, students no longer stay in the same classroom most of the time. They go to different classes according to their own choices and abilities.

Term Dates

    A school year starts in January and ends in December. There are four terms in a year. Each term is about 10 weeks.

Class Schedule

    School starts at around 8:30 and ends at 15:15. There are only five periods a day and a period is about an hour long. In the morning, around 10:30, there will be a 20-minute break when students usually have some snacks during this time. There is a lunch period at around 12:40 for about an hour.

Teachers

    Teachers have to teach students of different year level at the same time. Most teachers teach students from at least three to four different year levels. Besides, quite a number of teachers teach more than one subject. This is because the fact that many courses are optional.

Make a five-minute film and win!

    Do you love the summer holidays but hate being bored? Then why don't you enter the Film Street Summer Shorts Competition by making a short film this summer with your family and friends?

What you have to do

    To enter the competition, you have to make a short film that around 5 minutes long (It can be shorter but not longer!) on a digital camera, or mobile phone.

Awards

    The best short film entered into our competition will be shown in Film Street's Cinema and you'll win a Cineworld Cinemas pass for yourself and there more for other members of your film crew. If you have a Cineworld Cinemas pass, you can watch as many films as you like for a year, for free, at any Cineworld Cinema!

Rules

.We can't show films that tell others about either your, or any other kids', name or address.

.We can't show films that hurt, harm or insult(侮辱） other people。

.We can't show films that have bad language.

Copyright Checklist

Getting permission to use someone else's work in your film can be expensive, so check your film to make sure that:

.Your film is original and you haven't copied someone else.

.There are no scenes of branding on shop signs, books, magazines or CDs.

.There are no scenes of someone else's artwork.

Address and Date

Post your finished film on tape, CD or DVD by Monday, October1st, 2007 to:

Unit 6,Third Floor, The Bond

180-182 Fazeley Street; Birmingham

    So what's stopping you? Start making your Film Street Summer Short now!

    A little old couple walked slowly into McDonald's one cold winter evening. They were so old that they looked out of place among the young families and young couples eating there that night.

    Some of the customers looked admiringly at them. You could tell what the admirers were thinking. “Look, there is a couple who has been through a lot together, probably for 60 years or more!”

    The little old man walked right up to the cash register (收银台), placed his order with no hesitation and then paid for their meal. The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off the tray (托盘). There was one hamburger, one order of French fries and one drink. The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. Then he carefully counted out the French fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them.

    As the man began to eat his few bites of hamburger the crowd began to get restless. Again you could tell what they were thinking, “That poor old couple. All they can afford is one meal for the two of them.”

    As the man began to eat his French fries one young man stood and came over to the old couple's table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple to eat. The old man replied that they were just fine. They were used to sharing everything.

    Then the crowd noticed that the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She just sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.

    Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy them something to eat. This time the lady explained that, no, they were used to sharing everything together.

    As the little old man finished eating and was wiping his face neatly with a napkin the young man could stand it no longer. Again he came over to their table and offered to buy some food.

    After being politely refused again, he finally asked a question of the little old lady. “Ma'am, why aren't you eating? You said that you share everything. What is it that you are waiting for?”

    She answered, “The teeth”.

    Starbucks will stop using plastic straws from its stores globally by 2020, in a nod to the growing push for businesses to be more environmentally friendly. The Seattle-based company said on Monday it will instead use straws made from other materials, and lids designed not to need straws. McDonald's also recently said it would switch to paper straws in the UK and Ireland by next year, and test alternatives to plastic straws in some US locations. In February, Dunkin' Donuts said that it would refuse polystyrene foam (塑料泡沫) cups from its stores by 2020.

    Environmental activists have been pressuring businesses to ditch plastic straws because they can end up in the ocean and hurt marine life. The push gained great support after a video in 2015 showed rescuers removing a straw from a sea turtle's nose in great detail. Local governments have also been looking at the issue. Last week, Seattle's ban on single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service outlets took effect, and Starbucks says it already offers alternative straws there. Similar proposals are being considered elsewhere, including New York and San Francisco.

    While straws have become a highly-concerned issue, they make up only about 4% of the plastic trash by number of pieces, and far less by weight. Straws add up to only about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9m tons of plastic waste that hits waters each year.

    University of Pennsylvania researchers say that for the first time they have linked social media use to increases in depression and loneliness. The idea that social media is anything but social when it comes to mental health has been talked about for years, but not many studies have managed to actually link the two. To do that, Penn researchers, led by psychologist Melissa Hunt, designed a study that focused on WeChat, Snapchat and Instagram.

    The study was conducted with 143 participants, who before they began, completed a mood survey and sent along photos of their battery screens, showing how often they were using their phones to access social media. "we set out to do a study which attempts to imitate real life." Hunt said.

    The study divided the participants into two groups: The first group was allowed to maintain their normal social media habits. The other, the control group, was restricted to 10 minutes per day on social media. The restrictions were put in place for three weeks and then tested for now comes such as fear of missing out, anxiety, depression and loneliness.

    The results showed a very clear link between social media use and increased levels of depression and loneliness." Using less social media then you normally do would lead to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness " Hunt said.

    Social media invites what Hunt calls "downward social comparison." "When you're online, it can sometimes seem that everyone else is cooler and having more fun and included in more things and you're left out," Hunt said. And that's just generally discouraging. "Every minute you spend online is a minute you are not doing your work or not meeting a friend for dinner or having a deep conversation with your roommate." And these real life activities are the ones that you can encourage self-esteem and self-worth, Hunt added.

    "People are on their devices, and that's not going to change," she said. But as in life, a bit of control goes a long way.

All students are expected to read and learn the School Rules. These rules aim to make each student aware of the value of self-control, orderliness and the need to develop a sense of responsibility for their own behavior and for the larger community of which they are a part.

Dress Regulations

The School expects its students to wear their full school uniform correctly and with pride. It is our expectation that uniform and shoes will be clean and in good repair. Boys' hair should be combed and of an acceptable length (not over the collar, ears or eyes), with no artificial coloring. Girls' hair should be of a natural color. Shoulder-length hair must be tied back.

Absence, Illness and Punctuality

All students must be at school on time. If late, the student must sign in the late book in the General Office. Parents are asked to inform the school if their child is absent by 8:30 am on the day of absence. A written note from a parent explaining the absence MUST be provided to the General Office the day after return.

Should a student be ill during school hours he is to go straight to the School Medical Center. The sister will then take appropriate action.

Safety

◆ Proper behavior is expected within and around buildings and on the sporting field at all times.

◆ Students are not to enter laboratories, language rooms, the Technics and music rooms until invited to do so by teachers.

◆ The riding of bicycles or skateboards is prohibited along the front drive. Students riding bicycles must wear an approved bicycle helmet.

◆ No knives, explosives or dangerous materials may be brought into the school or boarding houses.

◆ Students are forbidden to interfere with fire safety equipment. An automatic fine will be imposed if this occurs.