Our kids like Mondays – even Dean who would scheme to miss school any chance he could. Now, it is his only social outlet, but truth is, school’s fun. I affectionately liken it to summer camp. Dean says it’s “brilliant.”

Days are short – about 6 hours. Dean’s in intermediate school - Years 7 and 8. Ages range from 11 – 14. Dean’s in a mixed 7/8 class though some are exclusively one year. His schedule includes a twenty minute “tea time” in the morning and 70 minutes for lunch and recess….lots of time for soccer, leaving 4 ½ hours class time.

Most of the day is spent with Mr. Wood who does an incredible variety of activity. Beyond the academic, he regularly takes the kids out for a mile run. Or, he may devote an entire day to bike maintenance, or teaching the kids cricket. Next Wednesday the Fifeshire Team (think Harry Potter) will bike to Tahuna Beach for a team building day. And, Friday’s are always sport day. They have Maori in the morning and then do sport the rest of the day with a closing assembly.

This is not to say it is ALL fun and games. They have MATHS Monday – Thursday and have been divided into separate classes according to ability. The expectations are high, with a bit of competitive element in the class. Mr. Wood demands excellence and integrity from his students whether they are building origami mobiles or writing personal essays. They also do woodshop. Way fun.

Duane and I are relieved that school has been so positive. The forthcoming field trips are awesome – caving, tramping above the tree line to develop cold weather skills, biking to the beach…. That it is not academically rigorous is just fine with us. If “Maths” and writing skills are honed, that’s enough. I applaud our assistant principal who said kids only get thirty minutes of homework a night, because they need to “have a life.” Amen

There’s probably a lot more I could tell you. And, I know we are still in the honeymoon stage. Six months from now we may have a laundry list of gripes. For now, it’s all good