The other day I wrote about the possibility of Mulan going to school.
We have some choices, as we live in zone for both Takapuna Grammar School and Westlake Girls High School. We could start at either school at any time, or choose to continue homeschooling.
We've now met with the enrolments Deputy Principals of both schools (Westlake last Friday, and Taka on Tuesday). Both were very good, and we came away with useful info about both schools.
Taka also showed us around, but we forgot to ask Westlake. Likely, as a family we'll have a look around Westlake during the weekend.
We've now got to the point where the final decision will be Mulan's. It will be her call about how she would most like to do her study (and if she chooses to continue homeschooling, she will need to put in the hours of deskwork at home).
The decision is (a) whether to go to school, (b) if so when, and (c) if so which one.
My personal inclination is Westlake starting in Term 3. (She'd stop rock climbing, and possibly stop gymnastics. Dance, music, swimming and athletics would likely continue, but we'd need to keep an eye on things.) But I'm completely happy with whatever Mulan decides.
If Mulan decides in the next several days to go to school, then we'll start preparing for the change and submit the enrolment forms. If she decides she'd rather not go to school, then we'll start upping Mulan's deskwork time at home in preparation for NCEA studies.
Location:
We live about 5-10 minutes walk from Westlake. We live at the edge of the Taka school zone, and there are no ideal buses. Likely, Mulan would spend over an hour each day travelling to and from Taka.
The strong advice from Taka is that it's best to go to one's closest school. They would be okay if Mulan chose Taka, but thought it made more sense for her to choose Westlake.
Given that Mulan would prefer to continue as many of her after-school activities as possible, it makes sense to spend minimal time travelling.
So, unless there are other overwhelming considerations, Westlake would be first choice.
When to start: Qualifications:
If Mulan goes to school, both schools recommend starting at the beginning of term 3 this year (26th July). Neither recommend a term 4 start. Alternatively, Mulan could start in term 1 2022.
Starting in term 3 gives Mulan half a year in Year 10 to get used to school life before starting NCEA 1 qualifications in 2022. She would get more familiar with the subjects, so then more knowledgeably choose her NCEA subject options.
Or we might think that NCEA 1 is relatively easy and unimportant, and Mulan doesn't need prep time for it. We might instead treat NCEA 1 as prep and practice for the more important NCEA2/3, and if so starting in 2022 is okay.
When to start: Activity clashes:
As well as qualification considerations, Mulan also needs to think about how time-consuming school will be, and how much it will restrict her other activities and interests.
Schools aren't as efficient as homeschooling, with respect to study, and school will require more of a time commitment than homeschool study. Almost certainly, if Mulan goes to school she'll have to stop some of her current activities/interests. Starting later means that she can continue more activities longer.
Homework:
We asked both schools the expectations for homework. Westlake said under an hour a day. Taka said 1-2 hours. Of course, theory may differ from reality. We've heard from school-goers that 1-2 hours at NCEA level is at the minimum end, and is for those merely aiming for passes (not merit/excellence).
For us, less homework is better, so that Mulan can continue with more of her non-school activities/interests.
There is also the question of whether homework is necessary. It could be argued that more homework means less efficient use of in-class learning time.
Resources:
Schools have some pretty awesome toys and resources, which is out of the budget of homeschoolers. Playing with the school's science and sports equipment would be great fun.
Both Taka and Westlake are decently well-funded with good resources. Both schools achieve very good academic results.
Looking around Taka, it's an older school with some older buildings. Some areas looked a little more worn, but on the whole it has a classic, warm, wood-finish look. Taka is next to the beach, and sports lessons are sometimes held there. There's more open land area, with football fields.
In contrast, Westlake appears more modern and corporate in it's style, and new building construction is continuing. With less land there are no open fields, and the land use is more tightly planned.
Single-sex vs co-ed:
We'd initially been leaning more towards Taka because it has both boys and girls, just like the real world. Westlake is single sex, so more artificial.
But there is something to be said for girls-only schools. As Westlake said, it's cleaner and quieter without the boys! Also, boys are often inclined to push themselves forward more than girls, so girls can miss out in co-ed schools. Mulan's personality is often more hang-back-and-wait (like mine), so she may better suit the girls-only environment.
As long as girls don't go boy-silly in a girls-only school, it seems possible that the single-sex learning environment is slightly better for Mulan.
Friends/social:
Mulan knows a few athletics friends go to Taka, but doesn't specifically know of any friends who go to Westlake. This is another reason we had initially been leaning towards Taka.
On the other hand, Westlake specifically raised the possibility of placing Mulan in a class with people she already knows, and it seems that they would organise a buddy-system with classmates helping her get familiar with things. Taka did not offer this. In general, Westlake came across as being more sensitive to psychological/social needs, and appeared to have systems in place to help with this. Taka did not mention anything like that.
Study style:
I think the deciding factor (homeschool or school), for Mulan, is study style. Is she prepared to self-motivate for one-to-one or self-study learning at home? Or will she be more motivated in group learning at school? Which would be more fun (or less awful)!
At the moment, I think her personality suits the group study, but it's her call about whether she would rather commit to self-study discipline (if, for example, she wanted to be maximally efficient with her study so that she could have more time for her other activities/interests).
Subject choices:
If Mulan chooses to go to school, the next decision is which subjects to choose. Mulan already does dance, sport and music, and these are all possible school subjects.
We asked both schools their thoughts on students choosing so many non-desk subjects. Westlake said all subjects are good, and those ones still have 2/3 deskwork. They said it's best for students to choose subjects they enjoy. (This is what I had said.)
In contrast, Taka suggested that someone who does dance outside of school doesn't also need to do dance as a school subject. They suggested, for example, instead doing a social science subject. (This is what Mama has said.)
With Mulan fluent in Chinese, there's also the question of if/how to include that.
But we don't need to make a decision on this now. If Mulan decides to go to school we'd enrol first and then get more subject info from the school.
I'll probably write more when Mulan makes her decision.
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