During our trip we visited 3 very different schools. First we went to Taradale Primary which is a decile 10 school. This school had a big focus on learning intentions and thinking skills. There was no real ICT evident in any of the classrooms.
Next we went to Richmond School which is a 1a decile school. This school was extremely interesting as it had gone through a major turn around in the last year. One thing I loved about this school was the bike track they used for daily fitness. The school has a class set of bikes which the students used every day.
Finally we went to a Rudolf Steiner School. This school was fascinating as their philosophies to education were completely different to main stream schools. At this school the children do not start learning to read until the age of 7 and the students have the same teacher for 7 years. This school was a little like going back in time!
Overall it was a fantastic trip which confirmed my thinking that Russell Street is an excellent school that is offering an extremely high quality form of education to our students!
I agree that it felt like going back in time with the Steiner school. It was easy to see gaps and differences in my philosophies so I made myself try and find positives which I could relate to or apply back at RSS. This really made me think (Almost had a brain seizure). One thing I loved was the clear philosophy and the way it was implemented throughout the school.
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