A day in the life

People ask me what the school day is like here. My usual response is something along the lines of, "the same as it is everywhere else; the kids come to school, either do their work or they don't, and then they leave. The teachers stay later than they want to, getting things graded and ready for the next day, and then we all fall asleep on our respective couches as soon as we get 10 minutes into our favourite TV shows."

After having a group of American teenagers visit our school last term, I realised that the little day to day stuff can be pretty interesting if it's different enough. At this point it's all a comfortable routine for me. But at one time it was new and foreign. Morning tea? Five and a half hour school days? No tardy bell? Kids in bare feet all day? Shorts in winter? Huh?

I can't speak for all high schools in New Zealand on this topic. I can, however, give you a snapshot of what your average boys' high school student/staff member experiences on your average day. I'll try to hit the big points that are likely to be similar to other schools here in New Zealand. I'll also mention some things that are what I assume to be unique to our particular school because, well, they're kind of unique.

The school day begins for students at 8:45 am. Many make their way via public transit busses that dedicate their space to school students in uniform. If you don't wear a school uniform don't even try to get on these busses. Some students drive, but these are in the minority. Most have to catch the bus or walk. Very few ride bicycles through Auckland's clogged streets.

The school I work at operates on a 6 period day. The school also uses a 6 day "week", which means that every 6 days of class is considered one week. We still meet Monday through Friday, but we jut count our weeks differently. Classes rotate to different periods on different 'days'. For example, Day 1 sees classes A, B, C, D, E and F assigned to periods 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Day 2 we organise the day as classes F, A, B, C, D and E in periods 1-6 respectively, Day 3 is E, F, A, B, C and D, and so on. This ensures that the kids don't get stuck with having the same class 6th period every day. Certain times of the day, such as just after lunch or last period, simply aren't conducive to learning. The kids, and teacher, are either falling asleep or are mentally exhausted. A rotating schedule helps give everyone at least a few days a week to meet at times of the day when students are most awake and ready to focus.

We have the first two periods back to back and then a Form period, which is basically a 10 minute homeroom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These periods are used for collecting and dispersing forms, letters, detention notices, incident reports and other such official stuff that the students need to know and the school doesn't want to pay to mail out. Much of it is individual, so it's handled between the Form teacher and the individual student. Announcements also get read out loud since we don't have a PA system. Students can use Form time to go to the Deans' Suite to take care of business or go to the Careers counselor's suite to sign up for out-of-school courses and programs. Tuesdays and Thursdays we have 20 minute Form periods. The younger kids may do team-building activities, games or study skills workshops with their Form teachers on these days. Older students mostly use these as a study hall or catch up time with their friends. Most Form teachers of these older classes let the kids organise their own time during these periods.

Form periods are short three days per week because on these days we have a 25 minute assembly in the Auditorium. The whole school leaves Form period and gathers together, all 2,100+ of us, to spend time as a whole school. Students sit in assigned areas with their fellow class members, staff sit on stage behind the podium, and deans and student Prefects (akin to Student Council members in US schools) stand out in the seating area to monitor student behaviour. Those boys who misbehave during the assembly are told to stand for the rest of the assembly; students who are "stood up" during this time have to go to the Headmaster's office afterward. This helps keep behaviour in line.

Assemblies are called to order with a hand bell at the beginning, whereby the students need to stop talking and sit quietly while the Deputy Headmaster and Deputy Principals walk onto the stage. Once they are appropriately quiet, which takes about 10-15 seconds on a normal day, the Deputy Headmaster tells the students to stand while the Headmaster enters the Auditorium. The students must stand "still and quiet" while he walks down the aisle and onto the stage. Once he is behind the podium he tells the boys to sit, which they do without talking, and then the events get underway. For the most part the boys know what is expected of them; it's emphasised that assemblies are formal occasions that demand formal, proper behaviour. The pomp and regalia (the Headmaster wears a black ceremonial robe much like a graduation robe) give assemblies an almost religious tone to my eye. They are designed to mimic the days of tradition and ceremony that the private British education system once cultivated here. Our high school is only about 40 years old and this is one tradition that is in the process of being cultivated. Most schools in New Zealand have whole school assemblies every now and again. Those are a bit louder, and are usually held in gymnasiums; students sit on the floor. Our school is a bit different in that we have three per week for the duration of the school year.

Monday and Friday assemblies are dedicated to Sports. Results and schedules are read out, and successes are celebrated with any certificates, plaques or medals that members of the student body have earned. We have a lot of students involved in Club, regional or other non-school sporting activities. These students typically do pretty well in competitions and when they achieve high standings or rankings they are recognised. Wednesdays' assemblies concern the Arts, academics and other cultural issues. These assemblies begin with the students standing for school song. We typically have some sort of guest speaker on these days to speak to a topic of interest to the school. Student representatives from groups like 40 Hour Famine, the Buddies program or Amnesty International may stand and tell the students who they are and what they do. Sometimes performing arts student perform a piece of music or dance for the school to raise awareness of the work that they do outside of class hours. Outstanding academic achievements are recognised.

All in all, these assemblies are pretty interesting. I get to see what my students are up to outside of the class and what's going on in the wider school life. There is a definite rumbling in the student body, however, that assemblies three times per week get a bit tedious. The students see them as something that gets them out of class, for good or bad; the administration sees them as a time for the school to get together, bolster school spirit and pride and promote achievement. Teachers have mixed feelings, as we typically would really like to have that 25 minutes to get caught up on paperwork instead of listening to speakers talk to kids. It's a good cause but a tedious one nonetheless.

After assembly is Morning Tea, also known as Interval. This is a national phenomenon whereby a workplace or school grinds to a halt for 20 minutes while everyone takes a break. Our morning tea happens at 11 am. The boys will eat half of their lunch outside while the staff heads to the staff room for a cup of tea and perhaps a snack. Some staff, myself included, use the time for a bathroom break, then grab a cup of tea or coffee to drink while we catch up on our photocopying or other paperwork. I tend to not take down time in the staff room. While I like the concept of spending 15 minutes every morning to relax with your co-workers, I tend to have a smoother day when I can use that time to take care of those little odds and ends that clutter your brain.

The boys enjoy what basically amounts to recess for grown-ups. They get to hang out outside because they have nowhere to be that is 'inside.' Classrooms are organised into small buildings called "blocks" that may have a hallway in them but for the most part no place to really spread out. Most kids play a game called Handball (or Four Square) on the quad, both simple games that involve skilfully bouncing a tennis ball past your opponent. A lot of other boys organise touch Rugby or soccer games out on the fields. For the most part they run around, blow off some physical steam and get sweaty before coming back to class.

After morning tea we have third and fourth periods. A little information about class changes is in order here. Those of us who grew up in the US public education system remember very well the 'tardy bell,' that audible finish line that signalled the end of our 4 minute dash to the next class. This bell determined out late or on-time status and provided a very solid and fair reminder of the daily schedule.

The tardy bell does not exist in New Zealand. If it does, it's probably gone feral and is hiding in the bush somewhere.

Here, you get teachers who wait patiently for students to get to within shouting distance or line-of-sight proximity of their class. They then start giving the students a host of clues that tell them that lateness is really at the teacher's discretion. Most teachers are sympathetic to the plight of the kids who have to get changed after PE and are racing to get from the changing rooms across campus to the English Building. Others have a hardline policy: if I'm here before you are, you're late. Most teachers don't hang out in one classroom all day. Most of us have office space in a shared departmental work room and teach in a variety of classrooms throughout the day. The physical environment is a lot like a University campus. The bells, however, remind me just how relaxed (read 'subjective') a lot of things in New Zealand are. This means that teachers often have to race across campus just like the kids, or at least make their way from office to classroom. This helps to lend credibility to the "if I'm here, you're late" rule. After all, most of us are either pretty old or wear high heeled shoes. "There really is no excuse not to beat me here, boys," is a well-like and well-accepted phrase among the staff.

Lunch for the students and staff is from 12:50 to 1:30. The late lunch isn't so bad once you remember that breakfasts here are eaten around 7 am and most people have a snack at 11. Most kids pack a lunch from home and carry them in plastic grocery sacks. They have access to a school store called a canteen that sells hot pies and sausage rolls along with cup o' noodles, chips, drinks, and candy bars. The canteen itself is a small building that operates like a Dairy Queen. It has large windows that opens directly to a wide open lot area. The boys line up at the window assigned to their class (for organisational purposes) and teachers are on duty to make sure the shoving is kept to a minimum and that food fights don't happen. Food choice is pretty limited at the canteen, so most kids choose to pack a lunch. There is no hot lunch service, nor is there a cafeteria.

At lunch and morning tea our Deputy Headmaster wanders the grounds with the Scab crew. These are boys who have been assigned to litter picking duty by their teachers for misbehaving in class. It helps to keep the kids in line and the school clean. Other teaches wander around the school grounds at their assigned times of the day to make sure the kids are behaving. This is akin to the playground duty that elementary teachers have to do, only with high school boys. It seemed patronising to both teachers and students at first, from my perspective, but it does keep the bullying and littering to a minimum. While on duty, teachers are expected to remind students to straighten out their uniforms or pick up litter from their lunch and throw it away in the garbage cans. Mostly, though, we are a presence and try to basically chat with the kids in a friendly way. Things stay light, in order, and generally friendly that way.

After lunch we have 5th and 6th periods and then the release bell goes off at 3:10. Students are expected to stack their chairs on the desks of their sixth period classroom and pick up any big pieces of garbage on the classroom floor. They do this quickly then flee, literally, in a shoving mass of green polo shirts across the school grounds. We teachers stick around for meetings or get things tidied up and ready for the next day. The surfers on staff grab their stack of papers that need grading and run out the door just as fast as the kids. They'll drive about 40 minutes to the western beaches to catch a few waves before sundown; they'll finish their paperwork after dinner.

What do I do at the end of the day, you might ask? I stay as late as I need to in order to get things done. I typically get to school between 7:20 and 7:40 am and I usually leave between 5 and 5:30 pm. I tried taking work home there for a while but I just couldn't figure out how to turn my brain off when I did that. I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about assignments or lessons plans or problems I had with individual students during the day. Generally, taking work home is a practice that doesn't work well with me.

So I stick around until my desk is as clear as it needs to be for the following day. Then I go home, eat dinner and fall asleep on the couch 10 minutes into my favourite TV show.