Organisation

Class Levels



In New Zealand class levels in schools are age labels in a policy of age and social promotion. When children come to our school at five years of age they enter either a New Entrant or New Entrant/Year 1 class. Numbers in these classes are kept as low as possible to enable children to have the best possible start at school.

Classes are organised as follows:

Year 0-1

5 year olds

Year 2

6 year olds

Year 3

7 year olds

Year 4

8 year olds

Year 5

9 year olds

Year 6

10 year olds

Year 7

11 year olds

Year 8

12 year olds



It is school policy that children beginning school spend approximately two years in the Year 0 -Year 2 level before moving in to Year 3.

The timing of birthdays, level of social and emotional maturity, and level of achievement help us make the decision on the best placement for children. Our aim is to make an educational decision for each child in consultation with parents.



Composite Classes

In each class level there is a wide range of ability which requires teachers to work with groups of children. The School policy is that children should move through School with a group of children who have similar levels of social, emotional and academic achievement. Like most progressive larger New Zealand schools we do this by joining class levels to form composites such as Year 2/ 3 and Year 5/6.

Because our programmes operate on a two year cycle no child repeats a previous year’s programme. Composite classes enable children to be placed in classes of balanced size as they enter during the year and to meet individual needs effectively. Friendships, personality and special needs are factors that are carefully considered in the placement of each child.

From Year 5 a specialist curriculum programme is offered one day per week. A separate brochure is available outlining the delivery of Specialist Education.



Variable Space - Architecture

Colwill School was built as a semi-open plan or variable space School with rooms designed in clusters that allow class groups to be organised in syndicates or teams. Teachers plan and teach co-operatively to make the best use of resources. Classrooms are functional and the flexible spaces means a range of activities can take place in a warm and colourful environment.

As the School has grown, additional single classrooms have been added. These rooms are used for our older students.