Still in the dark...

I have been here in NZ for almost three years, now, and I still have to ask the children to decipher the papers they bring home. I'm not enthralled with some parts of the NZ education system, anyway, so I shouldn't be surprised.

It's not like we don't all speak English. It's that the writers of the papers (and the newspaper, too, for that matter, but I digress....) apparently think you're psychic or have had children doing the same activities in the past and they don't want to bore you with details.

A couple of weeks ago, Otterboy brought home some papers for an overnight stay in Wellington. It said when they were leaving and how much it costs and when to have the money in and 'please return this permission slip' blah, blah, blah... It didn't mention what adults were going, how many adults were going or even where they were going to stay, but we were to make sure the permission slip was turned in asap. You can bet I emailed the principal and I got a prompt response with all the info I requested before we signed the paper.

I just don't get it...do NZer's send their kids off to anything the school offers and assume it's all ok because it's from the school? If they do, shame on them!

I have emailed both the primary school and the high school in our district and explained that they should quit assuming that parents have gone through these things before. I had a one-on-one with a teacher and explained to her that I have not done this before and giving too much information is infinitely better than not enough.