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Speaker 1: Tell you what we did in the last week or so.

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Speaker 1: We paid our last school fees ever. Ever, get this

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Speaker 1: term out of the way, and the high school years

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Speaker 1: at our house are over one of the great insights

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Speaker 1: we've been lucky enough to have over the years. As

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Speaker 1: having five kids, you see a lot of school and

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Speaker 1: you see a lot of schools. We pretty much touched

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Speaker 1: every part of the New Zealand education system. We've been

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Speaker 1: to private school, public school, integrated school, single sex, co ed.

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Speaker 1: We've been to primary, intermediate and high school. We've been

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Speaker 1: to good schools, ordinary schools, exceptional schools. The overarching view

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Speaker 1: is severalfold. One principles make or break a place. We

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Speaker 1: have seen a school whose reputation had been good suffered

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Speaker 1: badly when the principal left and the replacement wasn't seen

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Speaker 1: as particularly good, only to see it markedly improve when

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Speaker 1: a new one came along with a fresh focus and

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Speaker 1: affirmed determination. Two Private schools buys you options and things

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Speaker 1: like extra help and facilities. Money buys choice and expertise.

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Speaker 1: Three teachers very dramatically. In all schools, we've seen a

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Speaker 1: selection of everything from lazy to brilliant, from effective to hopeless.

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Speaker 1: Four all kids are different, possibly the most enlightening thing

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Speaker 1: of all. A school isn't a one stop shop. We

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Speaker 1: had kids at a school you might have thought would

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Speaker 1: do at all. For one child it was it was brilliant.

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Speaker 1: For another, it was a mistake. Five. A lot of

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Speaker 1: it's down to the child. I'm convinced a child who

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Speaker 1: is determined will succeed in any school. A brilliant kid

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Speaker 1: who can't be bothered won't. Six. Parents have to be engaged.

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Speaker 1: School has become a whipping boy, a social welfare department.

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Speaker 1: They're expected to take on any kid with any problem

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Speaker 1: from any home and fix them. That attitude is criminal,

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Speaker 1: and too often it's led by shocking parenting. Seven. There

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Speaker 1: is too much wastage. Take the stuff out of the

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Speaker 1: day that isn't needed. You'd be at school. I reckon

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Speaker 1: about two hours a day. We can do way better. Eight.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure it's all that different than twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: four from when I was there in eighty one. Good

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Speaker 1: teachers are rare, Most schools are fine. Most kids would

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Speaker 1: rather play sport. Essentially like life, you get out of

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Speaker 1: it what you put into it. The only major difference

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Speaker 1: is you pay a shed load more now than you

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Speaker 1: used to. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen

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Speaker 1: live to News Talks at B from six am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio