Yesterday, we attended our child’s school’s student-led conference. Before going, we didn’t really have any concept of what it entailed. We expected my child to just give me a brief overview of what she had been learning, and we’d be done in 20 minutes.
But upon arrival, we discovered that the daily life at school is so vibrant and diverse! Here’s a glimpse!
What is a Typical Primary School Day
So what would a typical day look like? Let’s take a public school in New South Wales (NSW) as an example. Classes typically start at 9:00 in the morning (some schools start at 8:30), with two lessons before around 11:00. There’s a twenty-minute break, then another two lessons. Lunch starts around 12:50 and lasts for about 40 minutes. Afternoon classes begin at 1:40 and finish at 3:00.
As for homework, it’s even more diverse. For example, preparing a speech about current events, drawing a nearby park, learning to bake a cake, and raising a small animal. There’s really nothing we can’t think of that teachers wouldn’t assign!
What do kids learn in primary school
- Friendship Soup: Teaching children how to make friends and play together.
- Natural Phonics for Word Learning: Learning words through phonics.
- Daily Records: Keeping track of how many days of school, etc.
- Shape Recognition and Puzzle: Recognising shapes and solving puzzles.
- Plant Growth Process: Learning about the process of plant growth.
- Mathematics Learning
- Writing Books: Reading her compositions to me, each accompanied by a drawing and sentences she wrote, showing us her workbooks one by one!
- STEM class
We didn’t know that she draws so many pictures and writes so many words at school every day!
At school, she learns to write numbers, letters, English sentences, words, numbers, and the unit of inquiry. Other parents are welcome to contribute. Additionally, there are Chinese, drawing, drama, and STEM classes.
All of these assignments are completed at school and are left there, not brought home. No wonder there’s only one book of recognition reading homework every day when she comes home from school. What we see at home every day is just the tip of the iceberg of what she learns at school!
We strongly recommend all parents actively participate in various activities at school to better understand their children’s learning and daily life!