The Old School Bus

The Justice League reading group read "The Old School Bus" by Jennifer Beck. They then compared a country school to a city school.

The Old School Bus by Jennifer Beck

WALT: Compare and contrast a city school with a country school

If you are a child in New Zealand and live on a small farm in the South Island you may go to a country school like in the story ‘The Old School Bus’ by Jennifer Beck. On the other hand if you live in a large city like Auckland you would probably go to a city school like Halsey Drive School.

One similarity between these schools is that both have pupils travel to and from school. However the teacher picks up the children at the country school in a bus. This is probably because their parents may be too busy in the morning on the farm to drive a long way to school. The children in the city usually live closer to their school so can walk, ride scooters or go in the car with their parents. Our teachers don’t pick us up for school because they are too many children to pick up and they are busy preparing for the day.

Another similarity is that both schools have pupils and teachers. However in the country school there was only 15 children and one teacher in the whole school. Halsey Drive has about 500 children and 21 teachers plus two deputy principals, one principal, teacher aides, Takumi who manages ICT and Mr Hewitt who manages the property. We believe going to a city school is better because you have lots more friends and opportunities to learn from different teachers.

Lastly these schools both have rules that the staff and children must follow. However the country school doesn’t have strict rules for instance they can share food and go on a mystery trip. In Halsey Drive school we are not allowed to share food because of allergies and religious reasons. We also can’t just disappear on a trip without parent’s permission. We don’t want to share food because some of us have allergies so we are happy with the city school’s rules.

Overall we think a city school is better for our education and helps us to be better learners because they are more children to play with and make friends. Going to a larger school with more teachers means there is also more fun opportunities to be a singer, play music, dance or play sports like netball, soccer, hockey and cricket.