First School Day

Yesterday was my first day at school and i must say, I'm impressed. From the very gate of the school all the way to the gym halls and Chemistry labs, everything is new, renovated and intuitive. The school offers great sport arrangements, including football fields, tennis courts and even an indoor swimming pool! For those that are interested in arts and music, there are really awesome art and music departments available full of various resources available to students. Don't even get me started on the library, it's 2 floors high and contains a brad variety of textbooks, novels and other forms of literature. However, there are some small apparent differences from a typical dutch school such as the prohibition of bags in class, the appointment of a 'House' with a house master, the fashion to start the lesson ager about 10 minutes of discussing with the teacher and classmates, the use of laptops at any lesson and the prohibition of technology during lunch breaks. Another interesting matter, is how focused and centralised the school is on sports. I can recall my Physics teacher asking the class for the name of, I quote, 'the one who is a really good swimmer in year 12'. The school has its technology areas, great sports facilities, a wide array of language and mathematics and an interesting technology section. Something that Newington college does have but dutch schools often miss, is the integration of technology into the school's basic education ideologies. As such, Newington College disposes computers and iPads to students that need them in all years. However, the teachers and staff know how to make sure that these facilities and luxuries are maintained and use properly and responsibly. The school also teaches its students how to to grow up and be real men and respect others not only inside school, but also further in life. Overall, i have very much enjoyed my experience at Newington so far and am looking forward to attending school on Sydney.