CGA: Breaking geographical barriers to give New Zealand children access to top teachers
Over the past two years, New Zealand's difficult economic climate has seen many excellent teachers move to Australia or to smaller cities to reduce their living costs. Yet as a teacher shortage began to emerge nationwide, one New Zealand school received a letter of thanks from a student.
Over the past two years, New Zealand's difficult economic climate has seen many excellent teachers move to Australia or to smaller cities to reduce their living costs. Yet as a teacher shortage began to emerge nationwide, one New Zealand school received a letter of thanks from a student.
In her letter, the student described how her school had many excellent teachers, including one whose dedication went above and beyond. Coming from an immigrant family, she struggled to keep up in English. Her teacher, Ms Elise, regularly gave her individual support outside class and, whenever she felt like giving up, repeatedly called to encourage her, refusing to let her use any excuse to back out. With this persistent support, Ms Elise helped a child with a weak foundation in English make enormous progress. Now, the student is about to graduate!
The Ms Elise mentioned in the student's letter is an English teacher at CGA, New Zealand's first online secondary school. Founded in New Zealand and registered with the Ministry of Education, CGA selects the best teachers from around the world, without geographical constraints, to ensure its students consistently have access to top teaching expertise. Its students, too, come from across the globe, greatly broadening the horizons of New Zealand students studying at CGA. They can compete with peers from other countries while also learning from one another's strengths.
Thanks to its dedicated, responsible teachers and the healthy competition they foster, CGA's students have consistently achieved outstanding results: 40% study ahead of their age level, and 88% achieve an A in their A level examinations. CGA departs from the traditional practice of placing students in year groups by age, grouping them by ability instead. This fully meets students' and parents' desire for teaching tailored to individual needs. Like other private schools, CGA has an entrance examination to ensure your child is at a similar level to their classmates, providing an environment of healthy competition. Small classes allow teachers to give each child's individual needs the greatest possible attention! CGA offers both full-time and part-time study, catering for every student seeking a high-quality education.
Student's letter: I am writing this to draw attention to a teacher who perfectly embodies this fostering environment, Ms.Elise Marlow, my English Literature teacher. She has spent several hours outside of class time, personally teaching me; pushing my writing abilities and understanding of the novels studied in the course. There have been numerous occasions where I felt like giving up, however, Ms.Elise wouldn\'t allow me, sometimes even forcing me to stay on calls for extended periods of time (it felt like she cared about my studies more than I did). The result of this is a significant increase in my writing quality and a much higher grade. Not only that, she made my English class feel like one big family, I never felt afraid of speaking or giving any suggestions. This was especially important to me because English is not my mother tongue, so I wasn\'t particularly confident in my abilities in the first place. I have even made some very close friends through English Class, some of which I talk to on a daily basis out of class. Is it possible to recognize her for this? It would really mean the world to me!