Carey College
"In your light we see light." Psalm 36:9
helping parents nurture children in excellence and truth for Christ
Our small classes, flexible courses, and biblically shaped school life enable us to fulfil our commitment to helping you nurture your children in excellence and truth for Christ.
Copyright © 2011
Carey College
All Rights reserved
Carey College
21 Domain Road, Panmure,
Auckland 1072,
New Zealand
E-Mail: enquiries@carey.school.nz
Do not send unsolciited
commercial email
Carey College
All Rights reserved
Carey College
21 Domain Road, Panmure,
Auckland 1072,
New Zealand
E-Mail: enquiries@carey.school.nz
Do not send unsolciited
commercial email
Small School: a Past Pupil Speaks Up
Past Pupil Emilie Fisher found Carey College's small size was one of the features of the school that prepared her for university. Guest at our 2007 Final Assembly, Emilie told the assembly learning that faith and education were linked was as important for her as getting an education that taught her to think, and prepared her for the challenges of biomedical science.
Here is the text of her speech:
For those of you who don't know me, I finished my 7th form year (year 13) at Carey College in 2005. Currently I am studying biomedical science at Auckland University. For me the education at Carey has been a springboard to allow me to do what I am doing now and face the challenges as they come along.
I learnt a lot at Carey. I spent thirteen years there so you would hope I learnt something! I think the most important lesson I learnt was how to think. It took a while to get that one drummed into me, but they started early. Right from year one in everything we did we were taught to use initiative and think things through for ourselves. We also had to take full responsibility for our performance both academic and behavioural. Most of what we did forced us to stretch our minds and grasp new concepts. I was not the best of students, but these lessons learned from day one at school have proved invaluable even in the two short years since I left.
There were other less academic lessons too. Being in such a small school meant that we had to learn how to get on with other age groups and with people who had difficult personalities. This environment could get claustrophobic at times, but learning to deal with these problems was good for us, although as I recall it didn't seem good at the time.
I don't know what the sizes of the classes are like now, but when I was going through, the classes got smaller the further through I went. By the time I reached 6th and 7th form - years 12 and 13 - I found that we had to interact with teachers at a more adult level. This is quite similar to the situation at university, and needless to say after having Mr Drake as a teacher I am not afraid of asking questions of any of my lecturers.
Making the transition from school to university is something most people are quite nervous about. They also make quite a big deal about it when you first arrive. I was nervous. I was going from classes of three people to classes of hundreds. It took me about a week to settle in and a couple of weeks to find the best routes between classes. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. The only major issue I had was I did not find my lab room in advance and ended up missing my first lab because I got totally lost in the biology building. Other than that I had no real problems making the adjustment.
I have gone on a bit about the way the education I received at Carey has benefited me academically and socially since I left school, but this is not why my parents chose Carey for my brothers and me. They sent us to Carey because they believed that we could not be fully equipped for life if they tried to separate faith and education. I'm inclined to agree with them. Ultimately if you do not have faith, the rest is meaningless. What does it matter what you do with your life if there is just oblivion at the end of it? No matter how much money you make or power you gain, you cannot take it with you when you die. One of the reasons I am a Christian today is that being at Carey forced me to face this reality every day, no matter how much I wanted to escape from it. I realised that without faith nothing you do actually has any meaning. Life can get pretty depressing and very lonely.
All I can say to those of you who are still at school is make the most of the opportunity you are being given here. It will equip you for life. Any shortcomings that the school has are more than outweighed by its strengths.
No matter what challenges you may face, however, you can rest assured that God has a plan in place that is much bigger than you. Even when you don’t know where you are headed, He does. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.'
Past Pupil Emilie Fisher found Carey College's small size was one of the features of the school that prepared her for university. Guest at our 2007 Final Assembly, Emilie told the assembly learning that faith and education were linked was as important for her as getting an education that taught her to think, and prepared her for the challenges of biomedical science.
Here is the text of her speech:
For those of you who don't know me, I finished my 7th form year (year 13) at Carey College in 2005. Currently I am studying biomedical science at Auckland University. For me the education at Carey has been a springboard to allow me to do what I am doing now and face the challenges as they come along.
I learnt a lot at Carey. I spent thirteen years there so you would hope I learnt something! I think the most important lesson I learnt was how to think. It took a while to get that one drummed into me, but they started early. Right from year one in everything we did we were taught to use initiative and think things through for ourselves. We also had to take full responsibility for our performance both academic and behavioural. Most of what we did forced us to stretch our minds and grasp new concepts. I was not the best of students, but these lessons learned from day one at school have proved invaluable even in the two short years since I left.
There were other less academic lessons too. Being in such a small school meant that we had to learn how to get on with other age groups and with people who had difficult personalities. This environment could get claustrophobic at times, but learning to deal with these problems was good for us, although as I recall it didn't seem good at the time.
I don't know what the sizes of the classes are like now, but when I was going through, the classes got smaller the further through I went. By the time I reached 6th and 7th form - years 12 and 13 - I found that we had to interact with teachers at a more adult level. This is quite similar to the situation at university, and needless to say after having Mr Drake as a teacher I am not afraid of asking questions of any of my lecturers.
Making the transition from school to university is something most people are quite nervous about. They also make quite a big deal about it when you first arrive. I was nervous. I was going from classes of three people to classes of hundreds. It took me about a week to settle in and a couple of weeks to find the best routes between classes. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. The only major issue I had was I did not find my lab room in advance and ended up missing my first lab because I got totally lost in the biology building. Other than that I had no real problems making the adjustment.
I have gone on a bit about the way the education I received at Carey has benefited me academically and socially since I left school, but this is not why my parents chose Carey for my brothers and me. They sent us to Carey because they believed that we could not be fully equipped for life if they tried to separate faith and education. I'm inclined to agree with them. Ultimately if you do not have faith, the rest is meaningless. What does it matter what you do with your life if there is just oblivion at the end of it? No matter how much money you make or power you gain, you cannot take it with you when you die. One of the reasons I am a Christian today is that being at Carey forced me to face this reality every day, no matter how much I wanted to escape from it. I realised that without faith nothing you do actually has any meaning. Life can get pretty depressing and very lonely.
All I can say to those of you who are still at school is make the most of the opportunity you are being given here. It will equip you for life. Any shortcomings that the school has are more than outweighed by its strengths.
No matter what challenges you may face, however, you can rest assured that God has a plan in place that is much bigger than you. Even when you don’t know where you are headed, He does. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.'
Biggest is not always best!
The short answer to the question, "How can such a small school teach well?" is to point to our success:
Carey College has multiple top-of-the-world, top-of-New Zealand and Top-School awards from CIE (Cambridge). In fact, we have more of those awards per pupil than any other New Zealand school. And we offer a bigger subject range and more flexible choices than any other school in our disctrict.
How do we do it? The same way we achieve excellence and variety in all primary and secondary classes: with God's help, and with flexibility and personal care that can only be achieved in such a small school.
The short answer to the question, "How can such a small school teach well?" is to point to our success:
Carey College has multiple top-of-the-world, top-of-New Zealand and Top-School awards from CIE (Cambridge). In fact, we have more of those awards per pupil than any other New Zealand school. And we offer a bigger subject range and more flexible choices than any other school in our disctrict.
How do we do it? The same way we achieve excellence and variety in all primary and secondary classes: with God's help, and with flexibility and personal care that can only be achieved in such a small school.
