What about your school?

What is school?

School is where you get an education and learn lots of information about life, society and the world. You also get to learn new skills and have fun. School is not only the school buildings, it's also the kids and teachers, and all the things you do there.
School is where most of you spend a lot of your time, from about 5 to 16 years of age.
You may have been to a preschool or kindergarten before starting in a Primary school.
You may stay at school until you are 18 if you want to go on to University or College. school

School plays an important part in your life.

Some people don't get a chance to go to school.

* Maybe there are no schools near where they live. Maybe they can learn through correspondence courses, where they are sent lessons to work on at home, and then they send the work off to be marked.
* Maybe they have home tutoring where mum, dad or a teacher works with them in their own home.
* Maybe there are no schools in their part of the world or maybe they can only go to school for a short time.
* Maybe they are not allowed to go to school .
* Maybe they go to a special school for children who need special help with their learning.

There are many different kinds of schools and every one is different in some way.

Learning

Whatever kind of school you go to, the main reason for being there is to learn.

You need to learn to be able to live the best life that you can.

classroom

You learn many things at school.
* You learn lots of facts about the world we live in.
* You learn lots of skills that you will be able to use all your life.
* You learn how to get on with other people.
* You learn about values.
* You learn about yourself.

Communicating

One of the most important things you learn at school is how to communicate.

Communication is about being able to talk to others, to tell what you have learned, to explain your ideas, to solve problems, to think clearly and logically, and to listen.
You can communicate in many different ways.
* Speaking --- and listening to what others say.
* Writing in lots of different ways. friends
* Through art work.
* Using computer skills.
* Using media skills like making movies, PowerPoint presentations and photographs.
Communicating with others is a very important part of what you learn in school.

Working together

Just think how hard life would be if we went back to the times when every person had to find or grow his own food, build his own shelter, make his own clothes, fetch his own water and so on.

Nowadays people have different jobs, so that the work they do is shared by others.

Everybody works together to make our lives easier.
* School is a good place to learn how to work together.
* School and class rules are there to help people work together.
* Teachers help people work together.
* Teachers and parents/caregivers work together to help kids learn.

Playing together

School is a great place for finding lots of other kids to play with!

You can learn many things from other kids, like games, sports, how to play a new computer game, how to use the internet, or draw cartoons and all sorts of other things.

Learning to play together is a great way to practise your communication skills and your working together skills.

friends

Of course it is also FUN.

Note: sometimes playing is not fun, for example, if you can't find a friend. See our topics on "Friendship" and "Making friends", for more information

Getting the most out of school

There are many kids around the world who would be really happy to go to school and learn enough to be able to improve their lives. Many kids are already working when most of you are just starting school.

So, if you are one of the lucky kids who can go to school, here are some ideas from other kids to help you make the most of it.

* "Try hard to learn."
* "Be a good listener."
* "Finish work on time, then you don’t get into trouble or start feeling stressed."
* "Be friendly and nice to people."
* "Get involved in school life, like take on a job, join a club or sport."
* "Enjoy your days at school. If you waste your time at school it is your life that you are wasting."