Historic Links for New Christian School Campus

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Thursday, 13 August 2009

Historic Links for New Christian School Campus

A Kerikeri site selected for a new Christian school has links to the missionary history of the nation.

The Celebration Trust has lodged an application for Resource Consent to establish a Christian campus on the corner of the Waipapa and Landing Roads in Kerikeri. Trust chairman Mike Shaw of Kaikohe said a purchase agreement has been entered with the current owners, Kerikeri Baptist Church.

“The site is about 500 metres from the historic Kerikeri River basin, often called the Cradle of the Nation,” Mr Shaw said. “It was here that Christian Education was pioneered in the early 1800s as a partnership between the local Iwi and the Church Missionary Society and the same pioneering spirit is evident in this venture,” he said.

The site is also only 500 metres from the newly developed Kerikeri Sports Complex which includes three rugby fields which are now in use, complete with lights. The second stage provides for the construction of the netball courts and squash courts on the eight-hectare site. The council has recently installed footpaths between the proposed school site and sports complex.

The private school operating out of the Frontline Church facilities since 1979 ceased six years ago when the Celebration Trust entered a lease agreement with the Church and established an Integrated campus on the Hone Heke Road site. This meant that the school was no longer private and became affordable and open to families who had a connection to the Christian special character of the School.

“The Trust acknowledges the strong support of parents and community over the years,” Mr Shaw said.

“Now the time has come to move off the Hone Heke Road site, marking the beginning of an exciting new era. Drawing from biblical roots, the architect’s brief has been to design a Beth Midrash, literally a house of study.

“The main use will be educational, with a full primary school able to cater for 100 students and also designed for activities that go hand in hand with Christian education, like church on Sunday and afterschool programmes,” he said.
The design and landscaping will take into account the historical and cultural significance of the site. The Trust’s goal is to have the campus open in 2010. Mr Shaw said that progress already made with the vision was evidence of the collaboration and unity between local churches.  

“The Trust has already raised the finances to purchase the land. If the Crown does not fund the construction of the campus the Trust will raise the additional two million dollars needed by other means.

“In these uncertain financial times the best investment to make is into the Kingdom of God and what better investment than into the Christian education of young Kiwis,” Mr Shaw said.

“We are confident that this vision is of God and one way or another, He will provide.”

He said the project provides an excellent opportunity for people to give their time, money or expertise to a valuable special character school project that increases the choice for Kerikeri parents and students, and lays a positive foundation for families and young people in the area.

Celebration Trust has applied to the Ministry for capital assistance to build the new campus. Mr Shaw said the main obstacle to Government funding the Christian campus was the Ministry of Education’s plan to build a 520 year 1 to 6 School on Waipapa Road.

“The proposed Kerikeri-Waipapa state school is due to open in 2012 with an overall budget of 10.8 million dollars. It has been brought forward as part of the Government’s economic stimulus package,” Mr Shaw said

The Ministry of Education begins its consultation process with the schools affected by the proposed new Kerikeri-Waipapa school in September. Mr Shaw said that some school boards were likely to oppose the proposed Kerikeri-Waipapa School on the belief that it is not needed.

“According to the most recent census figures, 51 percent of the population of Kerikeri have a Christian religious affiliation. There are already two good secular state primary schools, one of which has been well below its capacity since 2007 when zoning was imposed.

“Hopefully, Christian parents in Kerikeri will not find themselves financing through their taxes a duplication of an existing provision while their own school gets marginalised through lack of funding,” he said. The Trust has an Integration Agreement with the Crown, indicating a partnership, but is concerned that any action arbitrarily marginalising the school is not a true partnership.

“Ensuring the provision of capital to build needed classrooms would in fact support the National Government’s policy of increasing parent’s schooling choices and responding to community demand for expanding popular schools,” Mr Shaw said.

“The Government has also said that it will consider parental demand when assessing whether integrated schools can grow their rolls or whether new integrated schools can be established,” he said. “The environment created by this Government is clearly supportive of parental choice. We feel that our local MPs and others within the Ministry and Government will take an open and positive view of what we are trying to achieve here.”

It is significant that the first school in New Zealand was a Christian school in Kerikeri. Historically, local hapu NgatiRehia invited the Christian missionaries into Kerikeri to establish a school in the early 1800s. The Trust has been in discussions with NgatiRehia on how to re-establish and strengthen those relationships between school, church and local iwi.
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