The Gloriavale compound on the West Coast. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
The Secretary for Education has written to Gloriavale Christian School advising that she is considering cancelling its registration as a private school.
A July Education Review Office (ERO) report found the West Coast Christian community's school had not met three of eight registration criteria and was not a physically and emotionally safe space for students, marking Gloriavale's second failed audit in as many years.
Ministry of Education acting hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (South) Andrea Williams said the school's leadership had been given five weeks to respond to secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid's letter, which must be received by 7 November.
"Under clause 12 of Schedule 7 to the Education and Training Act 2020, the Secretary for Education has issued Gloriavale Christian Community School a letter advising that she is considering cancelling its registration as a private school," she said.
"This is based on the serious concerns raised about whether the school is meeting its obligation to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for students."
Education officials met Gloriavale school leaders on 23 July to express serious concerns about its compliance with registration requirements and issue a second formal "notice to comply".
Since then, the acting Director of Education had reviewed a range of evidence:
- 12 August - Gloriavale Christian School provided an updated action plan to the ministry, detailing how it intended to meet the three unmet criteria required for registration as a private school
- 20 August - Ministry staff met the school to review the action plan and supporting evidence
- 20 August to 19 September - Ministry staff were on site daily to support teaching staff and observe the consistent implementation of required policies, procedures and actions
- 19 September - The ministry determined that the school continued to fall short of providing a physically and emotionally safe environment for students, as identified in the ERO's July report
Dr Claire Achmad Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
In August, Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad called for the school's urgent closure, saying she had zero confidence that students were safe.
She told RNZ the government should show bravery and protect children's rights.
"I'm hugely concerned to see yet another report from ERO outlining a very troubling situation at the Gloriavale school. This is now clear-cut. I'm calling for the school to be closed. I have zero confidence about children's physical and emotional safety and well-being at the school," she said.
If the ministry decided to close the school, Achmad said it would need to create a bespoke transition plan for Gloriavale children to access alternative education.
'It is a big deal'
Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust manager Liz Gregory said the community would "pull out all the stops" to try to avoid a school closure.
"It is a big deal. They will be out there looking for allies on the outside but I think it's a bit risky to be associated with Gloriavale or even helping the Gloriavale school because at the end of the day it's about the welfare of the children," she said.
Liz Gregory Photo:
"The best outcome would be independently delivered education off the site."
Gregory said the community's hostels were not an appropriate place for homeschooling, with the trust favouring a special transitional model for the children's education if the school closed.
"It's not as simple as just putting them on the bus to the local school. It would be quite daunting for parents but I think the children would adjust incredibly quickly. There is going to need to be some very careful thought around this," she said.
Gregory said that might involve establishing a place for Gloriavale children on the grounds of another school or a temporary school staffed and managed independently, with health and well-being checks and educational assessments, to give members time to make decisions about schooling.
"Perhaps they would like to go homeschooling, perhaps they would like to send them to a local school, perhaps they would like to leave Gloriavale," she said.
Gloriavale leaver Hopeful Disciple taught at the school for five years and his wife for 17 years before they left the community in 2021.
He said children were not safe at the "toxic" school, which must close, with proper support for parents.
"They're going to be pretty scared, a bit bewildered as to how to move on and that's why I think there's going to have to be a pretty good, sound plan to help them through that," he said.
"When something is so normalised it's hard for the parents to even comprehend how toxic the school environment is. How do you get across to them that this is not normal, this is not how children should be treated? Children are not safe there."
Disciple urged officials to interact with Gloriavale members as individual families.
"They keep dealing with the leadership instead of with the individuals and it's got to stop," he said.
"It's very near and dear to my heart that each family gets a proper choice as to how they want their children to grow up. Parents genuinely think they have chosen, but they haven't, and it's heartbreaking to see kids still in that situation."
Under the Education and Training Act, the ministry could cancel the registration of a private school if it no longer met the criteria, including providing suitable premises, staffing, curriculum, or ensuring student safety and well-being.
The step was considered only after other avenues had been exhausted and where there was clear and ongoing non-compliance, the ministry said.
While July's ERO report found Gloriavale Christian School staff were following the New Zealand curriculum and education provision was "slowly improving", it identified a lack of suitable staffing for enrolled students with complex additional needs who could not attend because of insufficient equipment to support their physical needs.
The ERO report also noted the Teaching Council was investigating an allegation of staff misconduct and the school had been instructed to formally monitor the staff member.
The report said about 40 percent of the 224 school-aged children at Gloriavale attended the school, while about half were home-schooled and the remainder were enrolled with Te Kura (formerly the Correspondence School).
A damning 2023 ERO review found the school did not meet six of the eight criteria for private school registration and the provision of education was "inadequate and uncertain".
Gloriavale has been contacted for comment.
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