Forty percent of the 224 school-aged children at Gloriavale attend the school. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
Gloriavale has been given another week to respond to Ministry of Education concerns about student safety, as officials consider closing the West Coast Christian community's school.
Secretary for Education Ellen MacGregor-Reid wrote to the private school last month, advising that she was considering cancelling its registration, after a second failed Education Review Office (ERO) audit in as many years.
July's ERO report found Gloriavale Christian School had not met three of eight registration criteria, and was not a physically and emotionally safe space for students.
Gloriavale's school leadership had five weeks to respond to the secretary's letter, with a deadline of 7 November.
Ministry of Education acting hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (South) Andrea Williams said officials met school leaders on Friday morning.
"The Ministry of Education has formally notified Gloriavale Christian School that it is considering cancelling the school's registration," she said. "Gloriavale has sought additional information to support the preparation of its response to the notice.
"This was provided today and a one-week extension has been granted to allow the school time to consider the new information in preparing its response. The school now has until Friday, 14 November to submit its response.
"Once the school's response is received, the ministry will carefully review all relevant information, before making a decision.
"There is no fixed timeframe for this process, but the ministry will ensure it proceeds within a reasonable period and will keep the school informed about when a decision can be expected."
Education officials met Gloriavale school leaders on 23 July to express concerns about its compliance with registration requirements and issue a second formal "notice to comply".
In August, Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad called for the school's urgent closure, saying she had zero confidence that students were safe.
The Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust favoured a special transitional model for the children's education, if the school closed, saying the community's hostels were not an appropriate place for homeschooling.
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 wellbeing.
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 followed 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".
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