Leaver fears ‘unofficial schools’ will pop up in Gloriavale
Homeschooling families in Gloriavale have failed a recent review by the Education Review Office, it is understood.
About half of the 224 school-aged children living in the Gloriavale community are home-schooled, nearly 40% are enrolled at the Gloriavale School – which has had its registration cancelled by the Ministry of Education – and the remainder are enrolled with Te Kura.
The ministry confirmed it was cancelling Gloriavale Christian School’s registration as a private school, as of January 23.
It said it was necessary because the school was not an emotionally and physically safe environment.
Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust manager Liz Gregory told RNZ all of the families homeschooling their children had an ERO review.
“Last week they all found out that they had failed. So that also is a signal that homeschooling in the community, is clearly not [a] physically or emotionally safe option either,” she said.
She said the ministry would need to work with each family to come up with an individual plan for term 1.
“It’s going to have to be resourced, that will need a wide range of supporting networks, social service provision, counselling support… We believe the families in Gloriavale, given better options, more opportunities, better understanding, better information, will actually choose good options for their children. They do love their children,” she said.
The members had been taught for 50 years that outside schools were evil and wicked, so there would be a fear and anxiety amongst parents.
“I think that can be dampened down with really caring transitional support.”
The nearest primary school to Gloriavale is Lake Brunner School in Moana, which has a roll of 65 students.
Former Gloriavale member, Hopeful Disciple, who worked at the school under a Limited Authority to Teach, said he believed most parents would want to homeschool their children, rather than send them to a public school.
“The parents could try to home school their kids in groups so it would be like unofficial school. That’s something that could happen unfortunately,” he said.
In 2024, ERO said the large majority of children receiving education through home-schooling were taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school.
However, it also said the scope and coverage of the curriculum offered at the school and in home schooling was limited, as was accessibility to a range of career and tertiary pathways options available to students.
It said it reviewed the provision for 96 of the 108 children exempted from attending a registered school and found more than half the children were being taught different curriculums than was approved in the exemption.
Key reasons identified by parents for home schooling included wanting a successful education for their children, keeping their children safe, responding to challenges of children’s behaviour and staff shortages in the school.
It found some of the curriculums being used did not provide pathways to recognised secondary school qualifications, which was sufficient for younger learners, but not older ones.
“In future, as children age, fewer home school programmes will meet the threshold for educating children as well as in a registered school, if not adapted overtime.”
It also said resourcing for home schooling families was not equitable across the community. A wide range of factors contribute to this, including where people are permitted to live and the number of people living within an area.
It said 29 students, including all senior secondary level students, were being taught through distance learning or Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu.
The students study independently with supervision from parents and reported having access to adequate digital devices, equipment, resources and facilities, but managing distractions in busy home environments remained a challenge.
Former member Serena Pilgrim said the wellbeing of the children who would be schooled outside Gloriavale must remain of the utmost importance.
“What will happen when the children go back to Gloriavale after being schooled externally? It is possible they will be closely supervised by the shepherds and their parents, to ensure the community’s worldview may continue to be reinforced. While this cannot be said with certainty, similar concerns have been raised in the past,” she said.
Other former members of Gloriavale welcomed the decision.
“It will be a big deal for many people. The school has been central to everything. But there are solutions. Even if we don’t know all the answers yet, what matters most is that children get a proper education comparable to other children in New Zealand,” said one former member.
Another former member said the moment was both hopeful and confronting.
“It’s a massive event. I’m excited about the good outcomes this could bring, while also understanding how tough this will be for parents who have been told for years that any outside intervention is persecution of their faith.”
ERO said it did not publicly release the results of homeschooling reviews, citing the Privacy Act.
The Gloriavale School Board said in a statement to The Press it was “deeply disappointed” by the ministry’s decision.
“We believe this decision is unjust and does not reflect the significant efforts we have made to address concerns raised.
“The position taken by the ministry is not accepted and will be challenged.”