138 | T T Virginia Wright Christian education continues in Kerikeri The Faith Harvest Trust have built this new school facility with money loaned or gifted by the Christian community in Kerikeri. Faith Harvest Trust: Harvest School COMMUNITY When the families connected to Kerikeri’s Christian school heard that the school was to close back in 2018 it didn’t take them long to come together under the banner of the Faith Harvest Trust with the goal of beginning a new school . They wanted to ensure Kerikeri would continue to have a primary school offering a faith-based education. One of the founding trustees and current presiding member Rose Whitehead, along with the other Faith Harvest trustees, had been involved in the previous school over the last 20 years, mainly through being on staff or their own children being pupils there. Together, they have successfully worked to get the new Harvest Christian School built and state integrated under the New Zealand Christian Proprietors Trust (NZCPT) umbrella. State-integrated schools receive the same government funding for each student as other state schools, such as operational costs, and staff funding, but their buildings and land are not funded by the government and need to be privately owned. This allows for the school to teach the NZ curriculum, but also to be a special character school teaching from a Christian perspective. That’s why the Faith Harvest Trust is a Land Trust. Their project was to find the funds and purchase the land to build a purpose-built educational facility for the school to move into. “We really believe it’s important to give people a choice with education, and we wanted to make sure that Kerikeri would have a local Christian school as an option,” Rose says. “Kerikeri’s Christian history is of great significance. Missionaries presented the first Christian sermon in this area and the first Christian school was said to have been planted here. This has helped inspire the vision carried by the Trust to establish a non-denominational Christian school in our community. “The Faith Harvest Trust have built this new school facility with money loaned or gifted by the Christian community, and many volunteer hours have been invested to see the dream become a reality. Local builders, businesses, tradies and suppliers came on board to give us great pricing and support us in completing the project on a very limited budget, for which we are so grateful.” The Year 1 to 8 school was built over 18 months by New Vision Builders. Work such as painting and plastering was 100% voluntary, the garden and grounds too were entirely voluntary, including 2000 plants being gifted by local businesses and families, including some from the local prison. “There were literally hundreds of hours of hard work put in and it’s because of the volunteers that we now have a Christian school in Kerikeri. Without them it would not have been possible,” says Rose. Harvest Christian School’s stated philosophy is: “Alongside an outward-focused New Zealand curriculum and investigative educational pedagogy, we strive to prepare our students to navigate this rapidly changing world through a Christ-centred biblical perspective.” As a special character school, 90% of their students must have some connection to that character, in this case the Christian faith. The new facility is now officially open and the current school building has capacity for 160 pupils, with a current role of 60, offering a faith-based option to the Kerikeri community. They are proud to offer an alternative for families looking for an education based on Christian morals that isn’t tied to a particular religion. It does not take on the role of a church, and they do not have chapel as such, but the Christian faith is woven through everything they do. There is also, currently, the benefit of smaller classes and, in Rose’s experience, results that continue to stack up, even when the pupils move on to the secondary school of their choice, faith based or not. Each edition priority delivered to your door. . www.waterfordpress.co.nz/subscriptions . . . i i 03 983 5525 Stay informed; we work with business owners and decision-makers across all economic sectors, profiling their success. i ; i i i i - ll i , ili i . Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. r i , r I tr , r . businessnorth Volume 21 | Issue 3 | June 2022 www.waterfordpress.co.nz businessnorth Including; carpet, vinyl, wood, laminate, and vinyl planking. 34 Klinac Lane,Waipapa 0246 Kerikeri, New Zealand theteam@northlandplumbing.co.nz www.northlandplumbing.co.nz Proud to Support Faith Harvest Trust 09 407 9157
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