Back
2304 days ago

Hamilton Christian School Integration

Jamie Neighbourly Lead from Chartwell

I'm excited to let you know that state integration has been confirmed for Hamilton Christian School. This has been a long journey for the school, and will provide opportunity for lower fees, increased roll growth, and stronger support from the Ministry of Education.

The following message is from Principal Shaun Brooker:

Kia ora whānau. It is with great excitement that I let you know I received a phone call from our Labour MP Jamie Strange, to let me know the Minister of Education has now signed our integration deed.

This signals the realisation of Hamilton Christian School becoming an Integrated school from the beginning of 2020. This is the most important step in the school becoming integrated. There are now some finer details that we will work through with the Ministry of Education.

One of those details is the Attendance Dues that we will need to charge for the coming year. While we are very excited that the school will become much more affordable for families we are still required to fund two aspects of the school. One is the buildings as we can now begin some significant building projects for more classrooms and a gymnasium. The second aspect of the school which is not funded by the MoE is our special character. For each of these we need to collect funds from parents, however, in return for the MoE not paying for these the MoE allows us to support our special character as we chose.

To fund the above Hamilton Christian School will charge parents Attendance Dues and Special Character Donation. While we do not have the final amount for these the overall total for these is expected to be approximately one-third of the current costs. For your planning we expect this to be between $1800 and $2400.

Please understand that the benefits of integration go well beyond just the money side of things. We will now have access to more Ministry resources for our students including ESOL support, learning support and behaviour support. We will also be able to access a number of Ministry funded initiatives for our NCEA students particularly in areas of the trades and alternative education.

This is a fantastic day for Hamilton Christian School. Thank you for your prayers and patience through this process.

To God be the Glory.

Shaun

Image
More messages from your neighbours
7 hours ago

Hamilton woman’s $50 flax roses are helping her family get by

Libby Totton Reporter from Waikato Times

Marama Wade sits outside her River Rd home selling harakeke roses for $50, trying to keep food on the table and the rent paid.

The 54-year-old said the reason she’s out there is simple, especially with Valentine’s Day approaching.

“We’re broke. The reality is life is hard.”

Image
1 day ago

Poll: Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

As reported in the Post, there’s a $30 million funding gap in financial mentoring. This has led to services closing and mentors stepping in unpaid just to keep helping people in need 🪙💰🪙

One proposed solution? Small levies on industries that profit from financial hardship — like banks, casinos, and similar companies.

So we want to hear what you think:
Should the government ask these industries to contribute?

Image
Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?
  • 60.6% Yes, supporting people is important!
    60.6% Complete
  • 23.5% No, individuals should take responsibility
    23.5% Complete
  • 15.9% ... It is complicated
    15.9% Complete
315 votes
8 hours ago

Derelict Tokanui Hospital site in line for a clean-up

Libby Totton Reporter from Waikato Times

Derelict Tokanui Hospital buildings will be demolished and contaminated land cleaned up so the site can be offered back to iwi.

The former psychiatric hospital, southeast of Te Awamutu, sits on land taken from Ngāti Maniapoto under the Public Works Act in 1910.

Image