Hamilton Christian School Integration
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
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Will these roadworks affect you?
Don’t expect a quick trip between Cambridge and Tamahere for much of this year, because major roadworks are starting.
Asphalt works on that section of Waikato Expressway will run from March through to late 2026, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) says. Motorists are warned to plan for significant delays.
“Unfortunately the pavement, particularly in the slow lanes, has deteriorated faster than expected,” NZTA’s Roger Brady said.
Will these roadworks affect you? Tell us more in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).
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