• Proprietor Trust and Board of Trustees are led by Christians
• Teaching staff are required to be Christian and are trained to integrate their faith with their teaching practice
• New Zealand Curriculum delivered from a Christian perspective ( ie pupils learn about God’s world and their place in it ) CST schools prepare pupils to engage influentially with the world, not retreat from it.
• Christian virtues are to be lived and taught
• A strong emphasis is placed on academic development, in balance with character formation
• The Special Character is defined as Protestant, evangelical and interdenominational
• Priority of Enrolment is given to families who desire their children to have a Christian education.
• There is a strong commitment to excellence

Tūmanako Christian College is seeking state integration. We believe that this is the best way to provide affordable Christian education and being able to give the community confidence that the school will provide excellent education using the New Zealand curriculum.

A very good relationship and structure diagram is found at http://www.nzcpt.nz/overview/

The owner (proprietor) of a school enters into partnership with the Crown, so that the school, while being part of the State funded public education system, has a defined ‘Special Character’ which distinguishes it from other schools in the State system. The proprietor is the legal owner of the land and buildings and has the responsibility to protect the Special Character of the school. Day to day operations, as in state schools, are governed by a Board of Trustees. The proprietors appoint trustees to represent them on the Board.

While functioning in every way as any other trustee on the board, their special interest is to protect, maintain and enhance the Special Character. An Integrated school is subject to Government review through the Education Review Office in the same way as any other state school.

The Private Schools’ Conditional Integration Act 1975 provides state integrated schools with a legal right:

• To teach, develop and implement programmes reflecting the faith and or educational philosophy articulated in the special character, and to establish customs and traditions that authentically reflect these.
• To administer staff appointments and arrange staff composition in a manner that recognises the special character of the school.
• In the first place to enrol children of parents who identify strongly with the special character of the school.
• To uphold the right of the school’s community to make a tangible financial contribution towards the cost of maintaining the school by way of fees.

The land trust is a private entity, the ‘proprietor’, that owns the school buildings and land and is responsible for ensuring the buildings meet Ministry standards. The proprietor is also responsible for ensuring the special character is maintained.

The board of trustees is responsible for the governance and the control of the management of the school. The board is the employer of all staff in the school, is responsible for setting the school’s strategic direction in consultation with parents, staff and students, and ensuring that its school provides a safe environment and quality education for all its students. Boards are also responsible for overseeing the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance and administration.

Tūmanako Christian College will use the New Zealand Curriculum.

Christian schools seek to educate in a way where the faith and worldview of the Christian family are reinforced.

Before any school can start teaching they must first decide what is important. This forms the basis of all education. As a society we teach students what we believe is important for them to know. What we decide is important is actually determined by what we believe.
Christians believe the world belongs to God. He has a plan for it and for all who live in it. Christian education is not about avoiding the world. Rather it seeks to engage with the culture and prepare students for lives that reflect, serve and honour God. It is about acknowledging God in every subject area; indeed, in every area of life.

We are preparing our students for adulthood and equipping them to lead lives where their beliefs are integrated to all they do, that they do not feel a divide between their “secular” and “sacred” selves.

“A person’s worldview contains two important features. First, it includes the set of beliefs the person accepts, especially those about important matters such as reality, God, value, knowledge, and so on. But a worldview is more than just a set of beliefs… a worldview includes the rational structure that occurs among the set of beliefs that constitute it. Some beliefs are central and basic, while others are relatively peripheral… Belief in the reality of God, the faithfulness and reliability of the Bible, and the deity and humanity of Christ are central to a Christian worldview… In understanding a worldview, it is important to grasp the relevant set of ideas along with the various support relations that take place among them.”

p33 The Kingdom Triangle, J.P. Moreland

Another helpful link is: http://www.whychristianschools.com.au/wcs/the-purpose-of-education.html

Tūmanako Christian College aims to provide excellent Christian education that is affordable. While the fees have not yet been set, we will be making every endeavour to keep them as low as possible. Fees paid to the land trust are set according to debt repayments, not for profit, in accordance with Ministry of Education guidelines. Thus, the WCET are currently working to raise funds for the property so that these fees are kept to a minimum.

WCET Wellington Christian Education Trust

NZCPT New Zealand Christian Proprietors’ Trust

NZACS New Zealand Association of Christian Schools

Tūmanako Christian College aims to open at the start of 2019. It will operate according to Government guidelines.