Haldon Unit

At its monthly meeting this week, Te Kura's Board of Trustees approved a recommendation to cease funding the Haldon Unit in South Canterbury.

Board Chair Trish McKelvey said the Board acknowledged the impact of its decision on the families who use the unit. “The Board discussed the matter at length and considered all the submissions we received from the local community. We are certainly sympathetic to how the families are feeling, but this is an additional service available to a handful of students and one that is very difficult to justify to our other full-time students who learn at home with their families.”

With the exception of the Haldon Unit students, all 4000 or so full-time students enrolled with Te Kura learn at home, where they are supervised by a parent, a grandparent or other family member.  This includes around 100 families who, like the families at Haldon, live in geographically remote areas far from the nearest school.

Six children attend the Unit, where a supervisor oversees the children while they complete their school work. To date Te Kura has paid the salary of the supervisor, along with internet costs and an annual book grant.  Children who attend the Unit are enrolled with Te Kura and have a teacher in Wellington who sets their learning programme, marks their work, and provides feedback on progress to their parents.

In a letter to the Unit’s parents committee in September, parents were invited to give feedback on a proposal by Te Kura to cease funding the Unit. Eleven submissions were received and considered by the Board.

Ms McKelvey said the cost of the supervisor’s salary alone exceeds the funding Te Kura receives for the six students currently enrolled at the Unit.

“We receive around $5000 per full-time equivalent student, which must cover all the costs of educating that student, including teacher time and the development and provision of teaching resources – booklets, CDs, DVDs etc. The salary of the supervisor alone is more than $40,000 per annum. So it is a very expensive service for a very small number of students and is effectively being subsidised by our other students, who do not have access to this kind of additional support.

“For many families, having a student of this age learning at home is a struggle, particularly where both parents need to work. There are a number of areas across New Zealand where families with Te Kura students are forming communities where their children learn together, and we encourage and support this wherever we can, but Haldon is the only place where we provide a paid supervisor onsite for six or seven students five days a week.

“The children will continue to be enrolled with Te Kura unless their parents choose to enroll them in a local school. They will continue to receive teaching from their teacher here in Wellington, who they know and are in regular contact with.”