The Government’s first new charter school, set to open in Christchurch in term one next year, has been announced.
Mastery Schools New Zealand – Arapaki is a partner school of Mastery Schools Australia, which has opened five campuses since 2021.
It is a full-time school for year one to eight students who have various learning difficulties and were disengaged from mainstream schooling.
The reintroduction of charter schools has been controversial, with some in the education sector opposed to them. But Associate Education Minister David Seymour said today’s announcement was a “fantastic” example of a school that would “give families and educators more meaningful educational choice and support”.
“This announcement is a significant step in the Government’s efforts to lift educational achievement in NZ,” said the Associate Education Minister. (Source: 1News)
“Student achievement in reading, mathematics and spelling occurred considerably faster than average. Attendance was 82% averaged across all campuses. While students progressed faster than average in reading, mathematics and spelling,” he said.
Seymour said the announcement was a “significant step” in the Government’s efforts to lift educational achievement in New Zealand.
“I want to thank the Charter School Agency and independent Authorisation Board for the work they have done to progress this important work. They oversaw a robust and fair process with 78 applications in the first round.”
Seymour said this was “just the beginning” and more new charter schools would be announced “shortly”.
What are charter schools?
Charter schools are publicly funded but unlike public schools, they’re privately run and can be for profit.
The model provides freedom of choice for curriculum, staffing, school hours, and governance in a bid to give schools more flexibility to lift achievement. Charter schools are run by sponsors who have to report on performance measures to the Authorisation Board.
The Government announced earlier this year it would allocate $153 million from the 2024 Budget to convert 35 state schools into charter schools in 2025, and create 15 new charter schools between 2025 and 2026.
Treasury officials initially advised the Government to deter funding until next year’s Budget, citing “highly uncertain” costs.
The previous charter school model saw $89 million set aside by previous governments to establish and operate 17 charter schools between 2013 and 2018.
The Government is pushing ahead with plans to have charter schools back next year, after they were ditched under Labour. (Source: 1News)
Eleven of those schools were still operating when they were disestablished by the Labour-led government in 2019, but are being revived as part of ACT’s coalition deal with National.
In September, legislation re-introducing charter schools in New Zealand passed its final reading in Parliament, with support from National, ACT and New Zealand First — while Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori opposed.
The independent Charter School Authorisation Board was responsible for deciding which applicants were approved to begin opening charter schools in Term 1, 2025 — with further opportunities to apply in 2025.
Arguments for and against
The re-introduction of charter schools has been controversial, with some praising the move for bringing diversity to the education system, while others were concerned about the independent schools being able to set their own curriculum, hours, and staff pay rates.
Seymour has previously said New Zealand could operate more like England’s “academy” school system.
New Zealand Education Institute’s Mark Potter disagreed, saying charter schools would not provide the improvements that they promise and would be an “expensive experiment”.
Labour’s education spokesperson Jan Tinetti previously said she wanted to scrap charter schools if the party regains power.