A Waipā couple hopes to set up one of 15 charter schools the coalition government approved in this year’s Budget.
Ray and Maxine Nelson
Ray and Maxine Nelson – founders and directors of Ignite Arts Academy in Cambridge – are working with education consultant and former principal Alwyn Poole on an application due August 9.
If successful, the charter school would open in term one next year.
The government has set aside $153 million for charter schools over the next four years.
Maxine Nelson said the couple had put feelers out to lease suitable premises able to accommodate 120 students aged from 11-15 years.
Ray & Maxine Nelson, together with their three children, Brianna, Joshua and Jacob.
It has been a dream for them to establish a charter school since their return to New Zealand from the United States in 2011.
They started Ignite which delivers music, dance, drama and holiday workshops for children and provides the community with a place to discover and nurture their performing arts passion.
“We see so many different kids that don’t fit in the box,” she said.
“We need to do something – it’s a sense of calling (for us).”
Maxine Nelson from Ignite Arts Academy spots someone she knows in the crowd at a recent Christmas parade. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The two are committed Christians.
“Children are very, very capable. When children are having fun, they learn like crazy,” she said.
The environment would suit teachers who wanted to teach outside of the box and children struggling in traditional schools.
Alwyn Poole
Charter schools aim to provide teachers and parents with more choice.
An average school day is split with academic work in the morning – English, maths, science, technology and science studies – and arts and activities in the afternoon which would include learning and service in the community.
There would be a maximum of 15 students in each class and 40-minute lunch breaks. The new school would be fees-free and government-funded.
Poole, who moved from Cambridge to Auckland earlier this year, said if successful it would be the third charter school he helped establish.
Twenty years ago, he wrote a project-based curriculum model that resulted in Mount Hobson Middle School, where he was principal for 18 years.
Two more schools based on the same system were later opened in south and west Auckland, following charter school legislation in 2012.
The first charter schools opened in 2014 but four years later then education minister Chris Hipkins shut them down saying they were a “failed expensive experiment.”
Poole said the Nelsons’ track record with Ignite and their background made them ideal candidates to run a charter school.
“Their reputation is very good,” he said.
Success go get it. Photo: Gerd Altmann, pexels.com
