The Ministry of Education is considering cancelling Gloriavale School’s registration as a private school over concerns that it was not meeting its obligation to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for students.
Andrea Williams, Acting Hautū (leader) of Te Tai Runga (South), said Acting Secretary of Education Ellen MacGregor-Reid had sent a letter to the school, which is based at the religious group’s West Coast commune.
“This is based on the serious concerns raised about whether the school is meeting its obligation to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for students.”
The school’s leadership was given five weeks to respond to the communication. The Ministry must receive any response by November 7.
1News has approached Gloriavale for comment.
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On July 23, ministry staff met with the school and issued a second notice to comply over concerns about its compliance with registration requirements.
A report by the Education Review Office that month had found staff at the school were following the New Zealand curriculum and education provision was “slowly improving”, but it identified a lack of suitable staffing for students with complex and additional needs, who could not go to school because of insufficient equipment to support their physical needs.
According to the report, around 40% of the 224 school-aged children in the community attended the school, with about half homeschooled and the rest enrolled with Te Kura (formerly the correspondence school).
It also noted that the Teaching Council was investigating an allegation of staff misconduct, and the school was instructed to monitor the staff member formally.
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A “range of evidence” had been reviewed by the acting Director of Education.
On August 12, the school provided an updated action plan, detailing how it intended to meet the three unmet criteria required for its registration.
On August 20, Ministry officials met with the school to review the action plan and supporting evidence.
Between August 20 and September 19, staff from the ministry visited the school daily to support teachers and observe the consistent implementation of required policies, procedures, and actions.
On September 19, the ministry found the school had continued to “fall short” of providing a physically and emotionally safe environment for students, as identified in the Education Review Office’s July report.
The July ERO report came after another one in 2023, which found the school did not meet six of the eight criteria for private school registration.
The Gloriavale school has long been in the eye of officials and law enforcement.
In August last year, former teacher Just Standfast was jailed for four years after he pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection against two girls aged seven and 14, 10 charges of indecent assault on girls under the age of 12, and six charges of indecent assault against girls aged between 12 and 16.
He also admitted charges of assault with blunt weapons against five boys and a man. The offending occurred from 1983 until 2023.
In July, then-Gloriavale leader Howard Temple admitted to five charges of indecent assault, five charges of indecent act and two common assault charges. The charges related to unwanted touching, hugging, and kissing over more than two decades.
In January, the school apologised to survivors of historic abuse within the community.
