I am writing in reference to the decision to reject the Mt Hobson Middle School Character School application. I would like to communicate the probable consequences of this decision plus give some feedback on the report given to the Education Minister (Mr Chris Hipkins).

First of all for context we would like to give some background on our situation, how and why we are sending our daughter to Mt Hobson Middle School.

Apologies in advance for this indulgence but from what I have read so far there is no demonstrated understanding from the ministry of the personal circumstances of the people this affects.

We have a bright 12 year old daughter named Georgia. Unfortunately Georgia is afflicted with ADHD and requires medication on a daily basis to help her maintain her behaviour and focus on her studies.

Georgia was diagnosed with ADHD 5 years ago. Getting a diagnosis at such a young age was a challenge in itself. As Georgia got older it became more apparent that she was not making meaningful progress at mainstream state school. My wife and I attended numerous meetings with her school over the next four years to try and access assistance for her. This was largely fruitless both from a “lack of funding” for special needs and other circumstances which apparently were beyond the ability of the school to control.

On top of this Georgia, being different, was attracting unfriendly behaviour from other children. This was having a further negative effect on her self-esteem and ability to progress at School.

Last year (2019) Georgia started attending Remuera Intermediate and the situation here proceeded to deteriorate further especially in regard to Georgia’s mental wellbeing. Ultimately she did not want to attend school. In contrast to the primary school Georgia attended, Remuera Intermediate was much more engaging and sympathetic to our situation. Unfortunately despite this, not much more materialised by way of actual assistance for Georgia. I am sure any parent can imagine our anxiety with this situation and being pretty much helpless to provide Georgia with any hope or relief from her situation short of keeping her at home.

During this time we had received multiple independent highly positive recommendations (from other parents who either were in the same situation or had knowledge of others who were) to check out Mt Hobson Middle school, a recommendation interestingly enough also made by Remuera Intermediate.

We meet with Alwyn before the beginning of term 3. He invited Georgia to enrol but unfortunately we had to decline as we simply couldn’t afford the fees (20k per year). Alwyn very generously offered to waive the fees for the rest of the year leaving us with only activity fees. At the time, this offer coupled with the fact that we are a single income household with 3 children, compounded by one other who has severe Autism, was fundamentally a game-changer and utterly appreciated.

The BFD. The model on which two Charter schools ( now Character schools) have been based, Mount Hobson Middle School which opened in 2003

So, Georgia started attending Mt Hobson Middle School. The change was almost instant; we had a daughter who now looked forward to going to school and actually made friends and that is where we are still today a year on. Funding it is difficult and we have made significant sacrifices to afford the fees, but I challenge anybody to come up with a credible argument to convince us it isn’t worth it.

Given this, we were very disappointed and somewhat angry about where the ministry has left us, Georgia and her other classmates, families and staff.

We have studied the report from the ministry that has led to the minister declining Mt Hobson Middle School’s application for Special Character School status. From this there are a number of points and reactions we would like to highlight.

  • The overall impression of the report is that it is a “brush off” with little meaningful or weak background reasoning. It comes across as being written in haste by someone who is trying to cover up for a substandard job done in process.

More on the reasoning, we note the following;

  • The report makes a big deal about premises and locations and the expense of funding a facility (leasing or buying) in this area, in addition to how it would negatively impact “other priorities”. It then redacts all the information on cost suggesting this argument is retrospectively weak or pointless.
  • The ministry report talks about the lack of evidence of demand despite Mt Hobson demonstrating that there in fact is. Regardless, we would expect the ministry to already have the data on the demand for special needs assistance in all schools (seems at least Remuera Intermediate have some idea), and after all, it’s been in the media enough. So to us, this demonstrates an unwillingness to acknowledge and help on this matter.
  • Given the fact that Mt Hobson’s 2 sister Schools have already been awarded Character status, with accompanying excellent independent reports, why not Hobson Middle school?
  • Again from the report, there is no evidence that the author(s) has/have meaningfully engaged actively with the school over the past year (since July 23rd 2019). I wonder if anybody from the ministry has at least taken the time to visit the school and meet the children or teachers during this time?
  • Further, it appears the ministry have not followed up with the school adequately during the process, albeit when mostly prompted by the school. It is simply not good enough to hang the school and us out for a year and unexpectedly at the last minute slam the door.
  • As a parting shot, the author warns the minister that the rejection will prompt a reaction and subsequent negative media coverage and that appropriate counter measures be taken as attached below……Really?!
  • On top of this, the only assistance the ministry offers in the aftermath of this is offering to place our children back into the miserable situation they came from. This demonstrates a breathtaking lack of empathy and understanding.
The BFD

In light of the above I would strongly urge the Ministry to:

  1. Front and address the above questions and concerns
  2. Correct this mess if for no other reason than the for the sake of children and families involved

The real counter measure or opportunity is for the Ministry to do something immensely positive by recognising and taking steps to start catering for children like Georgia.

I hope this communication serves to help set something positive in motion.

The BFD. Science class at Mt Hobson Middle School.

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