Open Letter From The Ponatahi Christian School Trust (Owners of the school property.) (Guardians of the School’s Special Character.)

All members of the Trust are Appointed by the Session of the Reformed Congregations of New Zealand, Carterton.

Dear parents

Since the school has opened in 1978, we have always welcomed non-Reformed Congregation families into the school and we continue to do so. In writing this letter we make no distinction between church families and non-church families.

With any family coming into the school we want to see two things happen:

1. We want the family to feel welcome.
2. We want to feel secure in the guardianship of the Special Character.

If either goal appears to compromise the other then something is wrong.

The Special Character is defined as follows:

Ponatahi Christian School, the School with the Bible, has been established to uphold the values and doctrines of the Christian Religion as determined from time to time by the Consistory of the Reformed Congregations of New Zealand at Carterton.

The school reflects this by:

• Upholding the honour of the LORD in all curricula and expected conduct and work habits of both students and staff.
• Teaching young people that they are born as lost sinners and can only be reconciled to God the Father by a supernatural work of regenerating grace whereby the Holy Spirit grants faith to receive of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Assisting young people, where possible, in developing the skills and attitudes needed to diligently use the Word of God as the means of God’s grace.

This Special Character is very dear to us. It is like the apple of our eye.

According to the Special Character, the Trust expects to see the following exercised at school:

• Scripture: All scripture reading, scripture learning, and Bible instruction is to be based upon the King James (Authorised) Version, alone, with regard to the “Three forms of Unity”.
• Prayer: There is to be regular classroom and school prayer in which the Name of the LORD is called upon, that He may bestow His mercies, with particular regard for needs of the souls of the children.
• The Honour of the LORD: This is to be maintained, as far as our frailties allow, in all manner of school conduct of staff, students, and parents. This is to be upheld across all areas of the curriculum.
• Peer Pressure: The school should be free from peer pressure in regard to rock music, television, cinema, and sports stars.
• Dress: There should be a clear gender distinction in dress*. This means that we expect girls and women associated with the school to wear a dress or skirt when involved with school activity or in the school building irrespective of the time of day. (We exclude the car park and foyer area of the school when dropping children off or picking them up. Also, we do not consider guest speakers or visiting professionals to be “associated with the school”.)

We expect the staff to remind children from time to time of what is expected. This is part of normal school discipline. However, it is not an easy task for the Principal or a staff member to politely remind an adult of what is expected. We do not wish to see the Principal or a staff member put in a position where the desire to make a parent feel welcome compromises our expectations regarding the Special Character.

If any parent feels unwelcome due to our Special Character, or feels that it is too restrictive, then please let us still be friendly to each other. But we believe that you have chosen the wrong school for your children. Please consider this carefully. There are several schools in the Wairarapa which have strong learning environments in which you will not be restrained by the above expectations. Any parent enrolling or continuing to have enrolled children at school is assumed to accept the expectations of the Special Character.

In writing this letter we have not attempted to either defend our own beliefs or to criticize the beliefs of others. If anyone genuinely wants to know why we hold dearly to our beliefs then one of our church elders will be delighted to talk with them, and anyone is welcome to attend church services.

Sincerely,

The Ponatahi Christian School Trust.

* The Ponatahi Christian School Trust does not insist on a male/female distinction in dress in situations where either modesty or safety could be compromised.