Green school draws global interest
The team planning to build New Zealand’s first Green School say hundreds of families from around the world have expressed interest in enrolling their children – a year before it is due to open.
The revolutionary approach to education, based on ideals of sharing and caring for the environment through hands-on learning, was announced last month for a site south of New Plymouth. Annual fees will range from $12,000 to $24,000.
Green School New Zealand has been founded by Taranaki couple Michael and Rachel Perrett, whose children attended the Green School in Bali.
The New Zealand school will follow the Indonesian model and be set on a 121-acre farm in Oakura.
Yesterday, Chris Edwards, the incoming head of school, Glenn Chickering, head of faculty at Green School Bali, and Chris Gentry, whose two sons attended it, were at the Koru Rd site to launch the project.
Surrounded by an endless vista of hills, a rolling river and under the watchful eye of Mt Taranaki, the trio spoke of having the first stage of the school completed by February 2020. By then the currently barren site should have three podstyle classrooms, allowing for 85 students and eight teachers.
It has not been revealed how much the school, designed by the firm behind the London Olympics opening ceremony and rock band U2’s stage sets, is costing to build.
Once completely developed, the school will cater to about 500 pupils, comprising preschoolers and years 1 to 13.
The trio said interest in the school thus far had been overwhelming and included inquiries from across the globe.
‘‘It’s been very encouraging,’’ Edwards said.
Gentry’s children transferred from Bali International School to the Green School when it opened about 11 years ago.
Speaking from experience, he understood parents’ may be concerned about sending their children to a school which ‘‘looked fabulous’’ but worried ‘‘are my children going to learn enough to get into college?’’
‘‘It was a bit of risk because they weren’t teaching the way they’re normally taught but every child who wanted to get into college got into the college of their choice,’’ he said.
His sons currently attend universities, with one studying forestry management and the other international recreation, Gentry said.
Chickering said an average day at Green School varied through the ages, and would include core competencies such as mathematics and literacy as well as community building exercises and experiential lessons. ‘‘We get them outside tending gardens . . . down at the stream, monitoring different ecological aspects on campus.’’
‘‘Instead of doing a science class in a classroom we go down to a river and take samples to see if there are any pollutants in the water and measure river flow,’’ Gentry added.