Exclusive Brethren campus opens
From the outside, the building is nondescript, with tall fences, closed electric gates and no windows facing the street. But inside is not what you may expect.
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, also known as the Exclusive Brethren, has opened its new $5 million school campus in Gore this week.
Inside there’s no religious iconography on the walls, no chapel as in other religious schools and no teachers standing at the front of classrooms – in fact, there is no religious education on the timetable.
Instead, there are big bright open studios instead of classrooms, and cosy nooks and breakout rooms for pupils to carry out their own self-directed learning, mainly online with pupils and teachers at other campuses.
Instead of teachers standing in front of rows of pupils at desks, here they wander among students, helping them with their learning, or teach online from break-out rooms.
The church’s campuses are run under the OneSchoolGlobal school model, with 120 campuses in 20 countries.
Regional principal Paul Kennedy is in charge of the 17 campuses in New Zealand, and three in Argentina.
He’s not a member of the church and says most of the staff across the campuses aren’t either.
‘‘We have about 9000 students and 2000 staff across all of our campuses. This one in Gore has 76 pupils from year 3 to 13 and is the second last of our schools in New Zealand to be refurbished or rebuilt.’’
The Gore campus can accommodate up to 120.
Some travel from Dunedin or Invercargill daily by van to attend.
‘‘From Dunedin it takes about one hour and 20 minutes which isn’t unheard of for a commute in Auckland,’’ Kennedy said.
Lorenzo Lawnsely, 17, makes the trip south from Dunedin and back again each day.
‘‘I don’t mind it. I can sleep or do homework. It’s just becoming normal,’’ he said. ‘‘Coming to a new school is amazing, I love how positive the place feels.’’
Gore campus principal Sarah Gilbert agrees. ‘‘I wish I had learnt like this,’’ she said. ‘‘This is a great space, and we are all looking forward to the year ahead.’’