By LAUREL STOWELL laurel.stowell@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
AT LEAST three members of Waverley's education action group say they will keep their children at the town's high school, despite it being unable to offer NCEA assessment.
In December the school's ability to assess for NCEA was removed, due to the "unreliable" nature of its assessment.
The three parents who rang the Chronicle yesterday were distrustful of Waverley High's principal, Tony McIvor, and its commissioner, Dallas Murdoch, and more inclined to believe alternative information coming from the action group.
They said they would like to hear more "from the top" ? from the Education Ministry itself.
Emma Gray has a boy and girl at the school, both in Year 12. Both have refused to go to Wanganui City College, despite the offer of a free uniform and bus transport for the year.
Getting NCEA wasn't a priority for them, and they would be staying at Waverley High School.
The mum felt Waverley students were being pushed toward just one school.
Wanganui City College was outlining options to parents on February 19 and Waverley's senior students who chose to go that way were expected to start there on February 26, she said.
"They're trying to shove us all out of Waverley, so that there will be nothing to close? But as long as the kids are there, there's numbers there."
Michell Hickford, with a son in Year 11, was of the same opinion.
And she said her son didn't want to go to school in Wanganui.
"I'm going to leave my son up there, because as far as I'm concerned it's just another way to shut Waverley High School."
Jackie Nikorima-Solomon said she and her husband both went to Waverley High and passed exams and ended up with good jobs.
She hoped for the same result for her Year 12 daughter, who already had 30 credits toward NCEA Level 2. Her daughter would be staying at the Waverley school until it was certain that it was going to close, she said.
Meanwhile, a number of Waverley High School students have opted to start the year at other schools where they can get NCEA ? secondary schools in Wanganui and Patea Area School.
We?re not going anywhere: Waverley parents
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