The private school in Papatoetoe refused for 15 years to disclose its rules on punishing students. Photo / Dean Purcell
The private school in Papatoetoe refused for 15 years to disclose its rules on punishing students. Photo / Dean Purcell
KEY POINTS:
A Christian school under suspicion of illegally strapping pupils has abandoned its discipline policy.
Tyndale Park Christian School in Papatoetoe repeatedly refused for 15 years to disclose its punishment policy to the Education Review Office.
But the deadlock was broken when Ministry of Education officials met school leadersthis week.
A ministry spokeswoman said a discipline policy dated for 2007 was sighted.
She said the school gave an assurance the staff did not administer corporal punishment to students.
"The Ministry of Education asked the school for assurance they would continue to comply with the law of the land regarding corporal punishment, and the school provided this assurance."
The Herald last year obtained documents outlining the school's "corporal correction" policy which acknowledged corporal punishment was forbidden but quoted the Bible, saying, "We ought to serve God rather than men".
According to the policy, the strap would be given on the palm after consultation with another staff member and in the presence of that staff member. Afterwards the child was to be spoken to or prayed with, or both.
The private school, which charges up to $1125 a term in fees, was understood to have sought parents' permission for staff to strap students last year.
Corporal punishment was banned by the Education Act 1989.
Trust board chairman and school manager Jan Brinkman would not comment on the school's meeting with the ministry.
He would also not comment on whether the policy had been updated.
"We have no comment, as we've always stated to the news media. It's a private school and what we do here is between the parents and between the school at which the parents have decided at their own expense to have their children schooled".
Tyndale Park earlier questioned the right of Auckland-based ministry officials to request information from it.
The meeting was scheduled after the ministry responded with evidence confirming the officials' right to request information from schools, including private ones.
The ministry's responsibilities include registering private schools and it could, if appropriate, cancel a private school's registration.
