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3H School Internationalwww . 3h . school . nz (website no longer active) |
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| # of unique students – 6 Type of provider – School, private Primary distance modality – Synchronous |
3H School International failed to respond to repeated requests to participate in this year’s study. The profile below was created using publicly available, often archived, material.
Background
3H School International was a co-educational, private composite school based in Warkworth, which was established in Auckland by 3H Educational Charitable Trust. This Christian school was based on the Cambridge International curriculum. The school was launched in 2022 (Hancox, 2022; Wiggins, 2023), and it described itself as the “first online Cambridge school in the Pacific region” (although there are other private online schools who make the exact same claim). 3H School International is not currently listed in Education Counts, and their website is no longer active. The Ministry of Education indicates that the school closed down on 28 September 2023.
Governance
According to the Education and Training Act 2020, a private school is defined as a school registered under section 214, which reads:
214 Registration of private schools
(1) This section applies if the managers of an existing school or proposed school wish the school to be registered as a private school under this section.
(2) The managers must apply to the Secretary, on a form provided by the Secretary for the purpose, for its provisional registration as a primary, secondary, or special private school, or as a school of 2 or all of those descriptions.
(3) The provisional and full registration of private schools, and the operation of private schools, must be done in accordance with Schedule 7. (Government of New Zealand, 2024a, p. 164)
Schedule 7 of the act provides approximately 10 pages of legislative regulation around the following areas.
- Provisional and full registration of private schools
- Criteria for registration as private school
- Suitable premises
- Additional and substituted premises to be approved
- Tuition standards
- Managers to be fit and proper persons
- Manager must have regard to statement of national education and learning priorities
- Managers must advise Secretary of school ceasing operation
- Review of private schools
- Secretary’s actions in relation to private schools
- Duration of suspension
- Process for cancellation of registration
- Grants for private schools
- Record-keeping in relation to grants to private schools
- Providing accounts to Secretary
- Suspensions and expulsions from private schools
Resourcing
As a private school, 3H School International is resourced through individual tuition paid by the students and their families. The tuition ranged from $7,700 for primary to $8,900 for lower secondary to $10,500 for senior secondary. There was no information on the school’s website about the specific amounts for each of the additional fees:
- Registration Fee
- Refundable security deposit
- Annual Assessment Fee
- Hub & Camp Fee
- IGCSE Exam registration Fee
It only indicated that individuals should “please fill up the Expression of Interest form shared above to get more details.” Finally, while the government does provide grants to private schools through the private school subsidy funding pool (Ministry of Education, 2024a), based on the data from Official Information Act Request 1321408 3H School International did not receive funds in 2023 from this subsidy (Ministry of Education, 2024b).
Programming
According to the school’s website, the programming offered by 3H School International was based on the Cambridge International Curriculum pathway. Their website also included language about live, online classes, project-based learning, physical or in person meetings are regional hubs, etc. – without including much detail to describe those terms. The curriculum itself was described as Biblical in nature, stemming from the origin of the school’s name, which stood “for Head, Heart and Hands. We believe that a holistic approach to learning that attends to the head (knowledge), heart (character and emotional development), and hands (action, experiential learning)…”
One section of the website described ‘a day at our online school.’ which went like so:
Students begin their school day at 10am by logging into their classes on Zoom.
Each student has the choice and responsibility to create their unique, focused learning space. The minimal requirement is a laptop, a desk and a comfortable chair. Students can tailor their learning space according to their interests and learning style.
We keep the sizes of our classes small so that the live learning experience is personalised, comfortable and engaging.
Classes are 45 minutes long and involve teacher-led ‘live’ teaching. Students have the opportunity to ask questions (real-time!) and be part of class discussions. These live lessons provide opportunities for students to learn in a dynamic environment.
Each lesson is followed by 45 minutes of independent study. During this time students might complete their coursework, read textbooks, answer set questions, write assignments, conduct experiments, etc. We use the Education Perfect learning portal, backed by a network of digital learning tools. Materials are specially created by our teaching team for the student, as well as offline, through Cambridge resources.
This type of learning can allow the student to have a flexible schedule, dictate their own pace, foster independence, and invest more time in areas that spark their interest.
Classes finish by 3:15pm.
Wednesdays at 3H School International are a little different. Students start their day at 10am with an online class and then work on a Project Based Learning project or Service Learning. Or students may meet with their Regional Hub.
On a separate section of their website they also included:
Our school day typically runs from 10am – 3:30pm.
Twice a week your child will Zoom with their teacher for each core subject; math, science, social studies and ELA. Each lesson typically lasts around 45 minutes.
After your child’s Zoom lesson finishes they will be directed towards independent learning and research work for another 45 minutes.
Social emotional learning takes place four times every week. This is the time and space to allow our students to develop emotionally, build bonds, voice concerns and be heard.
Every Wednesday is project-based learning day.
These descriptions provide a reasonable overview of their programming and instructional model.
Activity
Interestingly, 3H School International is not currently listed on the main Education Counts website, and the Education Review Office lists their 2023 enrolment as 0 students. However, the pivot tables in the “School Roll” section of the Education Counts website contains the following data about the enrollment for 3H School International.
| Level | Total |
|---|---|
| Year 01 | 0 |
| Year 02 | 0 |
| Year 03 | 0 |
| Year 04 | 0 |
| Year 05 | 0 |
| Year 06 | 0 |
| Year 07 | 3 |
| Year 08 | 0 |
| Year 09 | 2 |
| Year 10 | 1 |
| Year 11 | 0 |
| Year 12 | 0 |
| Year 13+ | 0 |
| Total | 6 |
None of these students were of Māori descent.
Historical Data
References
Government of New Zealand. (2024a). Education and training act 2020. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS170676.html
Hancox, C. (2022, November 28). Te Kura or distance learning and the supervision allowance. https://www.cynthiahancox.com/information/te-kura-or-distance-learning-and-the-supervision-allowance
Ministry of Education (2024a). Resourcing information for private schools. Government of New Zealand. https://www.education.govt.nz/school/funding-and-financials/resourcing/private-schools-resourcing-information/
Ministry of Education (2024b). Responses to Official Information Act requests. Government of New Zealand. https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/responses-to-official-information-act-requests/
Wiggins, A. (2023, October 7). The rise of online schooling: Why it’s taken off and where to from here. The New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-rise-of-online-schooling-why-its-taken-off-and-where-to-from-here/C4TDIZWXGJHDJN3QIQRFZA57RA/