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AGE Schoolhttps://www.age.school.nz/ |
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| # of unique students – 6 Type of provider – School, private Primary distance modality – Synchronous |
Background
AGE School, which was originally known as the Academy for Gifted Education, is a co-educational, private composite school based in Auckland. The Education and Training Act, 2020 defines a composite school as “a school that offers education to students in any of years 1 to 8 and in any of years 9 to 13” (Government of New Zealand, 2024a, p. 38). The brick-and-mortar school opened a new building in 2020, which was designed for approximately 100 students based on their model of face-to-face learning. AGE School added a distance learning option for students in Year 5 to Year 10 in 2022.
AGE School was acquired by Ascension Capital Limited at the end of the 2023 school year (Armillary, 2024). Around the same time, Ascension Capital began the process of rebranding the company as Being AI Limited (Ascension Capital Limited, 2023). In early 2024 Being AI Limited announced the acquisition of the education business assets of Villa Education Trust, which included the online school Mount Hobson Academy.1 Beginning for the 2024 school year Mount Hobson Academy will act as the sole distance learning provider within the Being AI education group.
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. (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, AGE School is primarily resourced through individual tuition paid by the students and their families. According to the frequently asked questions on their website:
The cost is $ 14,500 per year for Years 5-10. Each year there are 4 terms per year. The dates are aligned with AGE School. Fees are paid a term in advance.
There was no difference in the tuition for enrolment in their brick-and-mortar school or their AGE Virtual programming.
Further, the government does provide grants to private schools through the private school subsidy funding pool (Ministry of Education, 2024a), which is distributed at a set rate per student.
According to Circular 2022/08 – Private School Subsidy Funding 2023 the rates for 2023 were (Ministry of Education, 2022):
| Year Level | 2023 Funding Rate GST Exclusive | 2023 Funding Rate GST Inclusive |
| Year 1-6 | $880.54 | $1,012.62 |
| Year 7-8 | $964.23 | $1,108.87 |
| Year 9-10 | $1,234.01 | $1,419.11 |
| Year 11-15 | $1,874.16 | $2,155.28 |
Based on the data from Official Information Act Request 1321408, AGE School received funds in 2023 from this subsidy (Ministry of Education, 2024b). Unfortunately, the response to the request only lists the schools that received funding, and not the amount of funding or any details on how it was used.
Programming
According to their website AGE School focuses on student wellbeing. A learning coach is appointed for each AGE Virtual Learning Group, and each group is limited to 15 students. The actual programming is described as:
[Beginning with a] 9 a.m. check in time with the whole learning group. The morning provides foundation skills in Maths and English in the whole class, small groups or in individual teaching sessions. The afternoon is dedicated to project based learning, creative and physical challenges.
The nature of instruction includes a 30 minute synchronous session each day that is described as “Check-In and Goal Setting.” The rest of the student’s programming is approximately 50% synchronous and 50% asynchronous, with students completing the following courses:
Numeracy – 1 hour/day
Literacy – 1 hour/day
Project-Based Learning – 2 hours/day
Emotional Quotient/Skills Development – 1.5 hours/week
Community Service – 2 hours/week
Activity
According to the Education Counts website, the overall school enrolment is described as a total of 92 students (with 2 of those students being of Māori descent). Six of the 92 students were enrolled in their AGE Virtual programming.
| Level | Total |
| Year 01 | 0 |
| Year 02 | 0 |
| Year 03 | 0 |
| Year 04 | 1 |
| Year 05 | 2 |
| Year 06 | 0 |
| Year 07 | 2 |
| Year 08 | 1 |
| Year 09 | 0 |
| Year 10 | 0 |
| Year 11 | 0 |
| Year 12 | 0 |
| Year 13+ | 0 |
| Total | 6 |
None of the virtual enrolments were of Māori descent.
Historical Data
1See https://www.nzx.com/announcements/429230 for a copy of this announcement.
References
Government of New Zealand. (2024a). Education and training act 2020. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS170676.html
Ministry of Education (2022). Circular 2022/08 – Private school subsidy funding 2023. Government of New Zealand. https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/education-circulars/latest-circulars/circular-2022-2/
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/