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Horizon School marks a new milestone this year as its first Year 13 class takes its place, a little over 30 years since the fledgling institution was launched with a handful of children meeting in rooms provided by Mahurangi Baptist Church.
It’s a thrilling time for the Snells Beach school, and for the principal who took the helm at the beginning of last year.
Taking stock as her first year drew towards a close, Tina Utting-Johnson said it had been an “exciting, rewarding and tiring” time, and she was looking forward to what the new year would bring.
One thing that it will bring is a second new-entrant class, a sign of the slow but steady growth that this state-integrated, composite Christian character school is experiencing.
Horizon had a roll of 235 students in 2023, comprising mostly local students, but with some also coming from as far afield as Wellsford and Whangaparāoa.
“Because of where we are located, people aren’t just coming randomly here,” Tina said. “They’re coming here because they know the school and the community. They’re making a choice.”
The school has a capacity of 400, and “being bigger would make a difference in terms of additional options we could run, which would be amazing for our older students”.
But while growth would be good, she stressed the importance of it being a carefully-weighed process.
“We’ve been thinking a lot about what we want to do as a school and where we want to grow,” she said.
“It’s not about just filling the roll, but about our core belief, what we believe we can offer – a quality Christian education.
“Growing slowly is good because you build the ethos,’ Tina said. “If you suddenly had 150 new students turn up, it would be a shock to the system.
“It’s about growing in an authentic way, keeping a focus strategically on what we want to protect and preserving our special character, which underpins everything.”
Horizon is part of the Kingsway Trust, and prospective new parents are pointed to the trust’s statement of faith, outlining the core Christian beliefs, values and commitments that characterise its schools.
“If we get them in and they love our ethos and believe in what we’re doing, then they’ll stay all the way through.”
Tina’s teaching background is in digital technology, computer science, business studies and English.
She and husband, Roushan – a maths, physics and electronics teacher – moved to New Zealand from their native Wales six years ago.
She worked at Macleans College, Marlborough Girls College and Catholic Cathedral College in Christchurch, before taking up the Snells Beach post at the beginning of last year. The couple have a son at university in Christchurch, and another goes into Year 3 at Horizon this year.
Horizon’s special character, and “future-focused” style of learning, were what attracted Tina to the post.
Whereas at a typical college, subjects are taught separately, Horizon year 7-10 students work part of each day on “connected” investigations, which combine English, science and social science.
Working in small groups and guided by teachers, students investigate, research, contact outside experts, and then draft proposals.
As an example, a focus on sustainability had children explore how the land the school sits on could be used more productively, such as for garden-to-table projects.
Responding to declining bee populations, students proposed planting flowers that attract bees. Looking into energy and wastage issues, students assessed power and printer use, suggesting ways to tighten printing procedures and even “going around and turning down everyone’s thermostats”.
There are plans to do more in that area.
“What we’ve spent time doing this year is thinking about, what do our students love? And they love being outside,” she said. The school recently appointed a person to be in charge of sustainability, “so it doesn’t drop off the radar”.
The close connections across the school body – staff and students – also appealed to her. Year 9 and 10 students work with year 1-3 children for 100 minutes a week, helping with sport, reading and leadership.
“It’s a beautiful school,” Tina said. “I’ve never been in a school where the students support each other like this, and I think that comes from the fact that they are part of a community, and a lot of them know each other outside school.”
She also cherishes “how much the staff love one another”, and the supportive parent and wider community.
“There’s never, ever a day when you walk around this school and you haven’t got a volunteer here.
“It’s an amazing little school – a real gem. People everywhere are trying to create positive school cultures, but ours has grown from our special character, and it’s just here. We don’t have to spend a lot of the time worrying about all of that. Instead, we can focus on really good learning.”
