A Few Days at St. Matthews School

(c) St. Matthew's School NZ

St. Matthew's Church stands in the middle of Hastings, and it's pretty impressive. Its art deco style reveals that it was built shortly after the 1931 earthquake, and it is surrounded by wide grounds and an array of smaller buildings, so that, what with the tower and everything, it looks like a smallish cathedral with its close. Many people in fact regard St. Matthew's as Hastings' cathedral, and it does have that air of dignity and community centred gravitas, which makes the enterprise conducted in and around it, the one that I had travelled to Hawkes Bay especially to see, all the more surprising.

About 21 years ago the parish decided to found a small primary school, St. Matthew's School. It is an integrated school, that is, while the government supplies the teaching staff, the school owners (that is, the Diocese of Waiapu) supply the buildings and are responsible for ensuring the school expresses a special character: Anglican Christianity, which it does extremely well. Over the years the success of this little school has been astounding, and its allowed maximum roll is now triple that of the 50 pupils the school started with. About 120 pupils are currently being taught the standard New Zealand curriculum, as well as religious education. The parish vicar acts as chaplain to the school, with the church becoming, when required, the biggest and fanciest school chapel in the country. The chapel is, however, the only school facility which could be described this way.

To say the classroom, administrative and playground facilities are cramped is a mild understatement, but this has not stopped the growth of the school as word of mouth spreads amongst parents of the excellence of the education offered there. The school takes its Special Character as a Christian school very seriously indeed, and this finds expression in an ethos of acceptance and care for all pupils, including some who are very challenging indeed. The school's roll is decile 4, which means it is a long way from the economic elite which many imagine to be the natural clientele for our schools. There are a very significant number of immigrant families enrolled, and quite a number of pupils with special needs. St. Matthew's impressive record in raising the literacy and numeracy levels, and providing a safe, successful learning environment for all of their children is due to a committed staff whose teamwork and ethos of mutual support is fostered with imagination, and great interpersonal skill by Tim Anderson, the principal.

It's not easy teaching a full primary school in such a confined space, especially one where such care is taken over the last, the least and the lost. Many times in my stay there this week I was deeply moved by the compassion and professionalism of this astonishing group of people. I was deeply impressed by the way the Rev'd Helen Wilderspin was able to communicate with the children. With her strong, non anxious presence she provided them with a living exemplar of the Christian faith.

There are many wonderful schools in our Anglican Schools Network, and here in the middle of Hastings is one of the most wonderful: a place where the Christian Gospel is finding expression in service that is transforming the lives of dozens of children. Thank you Helen, for showing me how chaplaincy can be done. Thank you Tim and your staff, for a week I found truly inspiring. Take a bow, St. Matthews parish. You are doing a stunning job.

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