The history of Horizon
How our school has flourished
The school site was first occupied for educational purposes in the late 1980's. The Baptist church transported their meeting hall on a large truck from Dalton Road, up to its current site at top of Goodall Road. Pastors Lloyd and Vicki Rankin together with a congregation of volunteers, ensured there was additional space within the repositioned church building to allow for Christian homeschooling parents to teach their children together. Just prior this, with huge volunteer support from the same congregation as well as other locals, the bottom section of the hill was purchased and developed by Baptist church congregants Trevor and Jan Yaxley. Over the years, the upper site developed into what became Mahurangi Christian School, a state integrated Year 1–8 school. This lower site developed into a bible school, and base for Christian endeavours known as Lifeway Trust. In 2015, the Baptist church elected to hand over proprietorship of the school to a new guardian. At the same time the former Lifeway property was also seeking new ownership. Kingsway Trust purchased both the upper school site, excluding the church property, and the lower larger bible school property and reunited them under the vision of an expanded Christian school, that now runs from Years 1–13.
Here are some key milestones in our history:
“We officially opened our doors - originally as a private school called Mahurangi Christian School and under the governance of the Snells Beach Baptist Church. 22 students started with us and the roll quickly increased to 40.”
“We became a state-integrated primary school (Years 0-8) instead of a private school, reducing the attendance dues significantly.”
“We were still the only school on the Mahurangi Peninsula and our roll increased to 120 students with 5 classrooms, a library, playgrounds and sports fields.”
“We changed our name to Horizon School. KingsWay Trust and the NZ Christian Proprietor Trust took over the proprietorship and we purchased an adjacent 33 acres (13 hectares) including additional classrooms, a large and modern auditorium and sports fields.”
“We received confirmation from the Ministry of Education that we could expand to educate both primary and college learners, from Years 0-13 (a Composite School). Helen, our Principal, began a 3 year tenure as the Lead Principal of the 8 schools in Kahui Ako of our local area. ”
“Our roll had more than doubled in two years, we added additional classrooms to cater for growth, and we promoted the college start for 2020.”
“We opened a new college block and started Year 9 students in our new college. Our roll, once again, doubled in two years.”
“We started Year 10 and opened another new college block with specialist learning spaces.”
“Year 11 students studied NCEA for the first time on site. Examinations were held at Mahurangi College. ”
“Students moved into Year 12 and we appointed an examinations officer and exams were held on site. ”
“A full Year 1 - 13 Area School! We completed the transition from primary to full college. For the first time we had manutaki (head students). ”
What’s on the Horizon
Looking Forward
We are excited to inspire a whole generation of young people! To do this we are planning for future development of land and buildings, continuing to attract high quality staff, and developing our programmes to meet the demand for our fresh approach to learning.