A successful curriculum needs to be founded on basic premises about the world we live in. The following reflect the foundations of the curriculum at Christian Renewal School:

• Recognising that we live in a world created, ordered and sustained by God.
• Understanding that God is the centre of the education process which gives students a complete understanding of the world in which they live.
• Education helps us to learn about, interpret and live in the world.

The curriculum aims to help students respond to God and seek their place in His world, serving Him by maximising the skills and abilities He has given them.

Christian Renewal School is unashamedly Christian. Biblical principles permeate all curriculum areas, and subjects are taught from a Christian perspective. Scripture memory is an integral part of students learning.

Vision for Students

Students leaving Christian Renewal School should be:

Confident

• Knowing they have been created in the image of God

• Knowing the acceptance of God through a relationship with Jesus Christ – being a ‘saved’ young person, with a desire to follow Jesus.

• Being baptised in the Holy Spirit, and zealous for more of the anointing of God

Connected

• Being able to relate with others because of their relationship with Jesus Christ

• Being effective communicators and being able to effectively use communicative tools

Life-long Learners

• Equipped for the future – with developed character qualities and the academic skills needed for next part of their life

• Living a life continually being transformed as they commit to becoming more Christlike

Actively Involved

• Committed to transforming their culture. Bringing the life of Jesus into every situation transforms culture – whether big or small.

Principles

Principles underpinning the curriculum at Christian Renewal School include:

• The Bible is foundational and central to all areas of life and all areas of education.

• Parents are ultimately responsible for their child/ren’s education. The Christian School serves the family in assisting in the training and educating of children.

• The character and lifestyle of the Christian teacher is one of the most important influences on students in the Christian School.

• Each person has been created in the image of God.

• Education encompasses the whole person so involves the spirit, soul and body of the child.

• Each person shall be encouraged to attain excellence recognising that what they do is unto the Lord.

• Each person shall be encouraged to experience the joy of searching out the mysteries that God has concealed.

• Each person shall be encouraged to respect the diverse ethnic and cultural heritage of New Zealand people, acknowledging the unique role of Maori in this heritage, and recognising in Christ, no race or class of society is superior to another. God's grace reaches equally to all.

• Each person shall have equal opportunity to participate and succeed in the full range of school activities provided to each age level. 

• Each person shall be guided and encouraged into the destiny and call that God has placed on their lives, both at school and for after schooling.

Attitudes and Values

Christian attitudes and values permeate all curriculum areas. This is clearly stated in the Mission Statement for the School, which says that the school is “To provide for students a sound, basic Christian Education that is loyal to the Bible, Christ-centred, promotes those values and standards and recognises that Christian spiritual values permeate all curriculum areas.”

Values permeating the curriculum include:

• Being accountable

• Being co-operative

• Being courageous

• Being creative

• Being diligent

• Being faithful

• Being forgiving

• Being generous

• Being grateful

• Being peaceful

• Being pure

• Being resourceful

• Being respectful

• Being truthful

• Being loving and caring

Key Competencies

Opportunities to develop competencies occur in social contexts. People adopt practices that they are taught and that they see used and valued by those closest to them, and they make these practices part of their own identity and expertise. Competencies continue to develop over time, shaped by interactions with people, places, ideas, and things.

Students at Christian Renewal School shall be challenged through a variety of contexts to develop their competencies in:

Managing themselves

Managing of self is based in the student knowing who they are in Christ. With this inner knowledge students will be well motivated, they will set high standards for themselves and they will be able to plan and set personal goals for their lives. They will seek to model and please Jesus in their words and actions, and they will have the wisdom to make right choices. At Christian Renewal School there will be opportunities for students to develop this competency in a variety of contexts.

Relating to others

God has called us to be witnesses for Him. Effective witnessing involves relating with others. Effective relating to others requires well developed communication skills, appropriate actions, reflecting right attitudes and doing things with the right motive. At Christian Renewal School there will be opportunities for students to develop these competencies with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts.

Participating and contributing

God has called us to be members of a body. Just as every member of a body has a function, and every member of it is important to the overall functioning of the whole body, participation and contributing is essential for proper functioning. Therefore each student should have the capacity to respond appropriately as a group member, to make connections to others, and to create opportunities for including people in group activities.

Knowing their role to play will give students the confidence to participate and contribute, to develop their inter-dependence with others, and they will know how to balance responsibilities, roles, and rights in the corporate body. At Christian Renewal School there will be opportunities for students to develop this competency in a variety of contexts.

Thinking

God has given us the Bible for us to know more about Him. He has also given us a sound mind to think with. With it we are able to research, analyse, critique, and reflect (meditate) upon His communication to us.

These same thinking skills allow us to develop understanding about the world that He has created, and how we are to live in it. They assist us to make decisions, shape actions and help provide the appropriate means to communicate with others. At Christian Renewal School there will be opportunities for students to develop this competency in a variety of contexts.

Using language, symbols and texts

God has given us the ability to communicate. We are able to communicate with Him in the spiritual realm, and we can communicate with others with the remainder of our being. We communicate with others using language, symbols, and texts. This communication can be written, spoken, use of body language, use of emotions, and visual. It can be informative and imaginative. It can be informal and formal; mathematical, scientific, and technological.

Communication is two way. Students at Christian Renewal School shall be able to both communicate to others, and understand other’s communication to them. They shall be effective communicators using a diverse range of media appropriate to a range of contexts.