Brian Henry: lawyer for former Gloriavale leavers on Gloriavale's private school being ordered to close its doors

Gloriavale's private school has been ordered to close its doors, leaving a lawyer wondering how it ever managed to exist. 

The Education Review Office highlighted ongoing safety concerns in July, and the Ministry put the school on notice in October. 

The Ministry's confirmed it's cancelling the school's registration. 

Gloriavale leavers' lawyer, Brian Henry, says he doesn't understand how the school stayed open until now, but he's crediting officials for shutting it down.

"This school is the enabler of basically enslaving young children born in the community. It keeps them ignorant."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The school at gloriaval is going to be shut down
next year. This has just come out this afternoon, the
Secuary of Education canceling their registration. They've had two failed
ARRO audits. The deregistration will take effect from January twenty third.
Brian Henry as a lawyer acting for former Glory of
our members and he joins me. Now, Brian, good evening,
Good evening, what is your reaction to that news.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I've got two reactions. The first is I do not
understand how the school, which has been under the control
of two convicted sex offenders for the last fifty years,
has ever been allowed to pass any AERO reports or
carry on. The second is I think we have to
acknowledge that this minister and the Ministry, I believe it's

(00:46):
been an eighteen month process, have finally taken the cudgels
in their hands and finally reached the decision I think
is totally right. This school is the enabler of sex offending,
and it's the enabler of basically enslaving young children born
in the community. It keeps them ignorant.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Brian deliberately, Brian, what happens now? What happens to the
Apparently they're about one hundred and ten roughly one hundred
and ten students at the school. Where do they go, Well.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
They need to go into the state system. There needs
to be a process to introduce them into it. But
the sooner they integrate with the general state education and
they get educated properly, the better. Because these are young
kids who are just stifled in life. They cannot get
ahead in the open world because they're just not educated.

(01:37):
That kept unworldly using their own words, and that's just
kept ignorant, and that's very bad.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Is there a what do you worry that they might
just be homeschool or something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
I understand that they will try to home school, but
I also understand the home schooling is not successful in
the sense that they're not getting good pass rates. The
whole thing is the parents are ill educated. They can't
educate their kids because they've been through this process themselves.
As I said, it's fifty years of the school, and

(02:12):
it's fifty years of bringing up adults who are literally
not worldly, not well educated, have no great understanding of
the world. How do they teach their children? They can't.
All they do is teach the same stifled slave environment.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Brian, appreciate your time tonight. Thank you Brian Henry, who's
the lawyer.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
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