Principal: Mr Peter Bertram
Address: 6 Howard Street, Carterton
Postal Address: 6 Howard Street, Carterton 5713
Ph: (06) 3798840
Fax: (06) 3798807
Email: office@ponatahi.school.nz Principal: peter.bertram@watchdog.net.nz
Website: www. ponatahi.school.nz 
Computer system: Microsoft
Governing Body (board): Board of Trustees, Ponatahi Christian School
Name of Owner (proprietor/association): Ponatahi Christian School Trust
Official church affiliation: Reformed Congregation
Relationship to government: Integrated
Year opened: 1978 (primary) 1984 (secondary)
Number of full time teaching staff: 7
Number of part time teaching staff: 4
Total FTTE teaching staff: 8.8
Total number of students: 76 (including preschool)
Preschool: 9
Yr 0-2: 13
Yr 3-6: 25
Yr 7,8: 6
Yr 9,10: 12
Yr 11: 5
Yr 12: 4
Yr13 +: 4
Total Yr 0-13: 69
Last Updated 29th February 2012

Ponatahi Christian School was established in 1978 by the Reformed Congregations of New Zealand with the aim of nurturing the young people of the church in an environment of Christian values, as an extension of the environment of the home.

Although the school is owned by a Trust affiliated to the Reformed Congregation, families and teachers from other backgrounds are welcome as long as they agree to support the Special Character. Secondary classes began in 1984 and secondary tuition to year 13 has been offered for several years now.

The roll peaked at 110 in 2001, and has since dipped to just under 70, but is expected to rise significantly in the future due to the demographics of the two main contributing churches: the Reformed Congregation in Carterton and the Reformed Church in Masterton. Although our students have done very well academically, our aim is not to compete with local state schools, but to reach a niche market of students who, in many cases, would likely to be homeschooled if we did not exist.

Many of our conservative families do not have T.V. or rock music at home and frown upon the role models of professional sports people, and hence peer pressure on these issues is discouraged.  Religious Instruction, and the foundations of all curricula is based upon a conservative Reformed/Presbyterian (Calvanistic) understanding of scripture.

The Special Character is defined as…
“Ponatahi Christian School, the School with the Bible, has been established to uphold the values and doctrines of the Christian Religion as determined from time to time by the Consistory of the Reformed Congregations of New Zealand at Carterton.
The school reflects this by:

  • Upholding the honour of the LORD in all curricula and expected conduct and work habits of both students and staff.
  • Teaching young people that they are born as lost sinners and can only be reconciled to God the Father by a supernatural work of regenerating grace whereby the Holy Spirit grants faith to receive of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Assisting young people, where possible, in developing the skills and attitudes  needed to diligently use the Word of God as the means of God’s grace.”

Our mission statement is…
“From a Biblical foundation to prepare young people for the world in which they must live, work and continue to learn; the LORD willing.   That, with God’s grace, they have developed the necessary life skills and attitudes, to be enabled to discern between sinful and godly values, and make choices accordingly.  This includes using their talents and opportunities for service in God’s Kingdom. at a personal, family, church and community level.”