Despite an Auckland state school thinking Petra Edgar would prove a problem student, she's now gone on to launch rockets as part of her University of Canterbury degree. Photo / Henry Ward UC Aerospace
Despite an Auckland state school thinking Petra Edgar would prove a problem student, she's now gone on to launch rockets as part of her University of Canterbury degree. Photo / Henry Ward UC Aerospace
A woman who says she was rejected by a large Auckland high school is now a university student studying robotics engineering - and says kids in tough circumstances need and deserve second chances.
Edgar said it happened to her in 2019 when - as a successful and happy student in her school’s advanced learning programme - she suffered bullying so severe she became anxious, her grades plummeted and she started skipping her year 12 classes.
With the help of a counsellor, Edgar and her mum decided she should start fresh at a nearby school in 2020.
However, she said the school refused to accept her as an out-of-zone student.
Despite the Ministry of Education speaking with the school, and the family starting the process to apply for a ministry directive, the principal still said no, Edgar said.
She claimed the principal told her because she was older than 16 the school didn’t legally have to accept her.
By law, children between the ages of 6 and 16 must go to school. Beyond that, students up to 19 are legally entitled to a free public school education.
“I felt really lost and kind of betrayed by the system,” she said.
“I was really wanting to learn and make something of myself and it just seemed like no one wanted me.”
Petra Edgar pictured with former Ormiston Senior College principal Diana Patience, who was willing to take a chance on the young high school student. Photo / Supplied
The principal of the school that didn’t accept Edgar’s enrolment told the Herald she couldn’t comment on individual students for confidentiality reasons.
She said she had always complied with all Ministry of Education directives as principal.
“As a state school with an enrolment scheme/zone, we follow the ministry’s guidelines for all in-zone and out-of-zone placements,” she added.
Edgar says she’s sharing her story now because she worries some schools are not looking closely enough at an individual student’s case.
In particular, she worries about schools flouting Ministry of Education legal orders - officially known as directives - telling them to accept students.
“I believe that schools not listening to directives is a bigger issue than people would like to admit,” she said.
“It’s a stereotype that directives are for bad students ... but it’s not always the case.”
In the past year, the Ministry of Education sent 90 letters to primary schools, 138 to secondary schools and 33 to composite schools, ordering them to enrol students.
These are the letters officially known as directives.
They were a measure of last resort and only sent to schools in “exceptional circumstances”, the ministry said.
Ray McMillan – from the ministry’s network and regulatory division – said the directives were legally enforceable and over-rode any enrolment process at individual schools.
They are sent to ensure all school-age students – including any who have been excluded or expelled – are able to receive their legal right to free education at a state school.
Petra Edgar suffered bullying so severe she began to look for reasons to skip classes. Photo / Supplied
Ormiston Senior College accepted Edgar in time for the second term of 2020, its principal agreeing to mentor and take her under her wing.
Edgar told the Herald getting a “second chance” revitalised her.
“I didn’t want to waste it, and I wanted to live to my full potential,” she said.
“My grades skyrocketed, and I absolutely thrived in my new school, even winning the top Māori award at the end of my time there.”
