Garston School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 24
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- Kingston-Garston Highway, Garston
- Territorial authority
- Southland District
- Phone
- 03-2488802
- admin@garston.school.nz
- Website
- http://www.garston.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Southland
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 22
- Māori
- 2
- Pacific
- 0
- Asian
- 1
- MELAA
- 0
- Other
- 0
- International
- 0
Roll by year level and age
Shown as context, not ranked, not compared to any average. As at 30 June 2026, from the same annual return as the roll count above.
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Year 02 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Year 04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Year 06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Year 07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Year 08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 22 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Age 06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Age 08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Age 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Age 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Age 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 22 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Garston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Southland Region | 61.8% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison stand-down rates data (2024)
Age-standardised suspension rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Garston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Southland Region | 6.3% |
| Full Primary | 3.9% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison suspension rates data (2024)
Age-standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Garston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Southland Region | 2.8% |
| Full Primary | 1.7% |
| State | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 1.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison exclusion data (2024)
About the school
- Equity Index (EQI)
- 429
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Rural other
- Date opened
- 16 November 1858
The Equity Index is used by the Ministry to allocate equity funding. It describes the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, not how good the school is. How the Equity Index works
What did ERO find?
The Education Review Office reviews every school and publishes what it finds in full. We quote ERO’s report here, section by section, in ERO’s own words and order, and link to it. We do not summarise a report, pick a line out of one, or turn one into a score. How ERO reviews schools
- Reports ERO holds
- 2
- Last reviewed
- 11 July 2022
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (11 July 2022)
A board assurance statement is the board’s own account of whether it took all reasonable steps to meet its legal obligations, on the date shown. It is not ERO’s finding. ERO reports separately, in the same report, on any non-compliance it identified during that process.
The board assurance report of 11 July 2022 carries no actions-for-compliance section — the section ERO uses when it names non-compliance it identified. That is what this report contains; it is not ERO saying it found none. Other reports ERO holds for this school may say something different.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 11 July 2022 — “Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.
Background
This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Garston School working in Te Ara Huarau , an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz
Context
Garston School in Northern Southland provides education for students from Years 1 to 8. It is a small school with multi-level classes. The Ministry of Education has a building project underway adding two modern learning teaching spaces in anticipation of population growth in the area.
Garston School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
lift the achievement in reading and writing for all students, including those who do not yet meet the expected levels
improve all students’ ability to use knowledge and apply strategies in mathematics
improve practices to specifically develop skills and competencies for life and learning
promote student wellbeing.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Garston School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate h ow well the ‘Structured Literacy’ approach to teaching and learning is supporting improved outcomes for all students in literacy.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
that some new entrant children are entering school with lower-than-expected oral language skills and some older students have also shown gaps in their literacy learning
the school is embarking on a ’Structured Literacy’ approach to address the need to raise achievement in literacy
to build junior students’ literacy competence, strengthen their foundations in reading and writing, and support them to achieve well as they progress through the years.
The school expects to see:
consistent literacy teaching approaches across the school
explicit and deliberate acts of teaching in literacy
ongoing evaluation to be assured that the approaches are having the desired impact on students’ learning.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goals to lift student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics and to support them to acquire life skills by increasing their ability to self-regulate and respond positively to challenges.
There are low numbers of students in classes, so teachers know their students well, are able to identify and remove barriers to learning, and closely monitor each student’s progress.
Most students remain with a teacher for several years which supports effective teacher/student/parent relationships and provides seamless progression through the learning stages.
The school promotes a family-like environment where the senior students are responsible leaders who help and guide those younger than them ( tuakana-teina ).
The school makes effective use of the local environment and community resources to enhance learning opportunities through active participation.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
analysing literacy information to identify any barriers to learning and to determine the learning needs of all students to accelerate their progress and achievement
providing appropriate resources and continuing to build and embed across the school capacity in literacy teaching, including introducing the Best Start Literacy Approach in the foundation class
identifying the required understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills to progress students’ mathematics achievement, across the school.
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a T e Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern) Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
11 July 2022
About the School
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Read the full report on ero.govt.nz →
All 2 reports ERO holds for this school
ERO reviews a school every few years — around four years between reviews is the usual cycle — so an older date here reflects where a school sits in that cycle, not how it is doing.
Source: Education Review Office, CC BY 4.0.
Roll date: 30 June 2026 (2026).