Highfield School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 307
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- Rimu Street, Glenwood, Timaru
- Territorial authority
- Timaru District
- Phone
- 03-6861419
- office@highfield.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Canterbury
Can my child go here?
This school has an enrolment scheme, so a place is not open to every address. How enrolment zones work
Loading zone map…
Zone boundaries shown here are approximate. Ministry of Education data warns these boundaries do not have high spatial precision and can place neighbouring addresses on different sides of a line. This is not a confirmation of enrolment eligibility — always confirm directly with the school. Zone geometry also does not reflect enrolment priority rules (siblings, special character categories, ballots) — it shows the mapped boundary only.
Check if your address is in zone →
Source: Ministry of Education, CC BY 3.0 NZ
What would the day look like?
The practical things this school states on its own website — the hours, the uniform, the term dates, and how children get there. These are the school’s own words, not the Ministry’s record and not ERO’s.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- Uniform
- Required
Girls - Navy skirt, navy shorts, navy culottes, navy trackpants, - Highfield polo shirt - Highfield bottle green sweatshirt, - Bottle green polar fleece, - Socks or navy tights, - Navy bucket style sunhat (Term 1 & 4)
- Required
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 206
- Māori
- 68
- Pacific
- 31
- Asian
- 35
- MELAA
- 28
- Other
- 3
- 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 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 42 |
| Year 02 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 43 |
| Year 03 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 31 |
| Year 04 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 55 |
| Year 05 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 41 |
| Year 06 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 31 |
| Year 07 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 45 |
| Year 08 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 37 |
| Total | 76 | 33 | 35 | 37 | 0 | 219 | 0 | 325 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 36 |
| Age 06 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 44 |
| Age 07 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 32 |
| Age 08 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 56 |
| Age 09 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 40 |
| Age 10 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 34 |
| Age 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 39 |
| Age 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 32 |
| Age 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 11 |
| Age 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 76 | 33 | 35 | 37 | 0 | 219 | 0 | 325 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
75.2%
| Highfield School | 75.2% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 38.3% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 77.8% |
|---|---|
| Male | 73.4% |
| Māori | 92.1% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 99.1% |
| Total | 75.2% |
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
30.6%
| Highfield School | 30.6% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 3.7% |
| Full Primary | 3.9% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 19.4% |
|---|---|
| Male | 37.9% |
| Māori | 32.6% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 40% |
| Total | 30.6% |
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%
| Highfield School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 1.7% |
| 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 | 0% |
| 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)
- 477
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Medium urban area
- Date opened
- 4 February 1962
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
- 4
- Last reviewed
- 1 August 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (1 August 2023)
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 same report — the board assurance report of 1 August 2023 — also sets out actions for compliance: the non-compliance ERO identified during that process. This is that section of the report in full, in ERO’s words.
ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
Provision of appropriate career education and guidance for all students in Year 7 and above
[Education and Training Act 2020 section 103 (b)]
The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 1 August 2023 — “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 14 months of the Education Review Office and Highfield 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
Highfield School is a primary school for children in Years 1-8 located in Timaru. The school includes a specialist classroom for ongoing resourcing scheme (ORS) funded students. The school’s vision for students is that they thrive in their learning through a focus on creativity, wellbeing and identity.
The school’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
Ako – engaging teaching and learning and responsive curriculum
Auahatanga – provision of learning opportunities and environments that foster creativity
Hauora – programmes and practices that foster student health and wellbeing
Tuakiri – inclusive, culturally responsive practices and relationships that foster pride in identity.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Highfield School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school’s inclusive, culturally responsive curriculum and teaching practice is supporting positive learning and wellbeing outcomes for diverse learners.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the school has a diverse school roll, both in terms of ethnicities and abilities, and is committed to providing excellent, equitable learning outcomes for all.
The school expects to see:
ORS funded learners, neurodiverse learners and learners with specific learning difficulties thriving socially and academically
Pacific learners progressing and achieving at expected rates and levels in literacy and numeracy
Māori and other students having authentic opportunities to participate in tikanga Māor i, growing in their knowledge of mātauranga Māori and progressing in te reo Māori learning.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to support excellent and equitable outcomes for diverse learners:
school governance and leadership that is committed to inclusion and equity for all
inclusive school culture that promotes a sense of belonging for all students
strengthening inclusive teaching practices that are increasingly removing barriers to learning for diverse students
developing school-wide expectations, guidelines and structures for the delivery of culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum and teaching.
Where to next?
Moving forward the school will prioritise:
continued development of teacher capability to deliver inclusive, culturally responsive curriculum and teaching
collaborative development of school-wide plans and guidelines for inclusive, culturally responsive curriculum and teaching
ongoing review and evaluation to know about the effectiveness of curriculum and teaching practice on learning outcomes for diverse students.
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 Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Shelley Booysen Director of Schools
1 August 2023
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 4 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).