Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre
Specialist School · State
- Year levels
- not reported
- Total roll
- 154
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 1b Takapuwahia Drive, Porirua
- Territorial authority
- Porirua City
- Phone
- 04-2384314
- reception@mahinawa.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Wellington Region
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 73
- Māori
- 53
- Pacific
- 60
- Asian
- 19
- MELAA
- 2
- Other
- 4
- 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 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
| Year 02 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Year 03 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Year 04 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 17 |
| Year 05 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Year 06 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Year 07 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Year 08 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Year 09 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Year 10 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Year 11 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Year 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Year 13+ | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 36 |
| Total | 47 | 56 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 67 | 0 | 137 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Age 06 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
| Age 07 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Age 08 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 19 |
| Age 09 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Age 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Age 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Age 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Age 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Age 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Age 15 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Age 16 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Age 17 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| Age 18 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Age 19+ | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 |
| Total | 47 | 56 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 67 | 0 | 137 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Academic results
Percentage with NCEA level 1 or above — 2025
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 90.8% |
| Specialist School | 12.7% |
| State: Not integrated | 83.6% |
| New Zealand | 85.2% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | Too few to report |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | Too few to report |
| MELAA | Not applicable |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | Too few to report |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 1 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with NCEA level 2 or above — 2025
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 85.3% |
| Specialist School | 8% |
| State: Not integrated | 75.4% |
| New Zealand | 77.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | Too few to report |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | Too few to report |
| MELAA | Not applicable |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | Too few to report |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 2 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with NCEA level 3 or above — 2025
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 68.6% |
| Specialist School | 1.8% |
| State: Not integrated | 55.2% |
| New Zealand | 59% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | Too few to report |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | Too few to report |
| MELAA | Not applicable |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | Too few to report |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 3 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with VP Award — 2025
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 12.5% |
| Specialist School | 0.7% |
| State: Not integrated | 14.4% |
| New Zealand | 14.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | Too few to report |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | Too few to report |
| MELAA | Not applicable |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | Too few to report |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison Vocational Pathway data (2023-2025)
Retention
Percentage staying until at least 17th birthday — 2025
100%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 100% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 88.7% |
| Specialist School | 79.1% |
| State: Not integrated | 81.4% |
| New Zealand | 83% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Male | 100% |
| Māori | Too few to report |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | Too few to report |
| MELAA | Not applicable |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | Too few to report |
| Total | 100% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison trend data (2023-2025)
— 2024
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 1: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education one year after leaving school (2022-2024 leaver cohorts)
— 2023
not reported
| Pacific | not reported |
|---|---|
| Female | not reported |
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education two years after leaving school (2021-2023 leaver cohorts)
— 2024
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 1: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education one year after leaving school (2022-2024 leaver cohorts)
— 2023
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education two years after leaving school (2021-2023 leaver cohorts)
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 24.7% |
| Specialist School | 24.1% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
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 stand-down rates data (2024)
Age-standardised suspension rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 2.6% |
| Specialist School | 3.4% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
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 suspension rates data (2024)
Age-standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 0.9% |
| Specialist School | 1.8% |
| 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)
- 510
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Large urban area
- Date opened
- 30 September 1968
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
- 3
- Last reviewed
- 7 June 2024
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board did not attest to all areas (7 June 2024)
Areas the board did not attest to, in ERO’s words: Curriculum; Personnel Management. The report says what that meant and what happened next.
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 7 June 2024 — 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 area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
ensuring all school staff hold a current police vet [Section 104 Education and Training Act 2020].
comply with the requirement to adopt a statement on the delivery of the health curriculum, at least once in every two years, after consultation with the school community [Section 91 Education and Training Act 2020].
The board has since addressed the areas of identified non-compliance.
The roll ERO recorded, and when
ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 154 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.
February 2018
80
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 2 May 2018
This is one count taken for one report. It says what the roll was on that day, and nothing about how the roll has moved.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 7 June 2024 — “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 6 months of the Education Review Office and Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre 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
This report is part of a nationally coordinated evaluation of 27-day specialist schools during the second half of 2023. This included the development of day specialist school evaluation indicators by ERO with significant input from principals, staff and the Special Education Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SEPAnz).
Context
Mahinawa is a day specialist school in Porirua for students between the ages of 5 to 21 years. All students have ongoing resourcing scheme (ORS) funding. These students learn across a range of settings, including at the base school, eight satellite sites in local host schools and a transition unit for rangatahi aged between 18 and 21 years.
The school has a specialist therapy team that support students’ wellbeing and access to learning. The school’s specialist teacher outreach service works with ORS funded students enrolled in four local schools.
The school continues to navigate and manage roll growth pressures along with the employment and property demands associated with this.
The school mission is ‘Being the best we can be’. The school has the expectation that all within their community will achieve to their best. The school whakatauki ‘ He waka eke noa – We are all in this together’ reflects how they endeavour to work with whānau, ākonga and the wider community to support all to succeed.
The vision for Mahinawa Special School and Resource Centre is to become a centre of excellence for special education for young people with special needs. This is supported by the school’s shared beliefs of:
equity – all students have a right to succeed and be heard
respect – for ourselves, each other, and our environment
courage – be proud and stand up for our students and our school
fun – enjoying learning and celebrating achievements
contribution – everyone is valued and has a part to play.
Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre’s current strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
encouraging the best community engagement
building the best learning opportunities
developing the best staff delivering the best programmes for learners.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Mahinawa Specialist School and Resource Centre’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate to how effective the curriculum is in responding to the unique profile of learners to promote equitable outcomes for all.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that school leaders have high expectations of themselves, their staff and learners. They have identified that their key next step is to lift the intentional effectiveness of teaching across the school to respond to the uniqueness of their learners.
The school expects to see consistent and effective intentional teaching across the school that promotes equitable wellbeing and learning outcomes for all learners.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate to how effective the curriculum is responding to the unique profile of learners to promote equitable outcomes for all.
Targeted individual planning approaches that cater to a diverse range of learners and promotes success with achieving learning goals.
A school culture and climate that promotes wellbeing and care for all in community.
Leadership that aligns key school conditions within a culture for improvement to support the implementation of the school’s strategic plan and direction.
Carefully monitoring and knowing about the impact of teaching and support programmes.
Whānau and learner voice is effectively utilised to support planning for student wellbeing and learning.
Staff demonstrate effective teaching and support for learning and enact high expectations for learners and their success.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
schoolwide professional development supporting and promoting staff cultural competency
further internal professional learning and development about intentional teaching to ensure shared staff understanding
a review of school assessment practices
strengthening relationship-based teaching programmes.
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
7 June 2024
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 3 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).