Ōpoho School
Contributing · State
- Year levels
- 1–6
- Total roll
- 121
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 96 Signal Hill Road, Opoho, Dunedin
- Territorial authority
- Dunedin City
- Phone
- 03-4738019
- office@opoho.school.nz
- Website
- http://www.opoho.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Dunedin · schools in Otago
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.
- How to enrol
- https://ole.edgelearning.co.nz/Default?schoolId=10c41216-638b-4385-b746-126e15909722
1. [Online Enrolment](https://ole.edgelearning.co.nz/Default?schoolId=10c41216-638b-4385-b746-126e15909722)
- https://ole.edgelearning.co.nz/Default?schoolId=10c41216-638b-4385-b746-126e15909722
What does the school say about itself?
Quoted, not summarised. Every school describes itself well, so this is here to be read as the school’s own case rather than as a finding — and a school that states nothing simply has no row.
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.
- International students
- Accepted, as stated
Ōpoho School welcomes students from other parts of the world. If families do not meet the eligibility for state funded education in New Zealand, then tuition fees must be paid to the school.
- Accepted, as stated
What is on offer beyond the classroom?
The sports, arts, clubs and groups this school names on its own website. Not a complete list of what any school offers, and not a count — a school that names more here has written more down, which is not the same as doing more.
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.
- On offer
- netball
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- hockey
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- miniball (in the winter)
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- summer hockey
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- futsal
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- touch rugby
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- teeball (in the summer)
children get the opportunity to play different competitive team sports including netball, hockey, miniball (in the winter) and summer hockey, futsal, touch rugby and teeball (in the summer)
- Swimming
Swimming Children learn to swim by having coaching by professional instructors from Jill Clarke Swim School.
- kapahaka group
A strong kapahaka group offers children the opportunity to learn traditional Maori songs, poi and haka, tikanga and te reo, and about the bi-cultural heritage of NZ.
- netball
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 107
- Māori
- 12
- Pacific
- 6
- Asian
- 11
- MELAA
- 3
- Other
- 2
- International
- 1
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 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 18 |
| Year 02 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 12 |
| Year 03 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 24 |
| Year 04 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 19 |
| Year 05 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 32 |
| Year 06 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 26 |
| Year 07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 118 | 1 | 132 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 18 |
| Age 06 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10 |
| Age 07 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 23 |
| Age 08 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 19 |
| Age 09 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 32 |
| Age 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 27 |
| Age 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 118 | 1 | 132 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
35.2%
| Ōpoho School | 35.2% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 36.8% |
| Contributing | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 37.9% |
|---|---|
| Male | 32.8% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 194.6% |
| European/Pākehā | 40.5% |
| Total | 35.2% |
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
0%
| Ōpoho School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 4.6% |
| Contributing | 3.5% |
| 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%
| Ōpoho School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 2% |
| Contributing | 1.5% |
| 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)
- 410
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Major urban area
- Date opened
- 31 January 1938
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
- 5
- Last reviewed
- 29 February 2024
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (29 February 2024)
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 29 February 2024 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.
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 121 — 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.
September 2019
171
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 15 October 2019
March 2015
129
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 8 May 2015
We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 29 February 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 12 months of the Education Review Office and Ōpoho 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
Ōpoho School is a contributing primary school located in the suburb of Ōpoho in Dunedin city. It provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. In 2021 a new principal was appointed and in 2023 a new senior leadership team. The school's values are: ‘be kind, be responsible and be the best you can be’. Their mission is ‘to develop passionate and confident lifelong learners who possess a kete of skills and strategies to draw from in everyday life’.
Ōpoho School ’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
implement learning programmes that support, encourage, enrich and extend all tauira | learners to make progress and experience success in all areas of The New Zealand Curriculum
give priority to tauira achievement in literacy and numeracy, as evidenced by progress and achievement against learning progressions and The New Zealand Curriculum .
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Ōpoho School ’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching practices and curriculum change on improving learner progress, engagement and achievement in literacy following the inclusion of a school-wide, unified, systematic and consistent approach.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
plateauing results in writing have highlighted the need for a consistent and developmentally appropriate literacy programme across the school and professional development for support and implementation
the need for enhanced teaching practices that meet the needs of a wider range of diverse tauira
to help Ōpoho kaiako , rangatira and whānau to know what makes the most difference to improving outcomes for all tauira in literacy.
The school expects to see:
full and consistent implementation of a whole school approach to structured literacy and for all tauira to have strong foundational skills in literacy
an evaluation of the impact of the structured literacy approach on improving students’ learning, progress, and achievement in literacy.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to maximise student engagement and improve outcomes for learners in literacy:
a learning environment that is positive with well-established respectful relationships that promote learner engagement
equitable and excellent progress and achievement outcomes are occurring for most learners across the curriculum
effective, individualised plans are in place for those learners who need extra support.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
developing a strong school-wide knowledge and understanding of the structured literacy approach
strengthening teacher practice in the effective teaching of literacy supported by evidence
the development, implementation and evaluation of the structured literacy programme that maximises tauira engagement and enhances progress for all tauira .
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
29 February 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 5 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).