Palmerston School
Contributing · State
- Year levels
- 1–6
- Total roll
- 97
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- Stromness Street, Palmerston
- Territorial authority
- Waitaki District
- Phone
- 03-4651361
- office@palmerston.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Otago
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.
- Term dates
- Term 1, 2026: Mon 2nd February to Fri 2nd April
Term 1 Mon 2nd February to Fri 2nd April
Year stated asTERM DATES 2026
- Term 2, 2026: Mon 20th April to Fri 3rd July
Term 2 Mon 20th April to Fri 3rd July
Year stated asTERM DATES 2026
- Term 3, 2026: Mon 20th July to Fri 25th September
Term 3 Mon 20th July to Fri 25th September
Year stated asTERM DATES 2026
- Term 4, 2026: Mon 12th October to Fri 11th December 2026
Term 4 Mon 12th October to Wed Fri 11th December 2026
- Term 1, 2026: Mon 2nd February to Fri 2nd April
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 80
- Māori
- 29
- Pacific
- 3
- Asian
- 1
- MELAA
- 3
- 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 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| Year 02 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 22 |
| Year 03 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 14 |
| Year 04 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 22 |
| Year 05 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 16 |
| Year 06 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 18 |
| Year 07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 28 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 89 | 0 | 106 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| Age 06 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 20 |
| Age 07 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 13 |
| Age 08 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 26 |
| Age 09 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 14 |
| Age 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 19 |
| Age 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 28 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 89 | 0 | 106 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
49.4%
| Palmerston School | 49.4% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 36.8% |
| Contributing | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 77.8% |
| Māori | 95.9% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 56.4% |
| Total | 49.4% |
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%
| Palmerston 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%
| Palmerston 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)
- 461
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Rural settlement
- Date opened
- 25 January 1865
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
- 29 July 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (29 July 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 board assurance report of 29 July 2023 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 97 — 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.
March 2018
114
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 18 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 29 July 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 12 months of the Education Review Office and Palmerston 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
Palmerston School is situated in the semi-rural town of Palmerston, East Otago. It provides education for students in Years 1 – 6. Its vision statement is for students to discover connections, forge new paths and step ahead with pride, purpose and confidence. A new principal has been appointed to start in Term 3, 2023.
Palmerston School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
develop the school environment as the third teacher
improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for all students
increase student engagement in the learning process through developing student well-being and a contemporary localised curriculum that meets national and local needs
promote positive involvement of whānau with their children’s learning in partnership with the school.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Palmerston School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively schoolwide data assessment practices are informing teaching, learning and planning for continuous improvement.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
the school is growing the collective capacity of all staff to make effective use of assessment information across the curriculum
school leaders and teachers are establishing ways to better understand what makes the most difference to improving outcomes for learners in literacy and mathematics.
The school expects to see:
purposeful, consistent and sustainable schoolwide systems and processes for gathering, analysing, using and sharing high-quality assessment information
leaders and teachers making effective use of high-quality assessment information to identify teaching opportunities
acceleration of learners’ progress rates and increasing parity for groups of learners in literacy and numeracy
students making effective use of self and peer assessment information to strengthen learner agency and identify next learning steps
the Board making effective use of high-quality assessment information to inform strategic decision making for continuous improvement.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively schoolwide data assessment practices are informing teaching, learning and planning for continuous improvement:
leadership has developed clear systems and processes that support a building school culture of inquiry to inform next steps for improvement
the school’s local curriculum framework ensures cohesive, integrated school-wide curriculum design that provides clarity and direction for effective teaching and learning
a collaborative teaching team, who make use of internal expertise to grow their collective capabilities and develop local solutions.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
embedding effective schoolwide assessment practices to enable teachers to make useful judgements about students’ progress rates and inform responsive programmes for learning
professional learning to grow leaders’ and teachers’ capability in collection, analysis and use of data to accelerate progress rates in literacy and mathematics.
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
20 July 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 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).