South Featherston School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 65
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 45 South Featherston Road, Featherston
- Territorial authority
- South Wairarapa District
- Phone
- not reported
- office@sfs.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Wellington Region
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
A school uniform was introduced at South Featherston School in 2009 incorporating our School's colours i.e. sky blue and black. Top half items can be purchased at the school office. Second-hand items are also sometimes available. Top half: A sky blue polo shirt that has black collar, with the school logo.
- Required
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 56
- Māori
- 17
- Pacific
- 1
- Asian
- 3
- MELAA
- 1
- Other
- 1
- 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 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Year 02 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12 |
| Year 03 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| Year 04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 05 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Year 06 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Year 07 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 15 |
| Year 08 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 0 | 71 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Age 06 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| Age 07 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| Age 08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 09 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Age 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Age 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 14 |
| Age 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Total | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 0 | 71 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| South Featherston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 24.7% |
| 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 | 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%
| South Featherston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 2.6% |
| 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 | 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%
| South Featherston School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 0.9% |
| 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)
- 457
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Rural other
- Date opened
- 5 February 1899
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
- 5 December 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (5 December 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 5 December 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.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 5 December 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 2 years of the Education Review Office and South Featherston 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
South Featherston School serves the community in the South Wairarapa . It delivers learning opportunities to children in Years 1-8 - "We are a SMALL school, doing BIG things!" Its mission is to ensure 'every learner leaves our school with a passion for learning and a kete of strategies to use in every area of life.'
South Featherston School ’s overarching strategic priority for learners is to enhance student learning and success. This includes:
‘ Hauora ’ – fostering creativity, balance wellbeing and a lifelong enthusiasm for learning.
Whakamana ’ – through focusing on empowering each with the skills to suit their specific needs and styles.
’ Whanaungatanga ’ – supporting children to connect to key people in their world.
‘ Kaitiakitanga ’ – growing environmental awareness and understanding of the roles and responsibilities in relation to this.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on South Featherston School ’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s refreshed local curriculum in enriching student wellbeing and promoting the engagement and achievement of all students.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
To increase the engagement of students in learning opportunities.
To provide curriculum experiences that raise students’ awareness and knowledge of their local stories, histories, places and people.
For students to know and understand where they are culturally located.
To support the achievement and wellbeing of students across the school.
The school expects to see school leaders, trustees, teachers, students and whānau actively engaged in learning the local stories and histories of the area, allowing students to develop an understanding of how stories affect people and place. It also expects staff to utilise information and modern teaching strategies to plan and implement programmes to support student engagement, achievement and wellbeing.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to develop and implement an engaging local curriculum:
strong community support and engagement that supports student learning and a diverse curriculum
caring staff that provide varied and responsive learning opportunities to children
leadership that is supportive and seeks continual improvement and better outcomes for students - both social and educational.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
the development and implementation of a local curriculum including identifying opportunities for students to engage in in learning using South Wairarapa as a context
developing a shared understanding of the importance of local stories and their place in the curriculum
measuring the children's knowledge of their local stories, and their use of Te Reo .
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
5 December 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).