St Joseph's School (Oamaru)
Full Primary · State : Integrated
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 145
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 36 Usk Street, Oamaru
- Territorial authority
- Waitaki District
- Phone
- 03-434 8856
- principal@stjoseph.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.
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.
- In their words
- School Vision
- Reach for the Stars – Learning with Purpose, Growing with Values
- At St Joseph’s School, our vision encourages every child to grow academically, spiritually, and personally.
- Special character
- Our school's Catholic Special Character defines our identity and guides our curriculum, influencing how we live and learn together as a community.
- What Is Catholic Character?
- Our Catholic Character is grounded in faith, hope, service and the teachings of Jesus Christ. It's visible in our values, how we treat one another, and the environment we create for learning and growth.
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
- Cricket
- Cricket (through clubs)
- Touch Rugby
- Touch Rugby
- Summer League Hockey
- Summer League Hockey (through clubs)
- Basketball
- Basketball
- Miniball
- Miniball
- Netball
- Netball
- Rugby
- Rugby (through clubs)
- Football
- Football (through clubs)
- Hockey
- Hockey (through clubs)
- Cricket
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 42
- Māori
- 24
- Pacific
- 20
- Asian
- 60
- MELAA
- 8
- 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 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 22 |
| Year 02 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 15 |
| Year 03 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| Year 04 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| Year 05 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| Year 06 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 17 |
| Year 07 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 26 |
| Year 08 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | 23 | 23 | 58 | 8 | 4 | 48 | 0 | 140 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 21 |
| Age 06 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 15 |
| Age 07 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| Age 08 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Age 09 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| Age 10 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
| Age 11 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| Age 12 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| Age 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 23 | 23 | 58 | 8 | 4 | 48 | 0 | 140 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
42%
| St Joseph's School (Oamaru) | 42% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 36.8% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State : Integrated | 16.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 23.5% |
|---|---|
| Male | 69.1% |
| Māori | 96.2% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 44.4% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 68.6% |
| Total | 42% |
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%
| St Joseph's School (Oamaru) | 0% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 4.6% |
| Full Primary | 3.9% |
| State : Integrated | 1.6% |
| 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%
| St Joseph's School (Oamaru) | 0% |
|---|---|
| Otago Region | 2% |
| Full Primary | 1.7% |
| State : Integrated | 0.5% |
| 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)
- 437
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Medium urban area
- Date opened
- 6 May 1882
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
- 28 July 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (28 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 28 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 145 — 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
189
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 23 May 2018
May 2013
211
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 20 August 2013
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 28 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 15 months of the Education Review Office and St Joseph’s School Oamaru 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
St Joseph’s School Oamaru is a Catholic integrated school for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision for all students is that they become lifelong learners in the Catholic faith. The school curriculum is designed to promote the values of reverence, resilience, relationships and respect and the related learning capabilities of meaning making, critical inquiry, perspective taking and taking action. At the time of this report the school was in the process of recruiting a new principal.
The school strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
developing a sense of pride and purpose in the school’s Catholic community
developing structured explicit teaching to support student learning and achievement in literacy and mathematics
ongoing development of the school’s authentic, bicultural local curriculum.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Joseph’s School Oamaru ’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively structured explicit teaching is supporting all students to make progress and achieve in literacy.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
the school has identified a trend of declining achievement in literacy over recent years and wants to address this
the school wants to support equitable achievement for all students, including the significant number of English language learners on the school roll
teachers are engaged in professional learning programmes linked to the teaching and assessment of literacy.
The school expects to see students:
make expected rates of progress in literacy learning
be knowledgeable about their literacy learning goals, progress and what they need to do to improve
have relevant, engaging and culturally responsive opportunities to learn and practice their literacy skills across the school curriculum
experience consistent, clear expectations and approaches to literacy teaching and learning across classes.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to improve literacy learning outcomes for students:
mana -enhancing relationships with teachers, students, families and whānau underpinned by the school’s special character vision and values
leaders and teachers who are collaborating to develop and embed shared expectations for effective literacy teaching
inclusive school culture which values and celebrates the culture, identity and languages of all students.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
professional development on explicit teaching of literacy at all levels
strengthening literacy assessment practices to ensure it is consistent and reliable across the school and used effectively to support targeted teaching
individual and collaborative teacher inquiry into the effectiveness of teaching on raising student achievement in literacy
ensuring students’ literacy learning is supported by a culturally responsive curriculum
partnerships with families and whānau to support literacy learning at school and at home.
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
28 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 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).