Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 425
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 75 Cutts Road, Avonhead, Christchurch
- Territorial authority
- Christchurch City
- Phone
- 03-3427783
- reception@russley.school.nz
- Website
- http://www.russley.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Christchurch · schools in Canterbury
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.
- School day ends
- 3.00pm
3.00pm: Final bell
- 3.00pm
- Uniform
Not stated on the school’s website.
- Where to buy the uniform
- https://mainlanduniforms.nz/
[Mainland Uniforms, 511 Wairakei Road](https://mainlanduniforms.nz/), is the preferred stockist of the new garments.
- https://mainlanduniforms.nz/
- How to enrol
- https://enrolments.linc-ed.com/apply/NZ/3496
To apply for enrolment at Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School, click [here](https://enrolments.linc-ed.com/apply/NZ/3496)
- https://enrolments.linc-ed.com/apply/NZ/3496
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
For many years Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School has proudly enrolled international pupils.
- 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
- basketball
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- cricket
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- orienteering
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- triathlon
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- duathlon
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- athletics
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- cross country
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- swimming
Russley athletes also feature strongly in basketball, cricket, orienteering, triathlon, duathlon and has representatives competing at Canterbury champs level in athletics, cross country and swimming.
- Christchurch Jump Jam Competition
For the past couple of years Russley has also competed in the Christchurch Jump Jam Competition.
- netball
Inter-school competition sports are: netball, soccer, hockey, rugby and basketball.
- soccer
Inter-school competition sports are: netball, soccer, hockey, rugby and basketball.
- hockey
Inter-school competition sports are: netball, soccer, hockey, rugby and basketball.
- rugby
Inter-school competition sports are: netball, soccer, hockey, rugby and basketball.
- Writers' Club
Writers' Club A group of creative writers meet for writing workshops, critique sessions and occasionally chocolate.
- basketball
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 225
- Māori
- 45
- Pacific
- 27
- Asian
- 162
- MELAA
- 31
- Other
- 30
- International
- 14
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 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 35 |
| Year 02 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 52 |
| Year 03 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 53 |
| Year 04 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 32 | 0 | 47 |
| Year 05 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 3 | 57 |
| Year 06 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 2 | 58 |
| Year 07 | 10 | 8 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 70 |
| Year 08 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 60 |
| Total | 48 | 31 | 139 | 28 | 29 | 236 | 7 | 432 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 34 |
| Age 06 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 51 |
| Age 07 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 50 |
| Age 08 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 0 | 48 |
| Age 09 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 2 | 56 |
| Age 10 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 3 | 63 |
| Age 11 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 55 |
| Age 12 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 0 | 63 |
| Age 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | 48 | 31 | 139 | 28 | 29 | 236 | 7 | 432 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
17.1%
| Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School | 17.1% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 38.3% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 33% |
| Māori | 28.5% |
| Pacific | 38.3% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 27.3% |
| European/Pākehā | 11.2% |
| Total | 17.1% |
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%
| Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 3.7% |
| 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%
| Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Canterbury Region | 1.7% |
| 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)
- 420
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Major urban area
- Date opened
- 3 February 1963
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
- 6
- Last reviewed
- 11 December 2024
- Latest report
- School Evaluation Report
- Report type
- Evaluation report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (11 December 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 11 December 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.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 11 December 2024 — “School Evaluation Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.
School Evaluation Report
Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.
We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.
Context
Te Parito Kōwhai Russley School is in northwest Christchurch and provides education for learners from Years 1 to 8 . The school’s name is gifted by mana whenua and represents the potential of the new growth at the centre of a kōwhai tree. A new assistant principal has been appointed since the previous ERO report.
There are three parts to this report.
Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.
Part B: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction.
Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.
Part A: Previous Improvement Goals
Since the previous ERO report of August 2022, the school has been evaluating how well staff build educationally powerful connections and relationships with learners and with whānau /families, for equity and excellence in learning. This focus was evaluated through the introduction of a structured literacy approach with a particular emphasis across Years 1 to 4.
Expected Improvements and Findings
The school expected to see:
More systematic, explicit, data-driven, and engaging teaching practices resulting in higher achievement for learners.
Leaders strengthened the embedding of structured teaching approaches in reading, guided by purposeful professional development.
Key elements of effective literacy practice have been reviewed and refined to provide clearer guidance for staff and a more cohesive pathway of learning from Years 1 to 8.
Leaders and teachers have prioritised the use of standardised and school-based assessment tools; this has led to greater understanding and consistency schoolwide.
Leaders and teachers enhanced discussions of shifts in practice has resulted in improved outcomes for learners.
Purposeful engagement with whānau /families by discussing and implementing changes to literacy teaching, that further enhance relationships for learner success and wellbeing.
Reporting now provides ongoing good quality progress, engagement and achievement information to parents for reading, as well as in writing, mathematics and the wider curriculum.
Whānau hui supports and informs further curriculum development, strengthening partnerships for learning.
Education evenings and curriculum updates promote parents’ partnership with the school in improving literacy outcomes.
Other Findings
During the course of the evaluation, it was found that most learners who enrolled in Year 1 in 2022 made good progress to achieve at or above expectations in reading by Year 3. Students joining the school after Year 1 are well supported through additional targeted interventions, if required to progress and achieve.
The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s evaluation focus is a strengthened leadership structure and approach that builds greater consistency in teaching and learning practices.
Part B: Current State
The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.
Learner Success and Wellbeing
The majority of learners are engaged and supported to make good progress over time.
By the end of Year 8, most learners achieve at expected curriculum levels in reading and the majority achieve at expected levels for writing and mathematics.
The majority of students attend school regularly; leaders purposefully engage with families to reduce absence rates, they are not yet meeting the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.
Wellbeing surveys show that most students have a strong sense of belonging, feel supported in their learning and enjoy the broad opportunities that the school provides.
Learners benefit from an established buddy system that builds supportive relationships and promotes their ideas and strengths; this is underpinned by the school’s embedded values.
Conditions to support learner success
Explicit leadership, alongside clear structures and systems, foster a culture of improvement.
Senior and team leaders regularly meet to monitor, plan and implement supports for greater learner success.
Leaders have implemented purposeful professional development that builds effective collaborative practices schoolwide; this is an ongoing priority.
Senior and team leaders benefit from an external mentor; deliberate growth of coaching skills and support for growing teacher inquiry enhances the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
Learners benefit from strengthened planning, teaching and assessment practices.
Teachers increasingly personalise planning and teaching to meet learner strengths and needs, based on improved assessment practices and feedback from students, whānau and families.
Clear guidelines have been developed that promote common understanding of high quality teaching and learning approaches, and consistency of practice.
Teachers collaborate in teams to align their goals and targets to strategic planning priorities; a formalised process of monitoring, reviewing, and adapting practice promotes learner success.
Organisational conditions foster a culture of improvement that promotes success for all.
Staff value and represent the school’s diverse communities in teaching and learning experiences, and families’ perspectives are sought via survey and annual whānau hui .
A digital platform for sharing real-time learning, progress and achievement with whānau and families promotes partnership in learning between home and school.
Deliberate strengthening of assessment practices and tools provides more reliable data for decision making at all levels of the school; well-considered internal evaluation practices are data driven.
The board receives regular information about teaching and learning, and health and safety matters, appropriately guiding resourcing and governance decisions.
Part C: Where to next?
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
implement planned adaptations to reading, writing and mathematics programmes, incorporating collaborative teaching approaches
continue the current review and refinement of strategic planning and aligned values in consultation with iwi, whānau and families, keeping learner outcomes to the fore
further refine the inquiry model for growing staff capability and consistency, with greater opportunities for observations and feedback that promotes learner attendance, engagement and academic progress
explore opportunities for greater relationship-building with the school’s diverse communities, building partnership in regular attendance, improved learner outcomes and involvement in the life of the school.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Every six months:
monitor the influence of professional development and changes in teaching practices on improved learner outcomes, including attendance so that teaching practices continue to be adapted responsively
gather student voice in relation to adaptations in collaborative teaching and learning practices, to inform additional improvements
Annually:
continue to analyse progress against strategic goals and targets to determine the effectiveness of interventions and programmes for students who are not yet achieving at expected curriculum levels
explore additional opportunities to build learning partnerships with whānau and families that promote improved learner achievement, including further targeting to improve attendance figures.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
consistently high quality, collaborative and responsive teaching and learning practices
sustained levels of regular attendance and learners achieving at and above curriculum level expectations
coherent school values and strategic goals and actions informed by collective perspectives and evidence of what works best for learners.
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children
Shelley Booysen Director of Schools
11 December 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 6 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).