Thorndon School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 278
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 20 Turnbull Street, Thorndon, Wellington
- Territorial authority
- Wellington City
- Phone
- 04-4724267
- office@thorndonprimary.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Wellington · 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.
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
Thorndon School requires that all international students live in one of the following types of accommodation:
- 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
- Junior Choir / for students in Years 1–3
- Kōkako Choir / for students in Years 4–6
- Kea Choir / for students in Years 7–8
- Senior orchestra
Senior orchestra: Open to students in Years 5–8 who have been learning their instrument for at least one year.
- Festival orchestra
Festival orchestra: Open to students in Years 5–8 who have been learning their instrument for two or more years.
- Rock Band
Rock Band: Open to students in Years 6–8, All instrumentalists must be able to read music, chords, or tabs fluently.
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 101
- Māori
- 24
- Pacific
- 25
- Asian
- 156
- MELAA
- 22
- Other
- 11
- International
- 2
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 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 25 |
| Year 02 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 22 |
| Year 03 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 36 |
| Year 04 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 37 |
| Year 05 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 36 |
| Year 06 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 40 |
| Year 07 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 39 |
| Year 08 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 32 |
| Total | 26 | 24 | 139 | 20 | 11 | 116 | 2 | 267 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 25 |
| Age 06 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 21 |
| Age 07 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 37 |
| Age 08 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 36 |
| Age 09 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 34 |
| Age 10 | 5 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 46 |
| Age 11 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 35 |
| Age 12 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 32 |
| Age 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 26 | 24 | 139 | 20 | 11 | 116 | 2 | 267 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
6.1%
| Thorndon School | 6.1% |
|---|---|
| Wellington Region | 24.7% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 11.8% |
| Māori | 50.9% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 6.1% |
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%
| Thorndon 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%
| Thorndon 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)
- 362
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Major urban area
- Date opened
- 16 November 1858
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
- 20 June 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (20 June 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 20 June 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 278 — 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.
May 2018
274
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 22 June 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 20 June 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 18 months of the Education Review Office and Thorndon 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
Thorndon School, located in Wellington, provides education for learners from years 1 to 8.
Thorndon School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
Poutama : strong learner achievement
Ukaipōtanga : celebrating our identity as a community
Hanga Whare : strengthening our systems and processes for now and the future.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Thorndon School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together, using the context of writing, to evaluate how effectively schoolwide systems and processes are:
supporting all learner’s continuous achievement and improvement
building leader and teacher collective capacity and culturally sustainable practices
strengthening learning partnerships with whānau .
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
that the board and leaders have prioritised the acceleration of learners’ achievement in writing through the alignment of systems and processes, building leaders’ and teachers’ capacity and culturally sustainable practices and strengthening learning partnerships with whānau .
The school expects to see the alignment and strengthening of systems and processes, the building of collective leadership and teacher capacity, curriculum knowledge and effective practice, learning partnerships with whānau , and the lifting of the achievement of all learners.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how well schoolwide systems and processes are building leader and teacher collective capacity, culturally sustainable practices, for learner’s continuous improvement:
a newly established collaborative leadership model that prioritises sustainable change and supports the continuous achievement of mokopuna
engaged and highly supportive whānau committed to improving the achievement of mokopuna .
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
the development and alignment of schoolwide systems and key documents to guide, support and build leaders’ and teachers’ capacity and curriculum knowledge, culturally sustainable practices and whānau learning partnerships that will accelerate learner achievement in writing.
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 June 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).