Waikaretu School
Full Primary · State
- Year levels
- 1–8
- Total roll
- 20
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 1448 Waikaretu Valley Road, Waikaretu, Tuakau
- Territorial authority
- Waikato District
- Phone
- 09-2333014
- admin@waikaretu.school.nz
- Website
- http://waikaretu.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Waikato
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
Waikaretu School students wear a uniform consisting of a polo shirt, hat and polar fleece.
- Required
- Term dates
- Term 1, 2026: Mon 2 February - Thurs 2 April
Mon 2 February - Thurs 2 April
Year stated as2026 Term Dates
- Term 2, 2026: Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July
Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July
Year stated as2026 Term Dates
- Term 3, 2026: Monday 20 July - Friday 25 Sep
Monday 20 July - Friday 25 Sep
Year stated as2026 Term Dates
- Term 4, 2026: Monday 12 October - Friday 11 Dec
Monday 12 October - Friday 11 Dec
Year stated as2026 Term Dates
- Term 1, 2026: Mon 2 February - Thurs 2 April
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 19
- Māori
- 5
- Pacific
- 0
- Asian
- 0
- MELAA
- 1
- 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Year 02 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Year 03 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Year 04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Year 05 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Year 08 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 21 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Age 06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Age 07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Age 08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Age 09 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Age 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Age 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 21 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Waikaretu School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 53.9% |
| Full Primary | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Asian | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| 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%
| Waikaretu School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 6.6% |
| Full Primary | 3.9% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Asian | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| 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%
| Waikaretu School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 2.4% |
| Full Primary | 1.7% |
| State | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 1.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Asian | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| Other | Not available (source marker: "nd") |
| 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)
- 452
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Rural other
- Date opened
- 25 January 1959
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
- 7 November 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (7 November 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 7 November 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 20 — 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.
August 2019
25
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 18 October 2019
September 2016
20
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 22 November 2016
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 7 November 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 four months of the Education Review Office and Waikaretu 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
Waikaretu School is located in a rural, coastal setting in North Waikato , providing education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school has strong connections with the local community, including both local marae .
Waikaretu School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
raising achievement for all students
strengthening community connections to support learning
deepening and broadening the local curriculum to enhance critical thinking and innovation.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on its website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted actions to raise achievement in literacy and mathematics for all students.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
the priority to increase rates of attendance and achievement for all learners
the commitment to further develop practices and programmes for continual improvement
the opportunity it provides to strengthen quality partnerships for learning and meaningful engagement with the local Māori community.
The school expects to see planned actions implemented to enable improved achievement and increasingly equitable outcomes for all learners. In addition, enhanced partnerships for learning should further promote increased rates of attendance and progress in learning.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to meet the needs of all learners and raise achievement through effective teaching practices and partnerships in learning:
a collaborative learning culture that supports consistent school practices and continuous improvement
a range of systems and programmes that responds to students’ individualised needs
positive, caring relationships and community connections that foster a sense of belonging.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
implementing deliberate actions to increase achievement and equitable outcomes for all learners
extending opportunities for the school and community to be engaged in reciprocal, learning-centred partnerships to improve attendance and increase outcomes for learners
further strengthening internal evaluation practices to enable sustainability for continuous improvement.
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
7 November 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).