Kōwhai School
407 Hastings St South, Akina · Hawke's Bay & Gisborne
Composite score
Strong
Top 5% in NZ
Rank #91 of scored NZ schools
Best suited for
Students in Akina looking for a state-funded setting with a strong recent ERO trajectory.
Is Kōwhai School a good school?
Kōwhai School scores 89/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 5% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
Strengths from the latest ERO report
- Board has affirmed compliance across all six regulatory and legislative requirement areas
Summary derived from ERO reports + audited financials + MoE records. Every claim links to its source — see data transparency at the bottom of this page.
Score breakdown
6 axes, each scored 0–100 on a national absolute scale. As at 2025.
standdowns 0.0/1k · suspensions 0.0/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · top 10% of band (n=539) · why? ▼ hide
+23.1% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top quartile of band (n=524) · why? ▼ hide
85/100 from ERO review 2024-04 · top 10% of band (n=544) · why? ▼ hide
⚠ Insufficient EQI-band peers (n<10) to compute per-axis percentile context. The score above is absolute; treat it as a single-school read rather than a peer comparison.
Real ERO composite (from the latest review): 85/100.
Latest ERO review
2024-04-22 · Shelley Booysen, ERO
- Board has attested to meeting all regulatory and legislative requirements as of October 2023
- Board Administration confirmed
- Curriculum requirements confirmed
- Management of Health, Safety and Welfare confirmed
- Personnel Management confirmed
"As of October 2023, the Kowhai School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements"
Audited financials
Year ended 2024 · Audit opinion: unmodified
Total revenue
$5.16M
Surplus / (deficit)
+$170k
Net assets / equity
$3.32M
NCEA achievement
School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).
NCEA Level 1 · 2024
0.0%
0 of 12 leavers
0.0pt vs prior year
NCEA Level 2 · 2024
0.0%
0 of 12 leavers
0.0pt vs prior year
University Entrance · 2024
0.0%
0 of 12 leavers
0.0pt vs prior year
Data: Ministry of Education / Education Counts, CC-BY-4.0
Stay-on rate
Percentage of students who stay at school until at least their 17th birthday — the standard NZ proxy for Year-9-to-Year-13 retention.
91.7%
2024 cohort · 12 students
-8.3pt vs 2023
Discipline (age-standardised, per 1,000 students)
Stand-down = sent home temporarily. Suspension = formal investigation. Exclusion = removed from school. National averages shown for comparison.
Stand-downs · 2024
0.0
· NZ avg ~37
Suspensions · 2024
0.0
· NZ avg ~5
Exclusions · 2024
0.0
· NZ avg ~1.5
Government funding
Crown funding only (school operations + teacher salaries + property). Excludes locally-raised funds, international fees and trading income — those are in the audited financial report above.
Total Crown funding · 2022
$3.81M
Per-student funding · 2022
$29,283
2018
$2.6M
2019
$3.2M
2020
$4.9M
2021
$5.4M
2022
$3.8M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 01 8
- Year 02 15
- Year 03 10
- Year 04 8
- Year 05 8
- Year 06 8
- Year 07 18
- Year 08 15
- Year 09 11
- Year 10 5
- Year 11 6
- Year 12 6
- Year 13+ 15
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- Māori 56.2%
- European/Pākehā 43.1%
- Pacific 16.2%
- Asian 6.9%
- Other / MELAA 0.8%
Location
407 Hastings St South, Akina. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with Kōwhai School.
Hastings Central School
Contributing · 0.1km · 210 roll
53
-36 vs this
Akina School/ Activity Centre
Activity Centre · 0.2km · roll n/a
80
-9 vs this
St Joseph's School (Hastings)
Full Primary · 0.4km · 301 roll
76
-13 vs this
Hastings Intermediate
Intermediate · 0.4km · 378 roll
47
-42 vs this
St Matthew's Primary School (Hastings)
Full Primary · 0.6km · 159 roll
78
-11 vs this
Hastings Boys' High School
Secondary (Year 9-15) · 0.7km · 758 roll
63
-26 vs this
Frequently asked
Is Kōwhai School a good school?
Kōwhai School scores 89/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 5% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
What does the latest ERO review say?
ERO's 2024-04 review identified 6 key findings. Board has attested to meeting all regulatory and legislative requirements as of October 2023
How do I enrol my child at Kōwhai School?
Contact the school directly on 06-8783506, email accounts@ksp.school.nz, or visit www.kowhaispecial.school.nz. For state schools, check your home address against the school's enrolment zone — some schools are in-zone-only.
What are the fees?
Kōwhai School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
Kōwhai School has 130 students, with an EQI of 517 (higher socio-economic need).
When was the school last reviewed by ERO?
The Education Review Office last reviewed Kōwhai School in 2024-04, signed by Shelley Booysen. 3 ERO reports are on file in our archive.
Data transparency
Every fact on this page links to its source. We never publish a claim without provenance — read our methodology for the full rules.
Sourced from
- ero.govt.nz
- web.archive.org
- schoolsdata.co.nz
- crimestats.co.nz