St Joseph's School (Timaru)
50 Kelvin Street, Timaru · Canterbury
Composite score
Strong
Top 25% in NZ
Rank #363 of scored NZ schools
In summary
St Joseph's School (Timaru) is a full primary school serving 227 students in Timaru. ERO review (June 2022) found senior leaders and teachers closely track each child's progress and understand their next learning steps. School leaders provide strong pedagogical leadership focused on developing lifelong learners and well-rounded citizens, with a senior management team that actively gathers staff, parent, and student voice. The school has a composite score of 84.
Best suited for
Students aged 5-11 in Timaru looking for a state-funded setting with a strong recent ERO trajectory.
Is St Joseph's School (Timaru) a good school?
St Joseph's School (Timaru) scores 81/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 25% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
Strengths from the latest ERO report
- Senior leaders and teachers closely identify, track, and monitor each child's progress and achievement, and have a good understanding of their next learning steps
- School leaders provide strong pedagogical leadership, and have well-considered ideas and initiatives to prepare children to be lifelong learners and well-rounded citizens
- The senior management team gather staff, parent, and student voice to reflect the preferences of the school community
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=536) · why? ▼ hide
-0.5% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · near band median (n=534) · why? ▼ hide
84/100 from ERO review 2022-06 · above band median (n=539) · 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): 84/100.
Latest ERO review
2022-06-15 · Dr Lesley Patterson, Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
- Senior leaders and teachers closely identify, track, and monitor each child's progress and achievement, with good understanding of their next learning steps
- School leaders provide strong pedagogical leadership with well-considered ideas to prepare children as lifelong learners and well-rounded citizens
- Senior management team gather staff, parent, and student voice to reflect school community preferences
- School strategic priorities include providing high quality teaching and leadership to empower all learners to reach their highest potential
"senior leaders and teachers closely identify, track, and monitor each child's progress and achievement, and have a good understanding of their next learning steps"
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
$1.68M
Per-student funding · 2022
$7,400
2018
$1.3M
2019
$1.3M
2020
$1.5M
2021
$1.6M
2022
$1.7M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 01 24
- Year 02 24
- Year 03 32
- Year 04 27
- Year 05 27
- Year 06 30
- Year 07 25
- Year 08 29
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- European/Pākehā 85.0%
- Asian 12.3%
- Māori 11.0%
- Pacific 2.2%
- Other / MELAA 0.4%
Location
50 Kelvin Street, Timaru. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with St Joseph's School (Timaru).
Oceanview Heights School
Full Primary · 0.5km · 109 roll
52
-29 vs this
Mountainview High School
Secondary (Year 9-15) · 0.5km · 445 roll
50
-31 vs this
Grantlea Downs School
Full Primary · 0.9km · 317 roll
40
-41 vs this
Craighead Diocesan School
Secondary (Year 7-15) · 1.1km · 415 roll
80
-1 vs this
Waimataitai School
Full Primary · 1.5km · 506 roll
42
-39 vs this
Highfield School
Full Primary · 1.6km · 341 roll
48
-33 vs this
Frequently asked
Is St Joseph's School (Timaru) a good school?
St Joseph's School (Timaru) scores 81/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 25% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
What does the latest ERO review say?
ERO's 2022-06 review identified 4 key findings. Senior leaders and teachers closely identify, track, and monitor each child's progress and achievement, with good understanding of their next learning steps
How do I enrol my child at St Joseph's School (Timaru)?
Contact the school directly on 03-6881376, email office@stjosephstimaru.school.nz, or visit www.stjosephstimaru.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?
St Joseph's School (Timaru) is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
St Joseph's School (Timaru) has 227 students, with an EQI of 403 (lower socio-economic need).
When was the school last reviewed by ERO?
The Education Review Office last reviewed St Joseph's School (Timaru) in 2022-06, signed by Dr Lesley Patterson. 2 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
- schoolsdata.co.nz
- crimestats.co.nz