St Mary's School (Dunedin)
6 A Cromwell Street, Wakari · Otago & Southland
Composite score
Strong
Top 5% in NZ
Rank #53 of scored NZ schools
In summary
St Mary's School received a Te Ara Huarau review in December 2022. The school provides an inclusive, caring environment where relational trust exists across all levels—students, teachers, the board, and community. Teachers collaborate to support each other in strengthening their practice to meet students' learning needs.
Best suited for
Students in Wakari looking for a state-funded setting with a strong recent ERO trajectory.
Is St Mary's School (Dunedin) a good school?
St Mary's School (Dunedin) scores 91/100 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
- The school provides an inclusive, caring, safe environment in which students can take risks and succeed with their learning
- Relational trust at all levels of the school – students, teachers, the board and community, which helps reinforce students' learning
- Collaborative teachers who support each other to strengthen their practice in an ongoing way so that students' learning needs are met
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
+48.7% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top 10% of band (n=534) · why? ▼ hide
77/100 from ERO review 2019-12 · below 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): 77/100.
Latest ERO review
2022-12-13 · Dr Lesley Patterson, Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
- The school provides an inclusive, caring, safe environment in which students can take risks and succeed with their learning
- Relational trust exists at all levels of the school – students, teachers, the board and community
- Collaborative teachers support each other to strengthen their practice in an ongoing way
- The school has recently experienced growth in the number of students who are English Language Learners and who have other diverse needs
- Strategic priorities include keeping classes small to enable individual students to access teacher help in multilevel classes
"The school provides an inclusive, caring, safe environment in which students can take risks and succeed with their learning."
Audited financials
Year ended 2020 · Audit opinion: n/a
Total revenue
$0.52M
Surplus / (deficit)
+$37k
Net assets / equity
$0.08M
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
$0.39M
Per-student funding · 2022
$6,221
2018
$0.2M
2019
$0.3M
2020
$0.4M
2021
$0.4M
2022
$0.4M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 01 7
- Year 02 11
- Year 03 13
- Year 04 7
- Year 05 10
- Year 06 7
- Year 07 3
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- Asian 80.6%
- European/Pākehā 21.0%
- Māori 4.8%
- Other / MELAA 3.2%
- Pacific 1.6%
Location
6 A Cromwell Street, Wakari. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with St Mary's School (Dunedin).
Wakari School
Contributing · 0.6km · 326 roll
78
-13 vs this
Balmacewen Intermediate
Intermediate · 0.8km · 469 roll
67
-24 vs this
Kaikorai School
Contributing · 0.9km · 320 roll
46
-45 vs this
Columba College
Composite · 1.1km · 595 roll
82
-9 vs this
Halfway Bush School
Contributing · 1.2km · 35 roll
70
-21 vs this
John McGlashan College
Secondary (Year 7-15) · 1.5km · 525 roll
83
-8 vs this
Frequently asked
Is St Mary's School (Dunedin) a good school?
St Mary's School (Dunedin) scores 91/100 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 2022-12 review identified 5 key findings. The school provides an inclusive, caring, safe environment in which students can take risks and succeed with their learning
How do I enrol my child at St Mary's School (Dunedin)?
Contact the school directly on 03-4764277, email secretary@st-marys.school.nz, or visit stmaryskaikorai.edublogs.org. For state schools, check your home address against the school's enrolment zone — some schools are in-zone-only.
What are the fees?
St Mary's School (Dunedin) is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
St Mary's School (Dunedin) has 62 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 Mary's School (Dunedin) in 2022-12, signed by Dr Lesley Patterson. 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