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Specialist School · State

Wairau Valley Special School

102 Hillside Road, Glenfield · Auckland — North

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Total roll 275
EQI 434
Founded 1975
92

Composite score

Strong

A+

Top 5% in NZ

Rank #33 of scored NZ schools

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State school Co-educational Special school

Best suited for

Students in Glenfield looking for a state-funded setting with a strong recent ERO trajectory.

Is Wairau Valley Special School a good school?

Wairau Valley Special School scores 92/100 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

  • Students display a strong sense of belonging, see themselves as learners and make individual progress in relation to their learning goals
  • School culture of collaboration and learning-centred partnerships with whānau through an emotionally supportive environment
  • Adaptive integrated school curriculum with a strong environmental focus that enables programmes to support ākonga in their learning and complex needs

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.

How this is computed
Wellbeing
35%
standdowns 4.3/1k · suspensions 0.0/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · above band median (n=518) · why?
Composite of stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions per 1,000 students (lower is better). Formula: standdowns/1k + 2× suspensions/1k + 5× exclusions/1k. Small primary schools with no rows score top of band ("no incidents reported"). Source: Education Counts student engagement. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: above band median (n=518).
96
Trajectory
25%
+41.1% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top 10% of band (n=515) · why?
5-year change in total roll. −20% → 0 score, 0% → 50, +20% → 100. Source: Education Counts roll history. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: top 10% of band (n=515).
100
ERO review
40%
84/100 from ERO review 2024-04 · top quartile of band (n=520) · why?
Composite score from the most recent Education Review Office report (Haiku-extracted 0–100 from the published review text). For primary schools this is the heaviest axis (40%) because NCEA-style outcomes data isn't applicable. Source: ERO via Wayback archive. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=520).
84

⚠ 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

2024-04-10 · Shelley Booysen, ERO

ERO report
  • Students display a strong sense of belonging, see themselves as learners and make individual progress in relation to their learning goals
  • School culture of collaboration and learning-centred partnerships with whānau through an emotionally supportive environment
  • Adaptive integrated school curriculum with a strong environmental focus that enables programmes to support ākonga in their learning and complex needs
  • Effective and well-established school leaders that are solution focused, fostering conditions for coaching and mentoring to build staff teaching and learning capability
  • School continues to navigate and manage roll growth pressures along with the employment and property demands associated with this
"Students display a strong sense of belonging, see themselves as learners and make individual progress in relation to their learning goals."
— ERO, 2024-04-10 (wellbeing)

Composite score across reviews

2 ERO reviews on file, 2016–2024. Click a point to read that review.

latest 84
0 25 50 75 100 20162024 2016-06-09 · 84/100 2024-04-10 · 84/100

NCEA achievement

School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).

Education Counts

NCEA Level 1 · 2024

0.0%

0 of 10 leavers

0.0pt vs prior year

NCEA Level 2 · 2024

0.0%

0 of 10 leavers

0.0pt vs prior year

University Entrance · 2024

0.0%

0 of 10 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.

Education Counts

90.0%

2024 cohort · 10 students

-10.0pt 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.

Education Counts

Stand-downs · 2024

4.3

1 this year · 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.

Education Counts

Total Crown funding · 2022

$6.94M

Per-student funding · 2022

$25,240

2018

$3.9M

2019

$5.1M

2020

$6.3M

2021

$7.3M

2022

$6.9M

Roll by year level

July 2025 roll return.

Education Counts
  • Year 01
    19
  • Year 02
    25
  • Year 03
    23
  • Year 04
    13
  • Year 05
    14
  • Year 06
    17
  • Year 07
    17
  • Year 08
    18
  • Year 09
    16
  • Year 10
    21
  • Year 11
    19
  • Year 12
    12
  • Year 13+
    57

Roll by ethnicity

Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.

Education Counts
  • European/Pākehā
    50.2%
  • Asian
    34.5%
  • Māori
    12.0%
  • Pacific
    9.8%
  • Other / MELAA
    5.1%

Location

102 Hillside Road, Glenfield. Nearby schools marked in grey.

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Frequently asked

Is Wairau Valley Special School a good school?

Wairau Valley Special School scores 92/100 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 5 key findings. Students display a strong sense of belonging, see themselves as learners and make individual progress in relation to their learning goals

How do I enrol my child at Wairau Valley Special School?

Contact the school directly on 09-4445552, email admin@wvss.school.nz, or visit www.wvss.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?

Wairau Valley Special School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

What is the roll size?

Wairau Valley Special School has 275 students, with an EQI of 434 (mid-range socio-economic context).

When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed Wairau Valley Special 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.

Last updated

10 Apr 2024

Source documents

3 cited

Spot an error?

Report a correction

Sourced from

  • ero.govt.nz
  • schoolsdata.co.nz
  • crimestats.co.nz