Last updated November 2026
St Joseph’s School is a state-integrated, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at Wilkin Street, Temuka. It opened in 1883 and had 109 students on its roll at 1 October 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Kerrytown, Sutherlands, Milford, Pleasant Point and Temuka, and parts of Levels Valley, Taiko, Seadown and Levels; the zone map below shows the full boundary. As a Catholic school it teaches Religious Education every day, works with the parish on the sacramental programmes, and bases its values on the charism of St Mary MacKillop.
Sport runs through an inter-house programme and the Temuka Sports Group, with swimming lessons at the Temuka Domain pool, a netball club based at the school and miniball teams in the South Canterbury competition.
At a glance
- Principal
- Brenna Sugrue
- Address
- Wilkin Street, Temuka
- Phone
- 03 615 8206
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Temuka, Pleasant Point, Sutherlands, Milford and Kerrytown.
Parts of Levels Valley, Taiko, Seadown and Levels: check your street.
Zone boundaries are set by the school’s enrolment scheme and can change. Confirm your address with the school before you rely on it.
Who goes here
Share of the 109 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
MELAA: Middle Eastern, Latin American and African.
What ERO found
The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a School Report from May 2025. ERO found success and progress increasing for all students, high quality teaching in reading, writing and maths, and a school that does well at keeping students engaged and included.
A large majority of students reach the expected curriculum level in all three areas, though results are not yet equal across groups.
Māori students’ achievement has improved, the school adopted structured literacy and maths early, and it reports well to families and makes good use of community feedback. Attendance is behind the Government target and is not yet improving, and chronic absence has not yet started to fall.
The agreed next steps are to use more systematic evaluation to guide decisions and fairer outcomes, grow teachers’ understanding of te ao Māori and te reo Māori alongside the school’s special character, and lift regular attendance while reducing chronic absence.
Read the ERO reports for St Joseph’s School (Temuka)
Enrolling
The school’s enrolment page sets out enrolment by preference, as at other state-integrated Catholic schools. The parish priest decides preference enrolments, using criteria such as the child being baptised or being prepared for baptism, having a Catholic parent or guardian, or having a family member who commits to supporting their faith.
A limited number of non-preference places are filled in a priority order that starts with siblings, and families taking them agree to take part in the school’s Catholic character and to pay attendance dues, which are not voluntary.
To begin, families contact the school office to meet the principal and then meet the parish priest about preference. A birth certificate, and a baptism certificate where there is one, are needed.
Schools nearby
Where students go next
Based on home zones around the school’s own address. Families can apply to any school, and your own address decides which zones you are in.
In Temuka
St Joseph's School (Temuka) is in Temuka. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Temuka guide →Questions parents ask
Is St Joseph's School (Temuka) zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Temuka, Pleasant Point, Sutherlands, Milford and Kerrytown and parts of Levels Valley, Taiko, Seadown and Levels.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
109 at 1 Oct 2026.
Does it ask for donations?
No. It is in the donation scheme, so it only asks for donations for school camps.
What is its Equity Index?
451. The Ministry of Education’s Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, from 344 (fewest) to 569 (most). It is used to share out funding, not as a measure of quality.
Updated automatically when the Ministry publishes new data.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Sources and data notes 1
- School facts: School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 7 Nov 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Home zone: Ministry of Education enrolment zones (CC BY 4.0). NCEA results, roll history and stand-downs: Education Counts, school leavers 2023 to 2025, stand-downs 2025, rolls 2021 to 2025 (CC BY 4.0).