Last updated November 2026
Arowhenua Maori School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at 33 Huirapa Street, Arowhenua, Temuka. It opened in 1895 and had 41 students on its roll at 1 October 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. It sits on the Arowhenua Pā and is a Level 2 bilingual kura, where te reo Māori is the language of instruction for 51 to 80 percent of the time and teaching follows Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the Māori-medium curriculum. Its kaupapa centres on tikanga Māori, knowing who you are and where you come from, and place-based learning with local experts and kaumātua, and free transport is available from Temuka, Pleasant Point and Timaru.
At a glance
- Principal
- Bronwyn Te Koeti-James
- Address
- 33 Huirapa Street, Arowhenua, Temuka
- Phone
- 03 615 7391
Home zone
No home zone: any student can apply to enrol. If more students apply than there are places, the school decides how places are offered.
Who goes here
Share of the 41 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 October 2025. ERO found learner success and progress increasing, with a large majority of learners at or above the expected level in pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau, and results becoming more even across groups. It noted strong teaching, a rich curriculum grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, learners who are secure in their culture, identity and language, collaborative leadership, and close partnerships with mana whenua and Arowhenua Marae. However, fewer than half of learners attend regularly, well short of the government target, and ERO said the school needs to make sure the learning environment is physically and emotionally safe.
The school’s priorities are to raise regular attendance, ensure strong outcomes for every learner, improve how it analyses and reports progress data, strengthen its self-evaluation, and help students track their own progress and set their next steps. ERO also found two compliance gaps, in staff child protection training and regular police vetting, which the board has since acted on.
Read the ERO reports for Arowhenua Maori School
Enrolling
There is no home zone, so any family can apply. The school says it welcomes students of all ethnic backgrounds, and families enrol using the enrolment form on its website.
Schools nearby
In Temuka
Arowhenua Maori School 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 Arowhenua Maori School zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
41 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?
548. 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.
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Sources and data notes 1
- School facts: School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 7 Nov 2026 (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).