Last updated October 2026
St Johns Hill School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at Parkes Avenue, Whanganui. It opened in 1929 and had 415 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes parts of St Johns Hill, Otamatea and Springvale; the zone map below shows the full boundary. The school’s site describes it as an Education for Sustainability school with Green-Gold status, set in grounds with fruit and vegetable gardens and chickens. Team sports run in summer and winter with parent coaches, alongside school-wide cross country and athletics.
At a glance
- Principal
- Darren Torrie
- Address
- Parkes Avenue, Whanganui
- Phone
- 06 349 1750
Home zone
Parts of these suburbs: St Johns Hill, Otamatea Whanganui and Springvale Whanganui: 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 415 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 Evaluation Report from August 2024. ERO found learner outcomes positive and sustained over time, with nearly all learners, including Māori students, meeting curriculum expectations in reading and maths and most doing well in writing.
Most learners attend school regularly, which puts the school ahead of the Ministry of Education’s target. ERO pointed to robust assessment, collaborative teaching teams who know students well, timely support for learners with additional needs, and trustees who govern effectively.
Next, the school plans to build stronger learning partnerships with mana whenua, keep up professional learning that brings te ao Māori and te reo Māori into teaching, and use its recent Poutama Reo self-review to develop a te reo Māori framework showing how students build the language over time.
Read the ERO reports for St Johns Hill School
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone have the right to enrol, with proof of address required. Out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme, by ballot when there are more applicants than places, with priority for siblings of current and former students, children of former students, and children of board members and staff. The school publishes its out-of-zone places and application dates on its website each year.
New entrants start in groups on set entry dates after their fifth birthday, and the enrolment procedure page links to the online enrolment and out-of-zone application forms.
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 St Johns Hill
St Johns Hill School is in St Johns Hill. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our St Johns Hill guide →Questions parents ask
Is St Johns Hill School zoned?
It has a home zone covering parts of St Johns Hill, Otamatea Whanganui and Springvale Whanganui.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
415 at 1 Sep 2026.
Does it ask for donations?
It may. It is not in the donation scheme, so it can ask families for donations.
What is its Equity Index?
416. 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, 29 Oct 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).