Key facts
- School number340
- School typeSecondary · Years 9–15
- AuthorityState
- GenderCo-Educational
- BoardingNo
- Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
- Established1 February 1956
About Cashmere High School
Cashmere High School (Te Iringa o Kahukura) is a state secondary school in the southern part of Christchurch, situated beside the Heathcote River and the Cashmere Hills. It opened in 1956 with 198 students.
The school's Māori name, meaning The Uplifting of the Rainbow God, was gifted to the school in 1972 by Ropata Wahawaha Stirling, QSM, who was at that time the Upoko o te Rūnaka o Kai Tahu, Christchurch. The name refers to Kahukura, the God of the Rainbow, and connects the school to the surrounding Cashmere Hills.
The school is co-governed by a board comprising the principal, one staff representative, five elected parent representatives, and a student representative. Parent and staff representatives are elected every three years; the student trustee is elected annually.
The McCombs Performing Arts Centre, opened in 2019, is named after the school's founding headmaster, Sir Terence McCombs, and is available for hire by community and commercial groups. Its main auditorium has fixed tiered seating for 573 patrons and a stage measuring 22 metres wide by 9 metres deep.
Enrolment
Enrolment scheme on recordCashmere High School has an enrolment scheme (a home zone) on record. Living inside it guarantees a place; living outside it does not, though out-of-zone applications may still be considered.
School donations
The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations may be requested".
With an Equity Index of 413, Cashmere High School is below the 432 threshold newly required to opt into the donations scheme, though a school already receiving this funding from an earlier year may continue to do so. Outside the scheme, a school can still ask families for donations, but cannot compel or enforce payment.
Check directly with the school for current charges, contributions or other costs. Learn more on the donations scheme or fees and charges at school, both on education.govt.nz.
Equity Index
The Ministry publishes this figure as a bare number — KuraData shows it against the directory-wide average, so you can see where Cashmere High School actually sits, not just the number on its own.
The Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers students face, on average, and is used to inform government funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.
Higher values indicate a higher level of estimated socio-economic barriers; lower values indicate fewer. Learn how the Equity Index is calculated →
Student ethnicity
The Ministry publishes this as a raw table — here it's visualised directly against Cashmere High School's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.
- European — 2,003 students (81.6%)
- Asian — 419 students (17.1%)
- Pacific — 60 students (2.4%)
- Māori — 240 students (9.8%)
- MELAA — 99 students (4%)
- Other — 44 students (1.8%)
- International — 131 students (5.3%)
Percentages may sum to more than 100% because students can identify with more than one ethnic group.
Further education in Christchurch
Explore tertiary providers based in Christchurch — not necessarily where Cashmere High School's own students go on to study.
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University of Canterbury Universities
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Ara Institute of Canterbury Institutes of Technology & Polytechnics
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Hagley Community College YG Other Tertiary Education Providers
Location
- Street address172 Rose Street
- SuburbSomerfield
- CityChristchurch
- Local authorityChristchurch City
Official contact details
- ContactJohn Stradwick
- Phone03-3329129
- Emailoffice@cashmere.school.nz
- Websitewww.cashmere.school.nz
Nearby schools
Schools physically closest to Cashmere High School, regardless of year level.
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Clearview Primary Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 20.1 km
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Ashburton Christian School Composite · Years 1–10 · 78.5 km
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Methven Primary School Contributing · Years 1–6 · 78.8 km
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Amuri Area School Composite · Years 1–15 · 90.1 km
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Waihi School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 127 km
Explore schools in Christchurch
Browse Christchurch schools by type, including primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and other schools.
Curriculum & Qualifications
Cashmere High School covers Year 9 through Year 13. In Year 9, most students follow a compulsory curriculum, with a small number exempted from language study to allow more time on core subjects such as English and Mathematics. From Year 10 onward, optional subjects become progressively available, with all subjects optional at Year 13.
Year 9 and 10 students are broadly streamed into ability classes for core subjects, based on entrance testing, contributing school data, and enrolment information, with movement between classes possible as the year progresses.
In the senior school, multi-level study is available, allowing students to select courses from more than one year level in a single year. Different courses within the same subject may also be offered at the same year level.
The school offers NCEA qualifications at the following levels:
- Level 1 NCEA (Year 11)
- Level 2 NCEA (Year 12)
- Level 3 NCEA (Year 13)
- New Zealand Scholarship Award (Year 13)
A Studies Choice handbook is published annually, detailing courses offered, entry requirements, and associated costs.
Co-curricular Activities
The following named co-curricular groups and programmes are described in school sources.
- Ropu o Te Iringa o Kahukura — the school's Māori performing arts group, which welcomes visitors and competes at Māori festivals and competitions
- Pasifika Culture Group — represents the school at the Christchurch Schools cultural festival
- Stage Challenge — a competition in which the school has won national titles
- Reef and Rainforest trip — a Science-focused overseas trip to the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropical Forests of Queensland
- Space Camp trip — held every two years, travelling to Space Camp in Alabama and Kennedy Space Centre in Florida
- French Language Trip — a three-week exchange running every second year with Lycée St Michel in Château-Gontier, Western France, open to Years 11–13 French students
- South America Trip — includes homestays at Saint Mary Joseph in Santiago, Chile, plus tours in Argentina and Peru, open to senior Spanish students
- Japan Trip — a three-week visit for Years 11–13 Japanese students, including a five-day homestay and visits to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Tokyo and other cities
- Technology Faculty Trip to New York — a bi-annual trip to New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC for Fashion & Textiles, Food Technology and Digital Technology students
Student Support and Pastoral Care
Cashmere High School operates a range of named student support services across pastoral care, health, and learning.
- Heads of School (Deans) — one Dean per year level, responsible for following up discipline issues and guiding student decision-making.
- Guidance Counsellors — three full-time counsellors, part of the Student Support Faculty, who work to identify and address barriers to learning and provide personal support. Most students are self-referred. Referrals to outside agencies are made where needed, and referrals for students under 16 are made in discussion with parents or caregivers.
- Health Clinic — a self-referral clinic in the Admin Block, staffed by two registered nurses on alternating days. Open daily with set hours. Services include first aid, illness assessment, free nurse consultations, and access to an on-site School Physio Clinic on Wednesday afternoons at no cost.
- Learning Support Department — a team of three teachers and teacher aides who work with students requiring additional support for learning, behaviour, or health needs. Delivers short-term intervention programmes in literacy, numeracy, cognitive skills, and study skills, both in mainstream classrooms and in small groups in the Opportunity Room. Also coordinates Special Assessment Conditions applications to NZQA for eligible senior students.
- Senior Peer Support Programme — uses senior students as role models and points of contact for younger students.
- Mentoring Programme — students can be referred to work with youth workers to support engagement with school.
- Attendance Engagement Mentor — a dedicated role (currently Beth Hickland) focused on building connections between students, their whānau, and the school to support students with attendance difficulties. Referrals are made through the relevant Head of School.
- Careers Staff — provide advice on tertiary study and employment options.
Frequently asked
These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Cashmere High School's own official Ministry of Education data already shown on this page, so what you read here always matches the figures above.
Sources & methodology
Every fact on this page traces back to one of the rows below — official Ministry of Education data, or Cashmere High School's own published information, reviewed before publication. Nothing here is inferred or estimated beyond what its source actually states.
| Data | Source | Data period | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| School characteristics | Ministry of Education | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Student roll | Ministry of Education / Education Counts | August 2026 | 7 September 2026 |
| Equity Index | Education Counts | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Address & coordinates | Ministry of Education | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Contact details | NZ Schools Directory | Current | 7 September 2026 |
| School information (AI-curated, human-reviewed) | Cashmere High School's official website | Current | 16 September 2026 |