Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai — School Profile

Key facts

School number2840
School typeFull Primary · Years 1–8
AuthorityState
GenderCo-Educational
BoardingNo
Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
Established26 January 1863

About Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai

Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai is a full primary school located in Featherston, at the southern end of the Wairarapa. It serves approximately 150 students, from new entrants through to intermediate age.

The school's Māori name, Paetūmokai, reflects the area's pre-European history. The site was an established Māori settlement before European surveying in 1856 named the town after Isaac Featherston. The name Paetūmokai appears in pūrākau (stories) from both Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu iwi, and the school acknowledges both traditions because many students whakapapa to both.

The school is not faith-based or Māori-medium, but places explicit emphasis on bicultural identity and te ao Māori values. Its three stated core values are:

Kaitiakitanga — responsibility
Manaakitanga — respect
Aumangea — resilience

The school's stated vision, Te Whakakitenga, centres on developing learners with strong cultural and whānau identities who contribute to their community.

School donations

The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations should not be requested, unless for a school camp".

With an Equity Index of 497, Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai is in the range eligible to opt into the Ministry's donations scheme — receiving additional government funding per student in exchange for not seeking donations (except for overnight camps).

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 Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai actually sits, not just the number on its own.

OFFICIAL DATA

497

Scale: 344–569

Band: Many (2026)

WHAT IT MEANS

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 →

EQI scale (344–569)

Directory avg 445

Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai 497

Student ethnicity

The Ministry publishes this as a raw table — here it's visualised directly against Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.

European — 119 students (79.9%)
Asian — 8 students (5.4%)
Pacific — 4 students (2.7%)
Māori — 57 students (38.3%)
MELAA — 5 students (3.4%)

Percentages may sum to more than 100% because students can identify with more than one ethnic group.

Location

View larger map on OpenStreetMap

Street address11 Lyon Street
CityFeatherston
Local authoritySouth Wairarapa District

Official contact details

ContactVanessa Phillips
Phone+64 6 308 9242
Emailoffice@featherston.school.nz
Websitewww.featherston.school.nz

Nearby schools

Schools physically closest to Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai, regardless of year level.

Kahutara School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 12.1 km
Martinborough School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 15.3 km
Dalefield School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 16.4 km
Mangaroa School Contributing · Years 1–6 · 17.6 km
Ponatahi Christian School Composite · Years 1–15 · 19 km

Explore schools in Featherston

Browse Featherston schools by type, including primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and other schools.

Full Primary schools (2) All schools in Featherston →

Enrolment

Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai offers enrolment via an online enrolment form or a printable enrolment form. A school counselling form is also available. No further details about required documents, zone boundaries, priority criteria, or enrolment scheme conditions are provided in the school's published information.

Frequently asked

These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai's own official Ministry of Education data already shown on this page, so what you read here always matches the figures above.

Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai is classified as a Full Primary school serving Years 1–8.

It's a state school in the Wellington region. New Zealand domestic students are generally entitled to free enrolment and education at state schools.

Yes. It's a co-educational school, enrolling both boys and girls.

149 students, according to the September 2026 roll data.

It reflects the estimated socio-economic barriers Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai's students face, on average. The Ministry uses the Equity Index to help target funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.

Sources & methodology

Every fact on this page traces back to one of the rows below — official Ministry of Education data, or Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai'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	—	15 October 2026
Student roll	Ministry of Education / Education Counts	September 2026	15 October 2026
Equity Index	Education Counts	—	15 October 2026
Address & coordinates	Ministry of Education	—	15 October 2026
Contact details	NZ Schools Directory	Current	15 October 2026
School information (AI-curated, human-reviewed)	Featherston School Te Kura o Paetūmokai's official website	Current	15 October 2026