Last updated October 2026
St Patrick’s School is a state-integrated, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 161 Metzger Street, Georgetown, Invercargill. It opened in 1944 and had 282 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes 12 suburbs in full and parts of 10 more, among them Kapuka, Kennington, Tiwai Point, Motu Rimu, Seaward Bush and Rockdale; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s website describes a Catholic education with religious instruction, a sacramental programme run with the parish, weekly te reo Māori lessons in every class, a kapa haka group and a Pasifika group. Sports include swimming, netball, cricket, touch, football, basketball, athletics and cross country, and the junior and middle classes take part in a Perceptual Motor Programme.
At a glance
- Principal
- Callan Goodall
- Address
- 161 Metzger Street, Georgetown, Invercargill
- Phone
- 03 216 8505
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Seaward Bush, Motu Rimu, Kapuka near Invercargill, Heidelberg, Kingswell, Tisbury, Rockdale Invercargill, Kennington, Georgetown Invercargill, Newfield, Strathern and Tiwai Point.
Parts of Woodend, Awarua, Clifton, Woodlands near Invercargill, Kew, Mill Road, Greenhills, Hawthorndale, Dacre near Invercargill and Appleby: 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 282 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 high-quality teaching that is lifting progress, with a large majority of students meeting or exceeding the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and maths.
Structured literacy is used consistently across the school, learners at risk of not achieving get good support, leaders use data well to guide teaching, and the school has a positive culture built on its values.
ERO also raised concerns: writing results are not yet equitable, with boys and Pacific learners behind; the school is behind the government’s 80% regular attendance target, its attendance plan was still being developed and chronic absence is not yet falling; and ERO said the board needs to make sure the school is a physically and emotionally safe place to learn.
ERO and the board found several areas of non-compliance, including an attendance policy, reporting student achievement to the community, plans for Māori achievement developed with the Māori community, consultation on the health curriculum and staff child protection training. The board has taken steps on these, and the attendance policy has been addressed.
The agreed next steps are a clearly planned attendance strategy that is checked regularly, stronger and more consistent structured literacy teaching to lift reading and writing, building teachers’ knowledge of how to engage boys and Pacific learners in writing, developing structured approaches to maths, and a regular board review so that all policies and procedures match current law.
Read the ERO reports for St Patrick’s School (Invercargill)
Enrolling
St Patrick’s School is a state-integrated Catholic school. Its website says preference goes to children with a Catholic connection, for example those baptised or preparing for baptism in the Catholic Church or with a Catholic parent, and that a small share of places can go to children without preference under the school’s integration agreement. Compulsory attendance dues apply and are collected by the Diocese of Dunedin.
Families arrange a visit through the school office. New entrants are invited to Little Shamrocks, a weekly transition-to-school session, in the term before they start.
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 Heidelberg
St Patrick's School (Invercargill) is in Heidelberg. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Heidelberg guide →Questions parents ask
Is St Patrick's School (Invercargill) zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Seaward Bush, Motu Rimu, Kapuka near Invercargill, Heidelberg, Kingswell, Tisbury, Rockdale Invercargill, Kennington, Georgetown Invercargill, Newfield, Strathern and Tiwai Point and parts of Woodend, Awarua, Clifton, Woodlands near Invercargill, Kew, Mill Road, Greenhills, Hawthorndale, Dacre near Invercargill and Appleby.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
282 at 1 Sep 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?
468. 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, 22 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).