Welcome to
Portobello School

Birds eye view of Hatchery Road and the piece of land jutting out into the harbour from Portobello.

Our Location

Portobello School is a twenty-five minute drive from Dunedin City. It is a semi-rural primary school catering for five to thirteen year-olds, situated on the stunning Otago Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand. The school is a rich part of the cultural, environmental and community landscape that makes the Otago Peninsula a uniquely special place. 

Two pictures side-by-side of Portobello School children performing at the Māori and Pacific Island Festival.

Our Community

The cultural diversity and environment creates the community where the children of Portobello thrive and learn.  The school has a strong relationship with its Māori community, and Te Runaka o Ōtākou is part of the school's whakapapa (genealogy). The Ōtākou Marae on the Otago Peninsula is one of the places where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. It is the home of Te Runaka o Ōtākou.  Portobello School is the noho school for the Ōtākou Marae.

One child in the foregroud reading from a large picture book, another in the background sitting on a bean bag reading a tablet.

Our Vision

Provide a positive learning environment which promotes excellence, creativity, initiative, self-motivation and critical thinking

Provide a well-rounded education which encourages and fosters the development of the whole child, so they will be confident, connected, actively involved and lifelong learners

Be a bicultural school showing understanding, tolerance and respect for both Māori and Pākehā culture, language and history.