A Wairarapa school that has no students is likely to close.

Tuturumuri School, in a small settlement in the South Wairarapa backcountry, lost its last three students in term three last year.

Since then it has stayed open, and continued to pay its three staff in hopes that students will enrol.



Education Minister Chris Hipkins said new students were expected to enrol at the start of this term, but that didn't happen.

He said the school once played an important role in the community, but the ministry now needed to "seriously consider whether keeping this school open is the best use of taxpayer money".

Although a family returning to the school have enrolled two children, Hipkins has asked his ministry to start consulting the school about its future.

In an interview in December, Board of Trustees chairman Mike Firth said the board was determined to keep the school open.

"We had 22 children about five years ago and that has slowly dropped down as the children obviously grew up and left," Firth said.

"So on those farms, the children haven't been replaced as such so the numbers have dwindled a wee bit.A bit of forestry has come into the area and that has taken away a few farms with staff on them."

Instead of accepting its seemingly inevitable fate, the school has been battling on thanks to a healthy savings account.

"We have enough money in the account to pay the teachers, and if needed we have enough in there to buy a bus, which has been talked about in community meetings to be able to bus children from Martinborough out here," Firth said.

Any students enrolling will enjoy the highest staff-to-student ratio in the country, a heated indoor swimming pool and the best in technology.

Teacher aide Charmaine Potter said she would be happy to send her children to the school from town, if there was a bus because of the advantages of one-on-one teaching.

In 2014 Tuturumuri School had 11 students. Pictured with principal Lisa Malones, right, and HP representative Gill Brown during her visit to gauge the IT needs of the school. Photo / Supplied

"It is kind of nice when you are in a little school, with a small amount of students, and you can actually spend that time helping them and watching them grow."

Teacher Renita Persico said there was no best thing about having no children at the school.

"It is nice that we have got our resources into one place but they are all ready to go for the next lot that come through," she said.

Should the school be forced to close, any children moving into the area could face an hour's drive to school in Martinborough.

The school evaded closure in 2005 when north and south Wairarapa schools were reviewed.

Tuturumuri School was one of 31 schools that had been in the firing line.

It avoided closure after Masterton's primary schools closed or merged and widespread community uproar meant a five-year moratorium was imposed on regional school reviews.