Shearwater, the Mullumbimby Steiner School
Mullumbimby NSW 2482
Shearwater, the Mullumbimby Steiner School is an independent combined primary and secondary school in Mullumbimby, NSW from Kindergarten to Year 12 with about 587 students. Its ICSEA is 1,070, where the national average is 1000.
Sector, ICSEA, Enrolments, Language background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander share, Year range, Teaching staff, School website: ACARA School Profile 2025. Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Terms
About this school, from public sources
Drawn from public online sources: Shearwater is an independent, co-educational Steiner school in the Byron Bay hinterland, founded in 1993. It offers education from playgroup to Year 12 based on Steiner/Waldorf principles with contemporary practices, and has over 700 students. The 52-acre campus borders Mullumbimby Creek and includes a large biodynamic farm.
Often praised
- Steiner/Waldorf education
- 52-acre campus
- Biodynamic farm
This note was generated from publicly available online sources (the school's website, official pages and online feedback) as at October 2026. It reflects what is said online, not an assessment by SchoolList AU or any government body, and it deliberately records only neutral and positive points. Confidence: high. Verify anything important with the school. Report an inaccuracy.
NAPLAN
School-level NAPLAN results are published by ACARA on My School under terms that do not allow them to be reproduced here. See Shearwater, the Mullumbimby Steiner School on My School · Why some data is missing
HSC 2025
Last 5 years
| Year | Band 6 / E4 results per Year 12 student | Band 6 / E4 results |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.24 | 8 |
| 2024 | 0.24 | 10 |
| 2023 | 0.15 | 6 |
| 2022 | 0.22 | 11 |
| 2021 | 0.10 | 5 |
Counts are derived from NESA's published merit lists and exclude students who opted out of publication. The per-student figure divides each year's count by that year's Year 12 enrolment from ACARA's August census, so it is approximate. NSW law does not permit ranking schools by results, so no rank or percentile is shown.
Location and nearby schools
Straight-line distances. List every school within 5 to 50 km.
| School | Suburb | Type | Distance | ICSEA | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinterland Christian College | Mullumbimby | Independent k–12 / combined | 3.0 km | 1,048 | 71 |
| Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School | Byron Bay | Independent k–12 / combined | 15.0 km | 1,097 | 382 |
| Aetaomah School | Terragon | Independent k–12 / combined | 21.5 km | 1,057 | 55 |
| Nimbin Central School | Nimbin | Public k–12 / combined | 23.7 km | 956 | 243 |
| Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula School | Eungella | Independent k–12 / combined | 25.9 km | 1,028 | 93 |
| The Small School | Murwillumbah | Independent k–12 / combined | 26.1 km | 1,071 | 67 |
| Tweed Valley Adventist College | Murwillumbah | Independent k–12 / combined | 26.6 km | 1,039 | 381 |
| Rainbow Ridge School for Steiner Education | Lillian Rock | Independent k–12 / combined | 28.7 km | 1,042 | 89 |
Schools with a similar ICSEA in NSW
Same sector and type, ICSEA within 25 points. This is the comparison that separates teaching from postcode.
| School | Suburb | Type | Students | ICSEA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Christian College | Ballina | Independent k–12 / combined · K-12 | 327 | 1,069 |
| The Small School | Murwillumbah | Independent k–12 / combined · K-10 | 67 | 1,071 |
| Central West Leadership Academy | Dubbo | Independent k–12 / combined · K-12 | 158 | 1,072 |
| Moama Anglican Grammar School | Moama | Independent k–12 / combined · K-12 | 721 | 1,072 |
| Newcastle Waldorf School | Glendale | Independent k–12 / combined · K-12 | 237 | 1,072 |
| Richard Johnson Anglican College | Oakhurst | Independent k–12 / combined · K-12 | 1,028 | 1,072 |
About this data
Figures are from the latest published datasets and can lag the school by a year. Confirm enrolment rules and catchment boundaries with the school or department before relying on them.