The journal's main goal since its foundation has been to educate children and improve their literacy, but it has also had an influence on the cultural life of New Zealand.

[2][5][6][7] An inspiration may have been the earlier The New Zealand Reader, an anthology of local literature produced in the 1890s by the Minister of Education, William Pember Reeves.

[8] The journal was originally published by the Department of Education 10 times a year (every month except December and January), in three different parts corresponding to different age groups.

[13] It also promoted colonial values, with articles about useful topics like tree-felling, house building and knowledge of New Zealand's natural environment.

[15] The first issue, published in May 1907, began with an unattributed poem titled "The Wasp and the Bee", and also featured poetry by William Pember Reeves.

[16] It was not well-received, and was criticised by the Auckland Star as "an inexplicable mystery and a bitter disappointment", being "nothing more or less than a school reading book, of the ordinary miscellaneous character".

[18][19] The New Zealand Times said that on the whole the edition "promises well, and should be welcomed heartily as a bright innovation in the literature of our public schools", although it did criticise a poem for referring to soccer as "football" when "for national reasons, it should be Rugby".

In response, Kipling accused the journal of breaching his copyright, advising that he had refused permission to other publications, and sought payment of 50 pounds sterling (a significant sum at the time).

[31][12] In 2010 three special editions were published to correct these inaccuracies, and the New Zealand government also officially apologised for them in settlement of the Moriori Waitangi Tribunal claim.

[44] In 1948, the iconic book-length Life at the Pa was published, written by Ray Chapman-Taylor and illustrated by E. Mervyn Taylor and Russell Clark.

[45] In 1949, a series of stories by author Brian Sutton-Smith caused controversy, featuring a "gang" of young boys who engaged in what was then considered anti-social behaviour (such as attempting to sneak into a movie theatre without paying for a ticket).

The Taranaki Daily News and other media outlets successfully campaigned for the series to be cancelled and it was discontinued after three of the planned ten stories.

[60] Arts historian Athol McCredie is quoted in the book as saying:[22][23] For generations of New Zealanders, the stories and appearance of the School Journal have been an element of their cultural consciousness — remembered as evocatively as the smell of stale school milk, the feel of chalk and finger paint, and the steamy atmosphere of a classroom of wet bodies on a rainy day.After Learning Media closed down in 2013, there were concerns that the journal would also be discontinued or that its publication would be moved overseas;[18][57][61] member of Parliament Catherine Delahunty said that the closure was "a tragedy for generations of Kiwis who have grown up reading the school journal".

[2] In 2014, the journal was made available in online PDF form as well as in hard copy, and workshops were held to encourage new Māori and Pasifika writers and illustrators.

[18][64] Areas of focus for the journal in the 21st century have included Māori culture and language, children's wellbeing,[63] and respect for New Zealand's natural environment.