Last updated November 2026
Merivale School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 25 Kesteven Avenue, Tauranga. It opened in 1957 and had 156 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes parts of Parkvale and Gate Pa; the zone map below shows the full boundary. The school also uses the name Te Kura o Tūtarawānanga, and its site describes a localised curriculum woven through the stories of the land and people of Tūtarawānanga, along with the Mana Potential Framework, which draws on the narrative of Ranginui and Papatūānuku to build a shared language for learning and wellbeing. The school is part of the Lunches in School programme, so tamariki are given a lunch every day.
At a glance
- Principal
- Tom Paekau
- Address
- 25 Kesteven Avenue, Tauranga
- Phone
- 07 578 6900
Home zone
Parts of these suburbs: Parkvale and Gate Pa: 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 156 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.
Stand-downs and suspensions
Cases per 1,000 students in 2025, adjusted for the ages of the school’s students, compared with all New Zealand schools.
Suspensions: fewer than 5 cases in 2025, so no rate is shown.
These measure how a school responds to behaviour, and schools set their own thresholds, so they are not a measure of how students behave.
What ERO found
The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a Te Ara Huarau School Profile Report from April 2024. This kind of report sets out what ERO and the school will evaluate together, here how well the school’s local curriculum supports learner outcomes and lifts achievement, with better attendance and engagement among the hoped-for results.
ERO pointed to leaders and staff committed to a local curriculum that strengthens students’ identity and sense of belonging in the Tūtarawānanga community, culturally responsive and relational practice, and a shared sense of unity across trustees, leaders and staff.
In the rumaki classes, ERO noted relationships with iwi and hapū that shape the curriculum and steady exposure to te reo Māori that is building tamariki language skills.
Next, the school plans to help kaiako build learning communities that grow student agency, set school-wide expectations that protect whānau aspirations for te reo Māori in Ngā Hau e Whā, its rumaki syndicate, design a plan to speed up te reo Māori literacy, strengthen assessment and moderation, and seek professional learning in rumaki teaching.
Read the ERO reports for Merivale School
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone have the right to enrol. Out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme, by ballot when there are more applicants than places. The school’s website shows the enrolment zone on a map; families can contact the school about enrolling and whether out-of-zone places are available.
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 Parkvale
Merivale School is in Parkvale. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Parkvale guide →Questions parents ask
Is Merivale School zoned?
It has a home zone covering parts of Parkvale and Gate Pa.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
156 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?
548. 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.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
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).