Last updated November 2026
Maungatapu School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 164 Maungatapu Road, Maungatapu-Tauranga, Tauranga. It opened in 1881 and had 603 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Poike, Hairini and Maungatapu, and parts of Ohauiti and Welcome Bay; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school is dual medium: mainstream classes follow the New Zealand Curriculum, while Te Pūwhāriki offers full immersion and bilingual te reo Māori classes guided by Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, with a focus on the local hapū Ngāi Te Ahi and Ngāti Hē.
Students have STEAM lessons in a dedicated room with a specialist teacher, the school’s site lists sports including basketball, tennis, football, hockey and netball, and weekly instrument lessons are offered through an outside provider.
At a glance
- Principal
- Andre Bennett
- Address
- 164 Maungatapu Road, Maungatapu-Tauranga, Tauranga
- Phone
- 07 544 0858
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Hairini, Maungatapu and Poike.
Parts of Ohauiti and Welcome Bay: 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 603 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 School Report from May 2025. ERO found that success and progress are increasing for all learners, teaching is of high quality, and planning and conditions for improvement are well established.
A large majority of learners in the mainstream classes meet or exceed the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and maths, and almost all ākonga in Te Pūwhāriki do so in pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau, where ERO noted a strong sense of belonging and confidence in their language, culture and identity.
ERO also pointed to a curriculum built around mātauranga Māori and STEAM, close relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi, and good support for learners with complex needs.
Attendance is approaching, but not yet at, the government target of 80 percent regular attendance, and ERO found the school had lifted achievement for learners most at risk, and for those working at or above expected levels, only to some extent since the previous review.
The agreed next steps are to analyse school-wide data to track rates of progress, strengthen teaching and assessment so students are challenged to excel, work with whānau to raise regular attendance, and give Te Pūwhāriki a voice at governance level.
Read the ERO reports for Maungatapu 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, and the school’s enrolment page says whether out-of-zone places are currently being offered. Enrolment is done online: families email the office first and are then sent a link to the form.
For Te Pūwhāriki, the school’s site gives priority to tamariki with whakapapa links to Ngāi Te Ahi or Ngāti Hē, or who live in the zone, and whānau meet with Te Pūwhāriki staff before an enrolment is accepted. Whānau commitment to te reo Māori is a key consideration.
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 Maungatapu
Maungatapu School is in Maungatapu. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Maungatapu guide →Questions parents ask
Is Maungatapu School zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Hairini, Maungatapu and Poike and parts of Ohauiti and Welcome Bay.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
603 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?
468. 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).