Last updated November 2026
Puketapu School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at Dillon Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth. It opened in 1980 and had 332 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Sentry Hill, and parts of Bell Block and Paraite; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s site says learning is built on the school’s own cultural narratives alongside the New Zealand Curriculum, and Years 7 and 8 have a design technology programme covering hard and soft materials, cooking, digital technology and financial literacy, plus electives, leadership roles and a Year 8 camp.
Students in Years 4 to 8 can bring their own device, and new entrants start in groups twice a term rather than on their fifth birthday.
At a glance
- Principal
- Katherine Pascoe
- Address
- Dillon Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth
- Phone
- 06 755 0973
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Sentry Hill.
Parts of Bell Block New Plymouth and Paraite: 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 332 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 Te Marautanga o Puketapu, the school’s own curriculum grounded in its place within Te Atiawa and the hapū of Puketapu, helps all tamariki engage and succeed.
ERO pointed to a curriculum shared openly with the community, leadership that values positive relationships and high expectations, resourced school-wide professional learning, and systems for tracking each child’s progress so teaching can respond to their needs.
Next, the school plans to keep refining its curriculum in response to tamariki, whānau and the community, build teachers’ confidence in designing, teaching and assessing learning through it, and find more ways to notice and celebrate students’ success with families.
Read the ERO reports for Puketapu School (New Plymouth)
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 enrolling page describes the zone boundary street by street and links to an online enrolment form as the first step. The office then contacts families about school visits and start dates.
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 Bell Block New Plymouth
Puketapu School (New Plymouth) is in Bell Block New Plymouth. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Bell Block New Plymouth guide →Questions parents ask
Is Puketapu School (New Plymouth) zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Sentry Hill and parts of Bell Block New Plymouth and Paraite.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
332 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?
480. 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).