Last updated October 2026
Bell Block School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at 31 Bell Block Court, Bell Block, New Plymouth. It had 473 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Paraite, and parts of Bell Block, Sentry Hill, Hillsborough, Waiwhakaiho and Lepperton; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s site says te reo Māori is part of the regular programme in every class, kapa haka groups practise weekly, and Year 7 and 8 students take technology in areas such as design, textiles, manufacturing and visual art.
Sport covers basketball, cricket, hockey, netball, rippa rugby, touch and volleyball, the whole school puts on a musical production every second year, and Good Seeds OSCAR runs school holiday programmes nearby in Bell Block.
At a glance
- Principal
- Conrad Hailes
- Address
- 31 Bell Block Court, Bell Block, New Plymouth
- Phone
- 06 755 0838
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Paraite.
Parts of Bell Block New Plymouth, Sentry Hill, Hillsborough, Waiwhakaiho New Plymouth and Lepperton: 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 473 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 Evaluation Report from October 2024. ERO found that most students are engaged, make good progress and achieve very well, with most at or above expected levels in reading and a large majority in writing and maths, and results are becoming more equitable.
Most students attend regularly and the school meets the Ministry targets for attendance. ERO noted a strong sense of belonging, leaders who set high expectations and take an evidence-based approach, specialist teaching in technology, science and physical education, effective support for students with additional learning needs, and a board that receives regular reports on attendance, learning and behaviour.
The agreed next steps are to build more consistent schoolwide practice from the school’s vision and values, strengthen consistency in literacy and maths teaching, look closely at what helps Māori students succeed as Māori, especially in writing and maths, and help parents and whānau take an active part in their children’s learning.
Read the ERO reports for Bell Block School
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone when they start school are entitled to enrol. Out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme in priority order, starting with siblings of current students, by ballot when there are more applicants than places. The enrolment page sets out the out-of-zone application and ballot dates for the coming year.
New entrants start in groups after they turn five, at the start of a term or at a set mid-term date. Families download the enrolment form from the school’s site and return it to the office with a birth certificate and proof of address.
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
Bell Block School 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 Bell Block School zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Paraite and parts of Bell Block New Plymouth, Sentry Hill, Hillsborough, Waiwhakaiho New Plymouth and Lepperton.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
473 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?
441. 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).