Last updated October 2026
Kaingaroa Forest School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at Dun Road, Kaingaroa Forest. It had 28 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. The school’s site describes a small school in the Kaingaroa Forest with low class numbers and specialised learning programmes, where literacy and numeracy take priority alongside te reo and te ao Māori. Much learning happens off-site, including swimming lessons, water safety at Lake Rerewhakaaitu, Te Urewera cluster events and local races.
At a glance
- Principal
- Marylouise Macpherson-Hall
- Address
- Dun Road, Kaingaroa Forest
- Phone
- 07 366 9845
Home zone
No home zone: any student can apply to enrol. If more students apply than there are places, the school decides how places are offered.
Who goes here
Share of the 28 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.
What ERO found
The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a School Report from February 2026. ERO found that improvements are needed so all learners are engaged, making enough progress and achieving well. A small majority of learners meet expected curriculum levels in reading and less than half do in writing and mathematics, although results are equitable across groups.
Attendance is the most serious concern: less than a third of learners attend regularly, the school is well behind the Government target, and neither regular attendance nor chronic absence is improving yet, although the school has a suitable plan.
On the positive side, ERO found good-quality teaching, a caring and culturally responsive climate, a board that funds extra staff to work with individual learners, a curriculum developed with whānau for multi-level classrooms, and a small majority of learners catching up faster than expected in literacy and mathematics, mostly those who come to school regularly.
The key priorities are to work with whānau to lift regular attendance, with a focus on learners most likely to fall behind, update assessment practice to match recent changes, and build stronger two-way learning partnerships with whānau. The principal and board will report progress on attendance and achievement to the community.
Read the ERO reports for Kaingaroa Forest School
Enrolling
The school has no home zone, so any student can apply. The school’s enrolment page has information for children starting school at five and asks families to contact the office to arrange enrolment and meet the classroom teacher.
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 Kaingaroa Forest
Kaingaroa Forest School is in Kaingaroa Forest. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Kaingaroa Forest guide →Questions parents ask
Is Kaingaroa Forest School zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
28 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?
560. 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.
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Sources and data notes 1
- School facts: School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 24 Oct 2026 (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).