Last updated October 2026
Kaitao Intermediate is a state, co-educational intermediate school for Years 7 and 8 at 30 Bell Road, Western Heights, Rotorua. It opened in 1969 and had 257 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. All students learn te reo Māori, and the school has Rumaki and Reo Rua pathways for those wanting more. Specialist programmes include garden to table combined with hard materials, visual art with laser cutting and 3D printing, cooking, and science with a visiting specialist, and the school welcomes international students.
At a glance
- Principal
- Phil Palfrey
- Address
- 30 Bell Road, Western Heights, Rotorua
- Phone
- 07 348 3687
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 257 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.
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 Profile Report from July 2023, which sets out the school’s improvement focus. Reading results were lower than expected across the school, so ERO and the school are evaluating reading achievement through a focused inquiry approach.
ERO listed strengths in a senior leadership team that works together on effective practice, a professional growth cycle built around teacher capability, and a focus on inclusion, engagement and belonging.
ERO recorded a concern about low levels of student achievement, which the school had identified itself and is addressing alongside ERO. The school’s priorities are to base professional growth on reliable data, hold regular curriculum team meetings on the progress of priority learners, and keep up professional learning such as co-teaching and modelled lessons.
Read the ERO reports for Kaitao Intermediate
Enrolling
Kaitao Intermediate has no home zone, so any student can apply. Families return a signed enrolment form to the office or apply online, with a copy of the student’s birth certificate, and a visa if the student was born outside New Zealand or Australia.
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 Western Heights Rotorua
Kaitao Intermediate is in Western Heights Rotorua. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Western Heights Rotorua guide →Questions parents ask
Is Kaitao Intermediate zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 7 to 8.
How many students go there?
257 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?
540. 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.
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). Updated automatically when the Ministry publishes new data.
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