Last updated October 2026
Awapuni School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 129 Awapuni Road, Gisborne. It opened in 1927 and had 306 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. Students in Team Karearea and Team Toroa can bring their own Chromebook to use in class, and the school keeps its own devices so every student in those teams can work digitally. Digital citizenship is taught alongside device use.
At a glance
- Principal
- Kahu Walker
- Address
- 129 Awapuni Road, Gisborne
- Phone
- 06 868 6660
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 306 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 Evaluation Report from October 2024. ERO found that a majority of students meet curriculum expectations in maths, new entrants settle in through well-run transition processes, and structured approaches to teaching reading are becoming established across the school.
Teachers and support staff know learners well. Results are lower in reading and writing, with Māori students slightly behind in writing, and less than half of students attend school regularly, so the school is below the Ministry of Education target.
ERO’s agreed next steps are to work urgently with whānau and the wider community to lift regular attendance, develop an Awapuni School learner profile, keep strengthening structured, evidence-based teaching of reading and writing, review assessment so it gives useful information for teaching, and build teachers’ te reo Māori so te reo and te ao Māori are taught consistently in every class.
Read the ERO reports for Awapuni School (Gisborne)
Enrolling
The school has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol. Contact the school office to start an enrolment.
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 Awapuni
Awapuni School (Gisborne) is in Awapuni. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Awapuni guide →Questions parents ask
Is Awapuni School (Gisborne) zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
306 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?
499. 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, 29 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).