Last updated October 2026
Te Wharau School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 28 Graham Road, Kaiti, Gisborne. It opened in 1954 and had 341 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Tamarau, Kaiti and Inner Kaiti, and parts of Outer Kaiti, Wainui Beach and Whataupoko; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s site lists Reorua bilingual classes from new entrants to Years 5 and 6, weekly lessons in tikanga, te reo, waiata and mihi, and Te Wharautanga kapa haka for all students, who perform at the annual Tūranga-nui Māori Cultural Festival. It also describes its CHARM values programme, specialist teaching in te taiao, physical education, technology and reading support, and sport each term ranging from waka ama and ki o rahi to skateboarding and chess.
At a glance
- Principal
- Mark Harris
- Address
- 28 Graham Road, Kaiti, Gisborne
- Phone
- 06 868 9819
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Tamarau, Kaiti and Inner Kaiti Gisborne.
Parts of Outer Kaiti Gisborne, Wainui Beach and Whataupoko Gisborne: 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 341 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 success and progress are increasing and that high quality teaching is lifting progress in reading, writing and maths.
Since the previous report the school has embedded restorative and culturally responsive practice, added bilingual classrooms in response to whānau wishes, and improved wellbeing support and achievement in reading and writing.
Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level in writing, and a large majority in reading and in maths, with results equitable in reading and writing and becoming more equitable in maths.
A small majority attend regularly, so the school is behind the government’s attendance target, though attendance is improving and chronic absence is falling. ERO also noted a strong sense of belonging, a curriculum rooted in the local area that values tikanga, local history and te reo Māori, and whānau treated as real partners in learning.
The agreed priorities are to sustain and build on the gains in regular attendance by tracking patterns of absence and working with the community on how absence affects learning, bring the new English and maths curriculum, with updated assessment practice, fully into teaching, and have the board review its own work regularly to guide improvement.
Read the ERO reports for Te Wharau School (Gisborne)
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.
Families enrol through the online enrolment form linked from the school’s enrolments page, and a staff member then gets in touch to confirm. All enrolments are subject to approval, and identification documents are needed.
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 Inner Kaiti Gisborne
Te Wharau School (Gisborne) is in Inner Kaiti Gisborne. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Inner Kaiti Gisborne guide →Questions parents ask
Is Te Wharau School (Gisborne) zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Tamarau, Kaiti and Inner Kaiti Gisborne and parts of Outer Kaiti Gisborne, Wainui Beach and Whataupoko Gisborne.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
341 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?
514. 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). 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).