St Joseph’s School (Hastings): Zone, Roll & School Facts

Last updated October 2026

St Joseph’s School is a state-integrated, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at 404 Eastbourne Street East, Akina, Hastings. It opened in 1889 and had 274 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.

It has no home zone, so any student can apply. The school’s site describes a Catholic full primary school in central Hastings with daily prayer, weekly liturgy or Mass, a school-wide Religious Education programme, pastoral care, teacher aides who support students learning English and those with learning difficulties, and an onsite pool used for daily swimming in the summer terms. It also runs a breakfast club, OSCAR-accredited after school care in the school hall, a Year 8 retreat and leadership programmes for senior students, and its teams play in local cricket, basketball and volleyball competitions.

What ERO found

The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a Te Ara Huarau School Profile Report from December 2023. This kind of report sets out what ERO and the school will evaluate together, here how well effective writing practice supports fair learning outcomes for every learner.

ERO described a Catholic state-integrated school whose special character shows in its mission, and pointed to its ability to evaluate its own work with a shared focus on improvement, staff committed to professional learning tied to the school’s strategic direction, and a professional growth process that builds teachers’ skills.

Next, the school plans to align its writing assessment and moderation with a recognised model of good practice, build culturally responsive teaching in literacy through targeted professional learning, and strengthen learning-focused relationships with whānau to support achievement in literacy.

Read the ERO reports for St Joseph’s School (Hastings)

Enrolling

As a Catholic state-integrated school, St Joseph’s gives most of its places to preference students, whose families can show a connection with the Catholic Church: families meet with the Catholic Parish of Hastings and a priest signs a preference certificate.

A small number of non-preference places exist, and the school office can say whether any are open. Attendance dues are charged each year for every child and paid to the Palmerston North Diocese, and families sign an agreement to pay them when they enrol.

To enrol, families print and fill in the enrolment form from the school’s enrolment page and return it to the office, and can arrange a visit to meet the principal.

Children start school in groups on set dates at the beginning or middle of each term once they turn five, and come to pre-entry mornings at school in the weeks before they begin.

• Enrolment
• Catholic character
• Uniform
• After school care

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