Last updated October 2026
Hastings Central School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 400 Karamu Road South, Hastings. It opened in 1875 and had 231 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. The school’s site describes inquiry and problem-solving learning built on the school’s values, with teachers working collaboratively, and cultural performance groups for kapa haka, Pasifika and Diwali. It lists a gym, a cycle track with bikes, a vegetable garden and a swimming pool, a Kickstart programme for 4-year-olds, and after school care run through the school.
At a glance
- Principal
- Mike Winkley
- Address
- 400 Karamu Road South, Hastings
- Phone
- 06 878 7366
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 231 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.
Suspensions: fewer than 5 cases in 2025, so no rate is shown.
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 Evaluation Report from December 2024. ERO noted that two units of Kowhai Specialist School are based at the school, and found well-established, collaborative leadership, professional learning that is improving outcomes, and a local curriculum in which students see their identity and culture reflected.
Students told ERO they like their school and feel they belong, wellbeing is supported by respectful relationships and restorative practices, and families can follow learning through a digital platform.
A majority of students are at the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and maths, with fairer results for boys and Pacific students still a priority. Less than half of the roll attends school regularly, below the Ministry of Education target, although the school’s actions have improved attendance.
ERO’s priorities are for the school to analyse achievement information more closely so it has a clear schoolwide picture and can lift equity, keep embedding consistent teaching approaches in reading, writing and maths, help students take more ownership of their learning, and keep working towards the attendance target.
Read the ERO reports for Hastings Central School
Enrolling
The school has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol. Families of new entrants first make an appointment to meet the principal, and transition visits take place before a child starts school.
Enrolment is completed through the online form linked from the school’s enrolment page, and a child’s birth certificate must be supplied before their first day. Families of 4-year-olds can use the same form to join the Kickstart programme.
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 Ākina
Hastings Central School is in Ākina. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Ākina guide →Questions parents ask
Is Hastings Central School 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?
231 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?
522. 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, 23 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).