Forest Lake School
Contributing · State
- Year levels
- 1–6
- Total roll
- 368
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- Storey Avenue, Forest Lake, Hamilton
- Territorial authority
- Hamilton City
- Phone
- 07-8492256
- office@forestlake.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Hamilton · schools in Waikato
Can my child go here?
This school has an enrolment scheme, so a place is not open to every address. How enrolment zones work
Loading zone map…
Zone boundaries shown here are approximate. Ministry of Education data warns these boundaries do not have high spatial precision and can place neighbouring addresses on different sides of a line. This is not a confirmation of enrolment eligibility — always confirm directly with the school. Zone geometry also does not reflect enrolment priority rules (siblings, special character categories, ballots) — it shows the mapped boundary only.
Check if your address is in zone →
Source: Ministry of Education, CC BY 3.0 NZ
What would the day look like?
The practical things this school states on its own website — the hours, the uniform, the term dates, and how children get there. These are the school’s own words, not the Ministry’s record and not ERO’s.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- Term dates
- Term 1, 2026: Monday, 2 February to Thursday, 2 April
Term 1: Monday, 2 February to Thursday, 2 April
Year stated as2026 School Year Term Dates
- Term 2, 2026: Monday, 20 April to Friday, 3 July
Term 2: Monday, 20 April to Friday, 3 July
Year stated as2026 School Year Term Dates
- Term 3, 2026: Monday, 20 July to Friday, 25 September
Term 3: Monday, 20 July to Friday, 25 September
Year stated as2026 School Year Term Dates
- Term 4, 2026: Monday, 12 October to Monday, 14 December
Term 4: Monday, 12 October to Monday, 14 December
Year stated as2026 School Year Term Dates
- Term 1, 2026: Monday, 2 February to Thursday, 2 April
What is on offer beyond the classroom?
The sports, arts, clubs and groups this school names on its own website. Not a complete list of what any school offers, and not a count — a school that names more here has written more down, which is not the same as doing more.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- On offer
- Senior School Sports
Our Auraki (senior) school students take part in ‘Senior School Sports’ each week with a focus on a wide variety of sporting endeavours.
- fun run
This is usually in the form of a fun run, cross-country event, winter sports day, and athletics day.
- cross-country event
This is usually in the form of a fun run, cross-country event, winter sports day, and athletics day.
- winter sports day
This is usually in the form of a fun run, cross-country event, winter sports day, and athletics day.
- athletics day
This is usually in the form of a fun run, cross-country event, winter sports day, and athletics day.
- Senior School Sports
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 114
- Māori
- 219
- Pacific
- 35
- Asian
- 45
- MELAA
- 26
- Other
- 2
- International
- 0
Roll by year level and age
Shown as context, not ranked, not compared to any average. As at 30 June 2026, from the same annual return as the roll count above.
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 01 | 33 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 65 |
| Year 02 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 47 |
| Year 03 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 55 |
| Year 04 | 29 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 54 |
| Year 05 | 38 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 68 |
| Year 06 | 20 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 36 |
| Year 07 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Year 08 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 200 | 26 | 47 | 26 | 3 | 93 | 0 | 343 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 05 | 27 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 56 |
| Age 06 | 32 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 52 |
| Age 07 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 58 |
| Age 08 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 50 |
| Age 09 | 36 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 61 |
| Age 10 | 22 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 46 |
| Age 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Age 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Age 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 200 | 26 | 47 | 26 | 3 | 93 | 0 | 343 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
45.5%
| Forest Lake School | 45.5% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 53.9% |
| Contributing | 35.6% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 37.2% |
|---|---|
| Male | 54.6% |
| Māori | 39.1% |
| Pacific | 80.4% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 90% |
| European/Pākehā | 112.6% |
| Total | 45.5% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison stand-down rates data (2024)
Age-standardised suspension rate per 1,000 students — 2024
11.4%
| Forest Lake School | 11.4% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 6.6% |
| Contributing | 3.5% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 21.9% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 16.3% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 11.4% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison suspension rates data (2024)
Age-standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Forest Lake School | 0% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 2.4% |
| Contributing | 1.5% |
| State | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 1.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 0% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 0% |
| Total | 0% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison exclusion data (2024)
About the school
- Equity Index (EQI)
- 492
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- Some students taught in te reo Māori
- Urban / rural
- Major urban area
- Date opened
- 7 March 1926
The Equity Index is used by the Ministry to allocate equity funding. It describes the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, not how good the school is. How the Equity Index works
What did ERO find?
The Education Review Office reviews every school and publishes what it finds in full. We quote ERO’s report here, section by section, in ERO’s own words and order, and link to it. We do not summarise a report, pick a line out of one, or turn one into a score. How ERO reviews schools
- Reports ERO holds
- 3
- Last reviewed
- 21 July 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (21 July 2023)
A board assurance statement is the board’s own account of whether it took all reasonable steps to meet its legal obligations, on the date shown. It is not ERO’s finding. ERO reports separately, in the same report, on any non-compliance it identified during that process.
The same report — the board assurance report of 21 July 2023 — also sets out actions for compliance: the non-compliance ERO identified during that process. This is that section of the report in full, in ERO’s words.
ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
Provide a safe physical environment for students. [Section 127(1)and (2) Education and Training Act 2020]
The board has addressed this area of non-compliance identified.
The roll ERO recorded, and when
ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 368 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.
February 2018
339
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 23 April 2018
This is one count taken for one report. It says what the roll was on that day, and nothing about how the roll has moved.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 21 July 2023 — “Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.
Background
This Profile Report was written within 20 months of the Education Review Office and Forest Lake School working in Te Ara Huarau , an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website www.ero.govt.nz
Context
Ko Waikato te awa
Ko Pīrongia-te-aroaro-o-Kahu te maunga
Ko Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero te tuawhitu te tangata
Ko Ngāti Māhanga te iwi
Ko Rotongahere te kura
Forest Lake School is situated in Hamilton and provides education for students in Years 1 – 6 in English medium and in Years 1–8 in Māori medium.
Forest Lake School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
ensure learners are at the centre
honour the wellbeing of all
provide tamariki with sound foundation skills in literacy and numeracy in their language of choice.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Forest Lake School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well consistent and collaborative practices support accelerated achievement in literacy and te reo Matatini.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:
improve outcomes for all students with a focus on accelerating progress for those students who need it
strengthen collaborative teaching practice to achieve consistent effective teaching across the school.
The school expects to see:
improved teacher and leader capability through collaborative inquiry and effective leadership
strengthened kaiako knowledge through collaboration and relevant professional learning and development.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support this evaluation:
leadership and staff that are aware of the need to strengthen outcomes for students
organisational structures that are designed to enable leaders to develop their capabilities
a learning community that prioritises high expectations for student wellbeing.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
strengthening teachers’ and leaders’ collective capacity to collaborate in the use of achievement information to plan targeted programmes to raise levels of student achievement.
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Shelley Booysen Director of Schools
21 July 2023
About the School
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Read the full report on ero.govt.nz →
All 3 reports ERO holds for this school
ERO reviews a school every few years — around four years between reviews is the usual cycle — so an older date here reflects where a school sits in that cycle, not how it is doing.
Source: Education Review Office, CC BY 4.0.
Roll date: 30 June 2026 (2026).