Highlands Intermediate
Intermediate · State
- Year levels
- 7–8
- Total roll
- 712
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 260A Coronation Avenue, New Plymouth
- Territorial authority
- New Plymouth District
- Phone
- 06-7584162
- office@highlands.school.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in New Plymouth · schools in Taranaki
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.
- Uniform
- Required
Highlands has a unisex uniform, with the only item of choice being a skort/skirt or dress shorts.
- Required
What does the school say about itself?
Quoted, not summarised. Every school describes itself well, so this is here to be read as the school’s own case rather than as a finding — and a school that states nothing simply has no row.
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.
- In their words
- Our vision is
- ‘KA RAWE – STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE – BE GREAT’
- To be the best version you can of yourself
- In our safe and caring community, we promote the values of:
- MANAAKITANGA – RESPECT – CARING FOR OUR PEOPLE
- KAITIAKITANGA – RESPONSIBILITY – CARING FOR PLACE
- RANGATIRATANGA – LEADERSHIP – MANAGING SELF
- Through the vision and these values
- SPECTEMUR AGENDO – BY OUR DEEDS WE ARE KNOWN
- International students
- Accepted, as stated
Highlands Intermediate School welcomes International Students from around the world. Our school has a well established team with years of experience in supporting and providing pastoral care for International Students.
- Accepted, as stated
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 595
- Māori
- 155
- Pacific
- 23
- Asian
- 92
- MELAA
- 13
- Other
- 9
- 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 07 | 71 | 12 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 295 | 0 | 352 |
| Year 08 | 69 | 14 | 40 | 8 | 5 | 251 | 0 | 329 |
| Total | 140 | 26 | 78 | 16 | 9 | 546 | 0 | 681 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Age 11 | 49 | 12 | 34 | 7 | 2 | 229 | 0 | 274 |
| Age 12 | 76 | 10 | 37 | 6 | 5 | 252 | 0 | 322 |
| Age 13 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 65 | 0 | 84 |
| Total | 140 | 26 | 78 | 16 | 9 | 546 | 0 | 681 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
57.5%
| Highlands Intermediate | 57.5% |
|---|---|
| Taranaki Region | 41.7% |
| Intermediate | 43.3% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 41.5% |
|---|---|
| Male | 72% |
| Māori | 113.4% |
| Pacific | 29.1% |
| Asian | 25.1% |
| Other | 20.6% |
| European/Pākehā | 55.5% |
| Total | 57.5% |
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
0%
| Highlands Intermediate | 0% |
|---|---|
| Taranaki Region | 4.1% |
| Intermediate | 4.9% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
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 suspension rates data (2024)
Age-standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students — 2024
0%
| Highlands Intermediate | 0% |
|---|---|
| Taranaki Region | 1.6% |
| Intermediate | 1.9% |
| 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)
- 444
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Large urban area
- Date opened
- 31 January 1955
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
- 5
- Last reviewed
- 28 April 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (28 April 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 board assurance report of 28 April 2023 carries no actions-for-compliance section — the section ERO uses when it names non-compliance it identified. That is what this report contains; it is not ERO saying it found none. Other reports ERO holds for this school may say something different.
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 712 — 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.
June 2019
703
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 26 August 2019
May 2015
640
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 2 July 2015
We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 28 April 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 6 months of the Education Review Office and Highlands Intermediate 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
Highlands Intermediate is a co-educational intermediate school located in New Plymouth, Taranaki . It caters for learners in years 7 and 8.
Highlands Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
ensuring a responsive curriculum, effective teaching, and quality opportunities to learn
ensuring a teaching team that are building their professional capability and collective capacity
promoting powerful connections and relationships with parents and whānau
ensuring effective leadership is a characteristic across the school and is focused on student outcomes that are equitable and where excellence is expected.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Highlands Intermediate’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well learners respond to new ways of teaching and learning mathematics.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
it is timely to investigate how mathematics can be further improved
the school wants to evaluate new ways of teaching and learning mathematics that improve valued outcomes
alignment with the school’s strategic goals.
The school expects to see:
sustained or improved achievement and progress in mathematics for all learners
learners and teachers reporting improved outcomes in engagement
culturally responsive teaching practices that cater to a wide range of needs in engaging ways
reciprocal and learning centred relationships with whānau that support improved learner outcomes.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how well learners respond to new ways of teaching and learning mathematics.
embedded systems and processes to track the achievement and progress of all learners
appropriate internal and external expertise already in place to support this work
a school environment that increasingly responds to learners in relational and culturally responsive ways
an established inquiry model that can be used to evaluate success.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
using internal and external expertise to support teacher inquiry and professional learning in mathematics
finding ways to enrich mathematics experiences that deepens learning
increasing the scrutiny of learning evidence to ensure a more responsive experience for all learners in mathematics
using established systems to monitor valued learner outcomes.
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 Schools
28 April 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 5 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).