Last updated November 2026
Bluestone School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at Raymond Street, West End, Timaru. It opened in 2005 and had 474 students on its roll at 1 October 2026.
Its home zone includes parts of West End, Watlington, Seaview, Parkside and Highfield; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school manages the Timaru Technology Education Centre, where Year 7 and 8 students from schools around the district learn technology subjects such as food technology, biotechnology, electronics, and graphics and design. Its website also features kapa haka, a school choir, a Pasifika festival and sport, with classes grouped into learning teams.
At a glance
- Principal
- Darren Smith
- Address
- Raymond Street, West End, Timaru
- Phone
- 03 684 3706
Home zone
Parts of these suburbs: West End, Watlington Timaru, Seaview Timaru, Parkside Timaru and Highfield Timaru: 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 474 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 September 2024. ERO found a new leadership team building trust and collaboration across the school community, and leaders supporting teachers to plan and lead the curriculum.
Classrooms were orderly and inclusive, students were engaged in well-paced learning, and the school uses outside expertise and links with other schools to support student wellbeing and learning.
ERO also raised concerns: a majority of students reach the expected level in reading and maths, but only about half do in writing, more analysis is needed to know how equitably Māori students are achieving, and attendance is below Ministry targets. Te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori were only beginning to appear across the curriculum.
The agreed next steps are to set sharper achievement goals at school and class level, with writing the main focus, build teachers’ skills in teaching writing, make better use of assessment information, strengthen how students who need extra learning support are identified and helped, and keep working with families to lift regular attendance.
Read the ERO reports for Bluestone School
Enrolling
Bluestone School runs an enrolment scheme. Students who live in the home zone can enrol at any time. Out-of-zone places depend on how much room there is, and are offered over several enrolment periods during the year, by ballot when there are more applicants than places.
The school publishes its out-of-zone places and ballot dates on its enrolment page, which also shows the zone map. Out-of-zone applicants are asked to meet the application timelines and book a meeting with the principal.
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 West End
Bluestone School is in West End. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our West End guide →Questions parents ask
Is Bluestone School zoned?
It has a home zone covering parts of West End, Watlington Timaru, Seaview Timaru, Parkside Timaru and Highfield Timaru.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
474 at 1 Oct 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?
474. 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, 7 Nov 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).