Last updated November 2026
Hillcrest Normal School is a state, co-educational primary school for Years 1 to 6 at 218 Cambridge Road, Hillcrest, Hamilton. It opened in 1923 and had 645 students on its roll at 1 October 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Riverlea, and parts of Silverdale, Hillcrest, Hamilton East and Matangi; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
As a normal school linked to the University of Waikato’s Faculty of Education, it helps train new teachers, and the site says student teachers in classes give children extra small-group and individual help. It is a Green-Gold Enviroschool, every child takes part in kapa haka, music includes an orchestra, choirs and ukulele groups, and the school runs its own pool, OSCAR-certified after school care in the hall, and places for international students.
At a glance
- Principal
- Andy Peart (Acting)
- Address
- 218 Cambridge Road, Hillcrest, Hamilton
- Phone
- 07 856 6129
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Riverlea Hamilton.
Parts of Silverdale Hamilton, Hillcrest, Hamilton East and Matangi near Hamilton: 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 645 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
2 international students
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 April 2024. ERO found that most students were achieving at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics, and that outcomes were becoming more equitable.
Boys and girls achieved at similar rates in reading and mathematics, and Pacific students did as well as Pākehā students in reading and writing, with the gap in mathematics narrowing. ERO described collaborative, strategic leadership, professional learning tied to the school’s priorities, settled classrooms with clear routines, and new programmes drawing on tikanga and te ao Māori.
ERO also found significant disparity for boys in writing, and for Māori students in writing and mathematics compared with their Pākehā peers, even though Māori achievement had improved over time.
The agreed next steps are to close those gaps, build teachers’ confidence and skill with te reo and mātauranga Māori, and make teacher planning more consistent, especially in how assessment is used to choose teaching strategies.
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone have the right to enrol, and the school asks for proof of address. Out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme, by ballot when there are more applicants than places; the board sets the number of places each year based on the size of the in-zone intake.
Children are enrolled at the school office before they start, and new entrants join in groups at the start or middle of a term. The school suggests enrolling about six months ahead so children can attend its Schoolbridge transition sessions. International fee-paying students follow a separate process set out on the school’s international page.
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 Hillcrest
Hillcrest Normal School is in Hillcrest. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
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Questions parents ask
Is Hillcrest Normal School zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Riverlea Hamilton and parts of Silverdale Hamilton, Hillcrest, Hamilton East and Matangi near Hamilton.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 6.
How many students go there?
645 at 1 Oct 2026.
Does it ask for donations?
It may. It is not in the donation scheme, so it can ask families for donations.
What is its Equity Index?
397. 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, 10 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).