Key facts
- School number3180
- School typeFull Primary · Years 1–8
- AuthorityState
- GenderCo-Educational
- BoardingNo
- Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
- Established26 January 1859
About Appleby School
Appleby School is a primary school located on Moutere Highway, RD1 Richmond, Nelson, in a semi-rural setting with access to nearby Nelson city. The school operates standard hours of 9:00am to 3:00pm.
The school identifies three core values, expressed in both English and te reo Māori:
- Kia Māia — Brave
- Kia Manaaki — Care
- Kia Ako — Learn
Appleby School is not designated as a faith-based or Māori-medium school. Its stated character centres on relationships between students, staff, parents, whānau, and the wider community, with an emphasis on children across different ages and year levels interacting during the school day. The school's 2025 Education Review Office report noted that leaders and teachers work collaboratively with whānau to maintain relational trust in support of student learning.
School donations
The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations may be requested".
With an Equity Index of 430, Appleby School is below the 432 threshold newly required to opt into the donations scheme, though a school already receiving this funding from an earlier year may continue to do so. Outside the scheme, a school can still ask families for donations, but cannot compel or enforce payment.
Check directly with the school for current charges, contributions or other costs. Learn more on the donations scheme or fees and charges at school, both on education.govt.nz.
Equity Index
The Ministry publishes this figure as a bare number — KuraData shows it against the directory-wide average, so you can see where Appleby School actually sits, not just the number on its own.
The Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers students face, on average, and is used to inform government funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.
Higher values indicate a higher level of estimated socio-economic barriers; lower values indicate fewer. Learn how the Equity Index is calculated →
Student ethnicity
The Ministry publishes this as a raw table — here it's visualised directly against Appleby School's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.
- European — 137 students (93.2%)
- Asian — 3 students (2%)
- Pacific — 3 students (2%)
- Māori — 26 students (17.7%)
- MELAA — 6 students (4.1%)
- Other — 1 students (0.7%)
Percentages may sum to more than 100% because students can identify with more than one ethnic group.
Location
- Street address19 Moutere Highway
- CityTasman
- Local authorityTasman District
Official contact details
- ContactJanine Higgins
- Phone03-5442898
- Emailadmin@appleby.school.nz
- Websitewww.appleby.school.nz
Nearby schools
Schools physically closest to Appleby School, regardless of year level.
-
Salisbury School (Nelson) Specialist School · 7.2 km
-
Thorndon School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 138.7 km
-
Tawhai School Contributing · Years 1–6 · 156.9 km
-
Amuri Area School Composite · Years 1–15 · 164.3 km
-
Tokomaru School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 221.2 km
Explore schools in Tasman
Browse Tasman schools by type, including primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and other schools.
Enrolment
Appleby School operates under an enrolment scheme developed by the Secretary for Education, implemented by the school's Board of Trustees in response to roll growth. Students living within the school's home zone are enrolled under this scheme; out-of-zone enrolments are governed by the Education and Training Act 2020. The precise boundaries of the home zone are published on the school's website.
Families within the home zone are encouraged to contact the school in advance of the year they intend to enrol. For new entrant children, the school asks parents to pre-enrol once the child turns four. A transition programme called Starting School is available for four-year-olds.
Out-of-zone applicants must email the principal at admin@appleby.school.nz with the child's full name, date of birth, current address, and intended year level. If applications exceed available places, selection is by ballot. Priority for out-of-zone places is given to siblings of currently enrolled students. Students already enrolled retain their place regardless of zone.
For 2027, the Board has indicated approximately 20 out-of-zone places are likely to be available in New Entrants/Year 0, with the exact number depending on in-zone applications and how many Year 6 students remain at the school for Years 7–8. The application deadline is 12 noon on 15 October 2026.
Frequently asked
These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Appleby School's own official Ministry of Education data already shown on this page, so what you read here always matches the figures above.
Sources & methodology
Every fact on this page traces back to one of the rows below — official Ministry of Education data, or Appleby School's own published information, reviewed before publication. Nothing here is inferred or estimated beyond what its source actually states.
| Data | Source | Data period | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| School characteristics | Ministry of Education | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Student roll | Ministry of Education / Education Counts | August 2026 | 7 September 2026 |
| Equity Index | Education Counts | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Address & coordinates | Ministry of Education | — | 7 September 2026 |
| Contact details | NZ Schools Directory | Current | 7 September 2026 |
| School information (AI-curated, human-reviewed) | Appleby School's official website | Current | 16 September 2026 |