Piopio College

Piopio College is a coeducational secondary school in Piopio, a town in the Waitomo District of New Zealand.

Piopio College
Location
18 Aria Road, Piopio
Coordinates	38°28′22.84″S 175°0′49.51″E
Information
Type	Co-Ed. Year 7–13.
Established	1975
Ministry of Education Institution no.	162
Principal	Ben Draper
School roll	134[1] (July 2025)
Socio-economic decile	5M[2]
Website	piopio.school.nz

History

The College opened in 1975 when Piopio District High School was separated into Piopio Primary School and Piopio College.^{[citation needed]} It won the Goodman Fielder Best School of the Year Award in 1999 jointly with Patearoa School.^[3]

Piopio District High School was formed in 1924. It was the first school in New Zealand to have a school bus service.

A combined schools centenary was held in March 2009.^[4]

Enrolment

As of July 2025, Piopio College has a roll of 134 students, of which 64 (47.8%) identify as Māori.^[1]

As of 2025, the school has an Equity Index of 503,^[5] placing it amongst schools whose students have many socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 2 and 3 under the former socio-economic decile system).^[6]

Notable alumni

• David Fagan – world class shearer
• Jenny-May Coffin – former Silver Ferns netball player, for which she was the vice-captain in 2001; TVNZ presenter
• Hannah Osborne – Olympic rower
• Farah Palmer – former captain of the Black Ferns
• Rob Waddell – world and Olympic champion rower; grinder for Team New Zealand in the Americas Cup

Principals

• Bob Ford (1975–1979)
• Brian Tegg (1980–2001)
• Tim Davies-Colley (2002–2007)
• David Day (2008–2012)
• Julie Radice (2013–2015)
• Johan van Deventer (2017–2021)
• Rakesh Govind (2022–2024)
• Ben Draper (2024-present)