Cockle Bay is located on the eastern edges of metropolitan East Auckland, along the Hauraki Gulf coast.

[6] The area was widely cultivated by Ngāi Tai, and protected by the Tūwakamana Pā at Cockle Bay, which commanded a view of the wider Turanga Estuary.

[7] Most members of Ngāi Tai fled to the Waikato for temporary refuge during this time, and when missionary William Thomas Fairburn visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied.

[10] In 1847, Howick township was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families.

[11] In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a Ngāi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of Ngāi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west, near Howick.

[12][8] The first European landowner at Cockle Bay was Anglican Reverend Vicesimus Lush, who bought 413 acres in 1853, where he grew oats, potatoes and buckwheat.

[13] The area was subdivided in September 1923, advertised as Cockle Bay Estate, a seaside resort.

The new residents of Cockle Bay formed a close-knit community, separate from the nearby township of Howick.

During the 1920s, the Chinese community in New Zealand organised large-scale picnics, that were held at Cockle Bay.

The school originally served Cockle Bay and the rural surrounding area, as far as Whitford.