Seventy-year-old Raymond Melrose changed his plea to guilty, admitting to indecently assaulting two boys, one nine and the other under the age of 16.
The abuse began in 1968 when he was 23 and teaching outside of Northland.
Melrose’s offending came to light when Northland Police set up an 0800 number over convicted paedophile and deputy principal James Parker.
At the time, in 2013, Melrose had been the principal of the Kaikohe Christian school for 13 years and was stood down.