Ruru Special School

Ruru Special School is a co-educational specialist school school in Invercargill, within the Southland Region, operating in the state sector, with 128 students on roll, and an Equity Index of 519. The school has been open since 1963.

With 128 students on roll, Ruru Special School is a medium-sized school — larger than about 32% of New Zealand schools.

The school's Equity Index is 519, which is above the national average of 463. A higher Equity Index signals greater socio-economic need in the school's community — schools in this band receive more targeted government funding and support. The gap of 56 points is substantial enough to matter when comparing schools.

76.3% of students identify as European, so the school has a strongly homogeneous roll. Students of Pasifika descent make up 11.4%.

On the isolation index the school scores 0.86 (high isolation) — this measures how far students travel and how accessible the school is, not how good it is.