Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha

Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha is a co-educational composite school in Waitoa, within the Waikato Region, operating in the state sector, with 140 students on roll, and an Equity Index of 539. The school has been open since 2002.

With 140 students on roll, Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha is a medium-sized school — larger than about 35% of New Zealand schools. Its rural setting typically means smaller class groups and a close-knit community feel.

The school's Equity Index is 539, 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 76 points is substantial enough to matter when comparing schools.

The roll is genuinely diverse: no single ethnic group dominates, with Pasifika at 54.5% and European at 36.4%. Diversity of this kind is common in urban New Zealand schools.

On the isolation index the school scores 0.69 (moderate isolation) — this measures how far students travel and how accessible the school is, not how good it is.