Thames South School

Thames South School is a co-educational full primary school in Thames, within the Waikato Region, operating in the state sector, with 64 students on roll, and an Equity Index of 541. The school has been open since 1858.

With 64 students on roll, Thames South School is a small school — larger than about 18% of New Zealand schools.

The school's Equity Index is 541, which is well 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 78 points is substantial enough to matter when comparing schools.

The roll is genuinely diverse: no single ethnic group dominates, with European at 52.8% and Pasifika at 16.7%. Diversity of this kind is common in urban New Zealand schools.

On the isolation index the school scores 1.06 (high isolation) — this measures how far students travel and how accessible the school is, not how good it is.