Last updated October 2026
Rimu School is a state, co-educational full primary school for Years 1 to 8 at 442 Rimu Road, Rimu, Invercargill. It opened in 1877 and had 106 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes all of Kennington, and parts of Seaward Bush, Mill Road and Kapuka; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s website describes it as a country school about 10 minutes from the city, with after-school sports run alongside other Southern Zone schools and coached by members of the school community. A school bus runs town and country routes.
At a glance
- Principal
- Esther Hamilton
- Address
- 442 Rimu Road, Rimu, Invercargill
- Phone
- 03 230 4415
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Kennington.
Parts of Seaward Bush, Mill Road and Kapuka near Invercargill: check your street.
Zone boundaries are set by the school’s enrolment scheme and can change. Confirm your address with the school before you rely on it.
Who goes here
Share of the 106 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
MELAA: Middle Eastern, Latin American and African.
What ERO found
The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a School Report from September 2025. ERO found strong teaching that is lifting achievement, with almost all children meeting or exceeding expected levels in reading and maths and most in writing, and the school meeting the Government’s 2030 targets.
Children are proud of their school and feel they belong there, and ERO noted big gains since its previous review for the children who were furthest behind. A new principal started in 2023.
ERO noted that boys’ writing results still need work, and that chronic absence is not yet falling even though the school is at the Government’s regular attendance target. Its priorities are to embed effective writing teaching with fairer outcomes for all learners, develop the school’s maths curriculum and teaching practices, make better use of learning data to track whether new initiatives are working, and put its attendance plan into action.
Read the ERO reports for Rimu School
Enrolling
Children who live in the home zone have the right to enrol. Families outside the zone can submit an expression of interest for out-of-zone places, which are filled by ballot, and the school publishes the closing dates for each intake on its enrolment page.
Parents of children turning five are encouraged to pre-enrol and to arrange pre-entry visits before their child starts.
Schools nearby
Where students go next
Based on home zones around the school’s own address. Families can apply to any school, and your own address decides which zones you are in.
In Kennington
Rimu School is in Kennington. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Kennington guide →Questions parents ask
Is Rimu School zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Kennington and parts of Seaward Bush, Mill Road and Kapuka near Invercargill.
What years does it teach?
Years 1 to 8.
How many students go there?
106 at 1 Sep 2026.
Does it ask for donations?
No. It is in the donation scheme, so it only asks for donations for school camps.
What is its Equity Index?
446. The Ministry of Education’s Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, from 344 (fewest) to 569 (most). It is used to share out funding, not as a measure of quality.
Updated automatically when the Ministry publishes new data.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Sources and data notes 1
- School facts: School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 22 Oct 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Home zone: Ministry of Education enrolment zones (CC BY 4.0). NCEA results, roll history and stand-downs: Education Counts, school leavers 2023 to 2025, stand-downs 2025, rolls 2021 to 2025 (CC BY 4.0).