Key facts
- School number3964
- School typeFull Primary · Years 1–8
- AuthorityState
- GenderCo-Educational
- BoardingNo
- Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
- Established26 January 1878
About Hedgehope School
Hedgehope School is a rural full primary school serving students in Years 1–8. It is located in Central Southland on the Winton-Hedgehope Highway, approximately 20 minutes from Mataura, Winton, and Invercargill.
The school operates around a set of core values it calls REACH — Respect, Endurance, Adventure, Compassion, and Happiness — which it applies across learning and school culture.
Hedgehope School holds Green-Gold status with Enviroschools, which it describes as the highest level of that programme. It runs a Forest School programme on Channel Road, where students participate in predator trapping and environmental restoration.
The school grounds include an orchard, a plant nursery and hot house, a mountain bike track, tennis courts, a workshop, and an adventure playground called Treemendous. Senior students have access to 1-to-1 Apple MacBooks. Students participate in activities including athletics, swimming, cross country, touch rugby, netball, speech competitions, ski trips, pet day, and a science fair.
The school has an active parent–teacher association (PTA) and a Board of Trustees. The principal is Daniel Withington.
School donations
The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations should not be requested, unless for a school camp".
With an Equity Index of 440, Hedgehope School is in the range eligible to opt into the Ministry's donations scheme — receiving additional government funding per student in exchange for not seeking donations (except for overnight camps).
Check directly with the school for current charges, contributions or other costs. Learn more on the donations scheme or fees and charges at school, both on education.govt.nz.
Equity Index
The Ministry publishes this figure as a bare number — KuraData shows it against the directory-wide average, so you can see where Hedgehope School actually sits, not just the number on its own.
The Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers students face, on average, and is used to inform government funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.
Higher values indicate a higher level of estimated socio-economic barriers; lower values indicate fewer. Learn how the Equity Index is calculated →
Student ethnicity
The Ministry publishes this as a raw table — here it's visualised directly against Hedgehope School's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.
- European — 41 students (74.5%)
- Asian — 14 students (25.5%)
- Māori — 6 students (10.9%)
Percentages may sum to more than 100% because students can identify with more than one ethnic group.
Education pathway
Nearby schools serving the next or previous year levels are shown as potential pathway options. They do not indicate formal enrolment pathways or actual student transfers.
-
Central Southland College Secondary · Years 9–15 · 18.8 km
Location
- Street address2250 Winton-Hedgehope Highway
- SuburbHedgehope
- CityInvercargill
- Local authoritySouthland District
Official contact details
- ContactDaniel Withington
- Phone+64 3 230 6106
- Emailoffice@hedgehope.school.nz
- Websitewww.hedgehope.school.nz/
Nearby schools
Schools physically closest to Hedgehope School, regardless of year level.
-
Lochiel School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 15.9 km
-
Woodlands Primary School Contributing · Years 1–6 · 16.9 km
-
St Thomas School (Winton) Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 17.8 km
-
Winton School Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 17.8 km
-
Central Southland College Secondary · Years 9–15 · 18.8 km
Explore schools in Invercargill
Browse Invercargill schools by type, including primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and other schools.
Enrolment
Hedgehope School operates a School Enrolment Scheme Home Zone. A map of the zone boundaries is published on the school's enrolment page.
Each year the School Board determines how many places will be available for out-of-zone students in the coming enrolment period and publishes this by public notice. Out-of-zone applications are ranked in the following order of priority:
- Siblings of current students
- Siblings of former students
- Children of former students
- Children of a board employee or board member
- All other applicants
Frequently asked
These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Hedgehope School's own official Ministry of Education data already shown on this page, so what you read here always matches the figures above.
Sources & methodology
Every fact on this page traces back to one of the rows below — official Ministry of Education data, or Hedgehope School's own published information, reviewed before publication. Nothing here is inferred or estimated beyond what its source actually states.
| Data | Source | Data period | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| School characteristics | Ministry of Education | — | 15 October 2026 |
| Student roll | Ministry of Education / Education Counts | September 2026 | 15 October 2026 |
| Equity Index | Education Counts | — | 15 October 2026 |
| Address & coordinates | Ministry of Education | — | 15 October 2026 |
| Contact details | NZ Schools Directory | Current | 15 October 2026 |
| School information (AI-curated, human-reviewed) | Hedgehope School's official website | Current | 12 October 2026 |