Key facts
- School number405
- School typeSecondary · Years 7–15
- AuthorityState
- GenderGirls School
- BoardingYes
- Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
- Established10 February 1879
About Southland Girls' High School
Southland Girls' High School is a girls' secondary school located in Tweed Street, Invercargill, catering for students from Year 7 to Year 13. It is one of New Zealand's older state girls' schools, founded in 1879 as Invercargill Girls' High School, with an initial roll of 30 pupils.
The school's motto is Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus — "not for school but for life we are learning." Its stated values are respect (te whakaute), integrity (mana), and responsibility (takohanga).
The school is not faith-based or Māori-medium. It operates a boarding facility, Enwood, which has been part of the school in various forms since 1929 and continues to serve students from outside Invercargill.
Enrolment
Enrolment scheme on recordSouthland Girls' High School has an enrolment scheme (a home zone) on record. Living inside it guarantees a place; living outside it does not, though out-of-zone applications may still be considered.
School donations
The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations may be requested".
With an Equity Index of 463, Southland Girls' High 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 Southland Girls' High 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 Southland Girls' High School's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.
- European — 822 students (76.5%)
- Asian — 58 students (5.4%)
- Pacific — 70 students (6.5%)
- Māori — 242 students (22.5%)
- MELAA — 27 students (2.5%)
- Other — 11 students (1%)
- International — 8 students (0.7%)
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.
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St Patrick's School (Invercargill) Contributing · Years 1–6 · 1.4 km
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St Theresa's School (Invercargill) Contributing · Years 1–6 · 2.1 km
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St John's Girls' School (Invercargill) Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 2.5 km
Further education in Invercargill
Explore tertiary providers based in Invercargill — not necessarily where Southland Girls' High School's own students go on to study.
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Southern Institute of Technology Institutes of Technology & Polytechnics
Location
- Street address328 Tweed Street
- SuburbGeorgetown
- CityInvercargill
- Local authorityInvercargill City
Official contact details
- ContactJohn Grogan
- Phone+64 3 211 6030
- Emailexcellence@southlandgirls.school.nz
- Websitewww.southlandgirls.school.nz
Nearby schools
Schools physically closest to Southland Girls' High School, regardless of year level.
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St Patrick's School (Invercargill) Contributing · Years 1–6 · 1.4 km
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Aurora College Secondary · Years 7–15 · 2.1 km
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St Theresa's School (Invercargill) Contributing · Years 1–6 · 2.1 km
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Southland Boys' High School Secondary · Years 7–15 · 2.5 km
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St John's Girls' School (Invercargill) Full Primary · Years 1–8 · 2.5 km
Explore schools in Invercargill
Browse Invercargill schools by type, including primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and other schools.
Facilities
Southland Girls' High School is located on Tweed Street, Invercargill. The campus includes the following named facilities:
- West Hall — used for junior and senior assemblies, celebration events, and school socials
- Music Department — undergoing a million-dollar upgrade to include rooms for individual instrument tuition and various classes
- Language teaching spaces — recently upgraded specialist classrooms with breakout spaces for smaller group activities
- Dance and Performing Arts faculty — purpose-built space with sound and lighting technology, supporting dance and drama to Year 13 and Scholarship level, and offering skills in sound and theatre tech
- Science labs — specialist rooms for science teaching
- Technology rooms — specialist spaces for technology subjects
- Visual art rooms — specialist spaces for visual arts
- Media rooms — for video and audio production
- Sports Centre (Gym) — houses a full-size international netball court, a multi-purpose area known as the Old Gym, a fitness centre, locker rooms, and staff offices
- FoodHub — open at intervals and lunchtimes, offering a daily-changing menu of hot and cold food
- Library
Frequently asked
These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Southland Girls' High 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 Southland Girls' High 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) | Southland Girls' High School's official website | Current | 27 September 2026 |