Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

girls' day and

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...

secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. The school is affiliated with the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and serves approximately girls from Years 7 to 13 (ages 10 to 18).

History

The school was founded in 1889 when Frederick Gibson bought a school run in Papanui by friends of his, Ada, Kate and Jessie Gresham, who were moving to Australia. The school had 18 students, aged 5 to 16 years old. Initially Gibson's daughters Alice and Helen and their mother Mary ran the school, calling it "Miss Gibson's Private School for Girls". In 1891, the school moved to a building in Webb Street and was renamed ''Rangi Ruru'', meaning "wide sky-shelter". This name had been suggested by a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

chief of Rapaki Pa,

Pāora Taki Pāora Taki (?–1897) was a notable New Zealand tribal leader and warrior. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāi Tahu iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is ...

, a friend of Frederick Gibson. Helen Gibson continued as Principal and her sisters Alice, Ethel, Ruth and Winifred joined as teachers. Under Helen Gibson's leadership the school roll grew, reaching over 200 students at the time of her death in 1938. From 1938 until the sale of the school in 1946, Ethel Gibson was principal; her sisters continued to assist and support her. The school moved to its present site in 1923, as the Webb Street building was becoming too small. Te Koraha, the original house on the site, had been the home of the

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

family; it was made available to the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and Duchess of Cornwall and York for their June 1901 royal visit to Christchurch. The Rangi Ruru Board of Governors was established in 1946 when

Church members purchased the school from the Gibson family. While the Christchurch Presbytery approves appointments, the board is autonomous. In the early 1980s, the school wanted an on-site chapel, while simultaneously the congregation of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Hospital Corner was declining. It was decided to relocate the church to the school site, and in 1986, the building was moved to land adjacent to the school on Merivale Lane. The church became known as "St Andrew's at Rangi Ruru".

Enrolment

As a private school, Rangi Ruru charges tuition fees to cover costs. For the 2025 school year, tuition fees for New Zealand residents are $27,150 per year for students in years 7 and 8 and $30,300 per year for students in years 9 and above. Boarding fees are $19,200 per year. As of , Rangi Ruru has roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As a private school, the school is not assigned an

Equity Index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market perform ...

Academic achievement

Rangi Ruru is consistently one of New Zealand's highest-achieving schools in academic achievement. In 2013, all girls who left Rangi Ruru held at least NCEA Level 1, while 98.2% held at least NCEA Level 2, and 92.0% held at least University Entrance. This was in contrast to the national percentages of 86.8%, 77.2%, and 55.4%, respectively, for girls.

Notable alumnae

Sophie Devine Sophie Frances Monique Devine (born 1 September 1989) is a New Zealand sportswoman, who has represented New Zealand in both cricket for the New Zealand national women's cricket team (''White Ferns''), and in field hockey as a member of the Ne ...

(born 1989), cricket and hockey player *

Elizabeth Edgar Elizabeth Edgar (27 December 1929 – 1 January 2019) was a New Zealand botanist, best known for her work in authoring and editing three of the five volumes of the series ''Flora of New Zealand'', which describes and classifies the species of ...

(born 1929), botanist *

Sophia Fenwick Sophia Fenwick (born 12 December 1992) is a New Zealand netball player. Fenwick was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand U21 teams in 2010. She was also drafted as a Temporary Replacement Player for the Canterbury Tacti ...

(born 1992), netball player * Kenneth Gresson (1891–1974), soldier, lawyer, university lecturer and judge (attended before Rangi Ruru became a girls' school) * Polly 'PJ' Harding (born 1990), radio host *

Eve MacFarlane Eve Macfarlane (born 27 September 1992) is a New Zealand rower. Described as a "natural rower", she went to the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships within a few months of having taken up rowing and won a silver medal. She represented New Zeala ...

(born 1992), rower *

Margaret Munro Margaret Munro (née Margaret Staples Hamilton, 28 October 1914 – 26 April 2005), was a New Zealand architect. She was the first female architect to establish a career in the Canterbury region. Biography Early life Munro was born in Chri ...

(1914–2005), architect *

Elizabeth Manu Elizabeth "Bessie" Manu (born 16 September 1986 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Central Pulse. Manu previously played with the Canterbury Tactix in 2008, after having been a me ...

(born 1986), netball player *

Annabel Ritchie Annabel Ritchie (born 20 July 1978) is a retired rower from New Zealand. Private life Ritchie was born in New Zealand and attended Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch from 1994 to 1996. She studied at Victoria University of Wellington and ...

(born 1978), lawyer and rower *

Francie Turner Frances "Francie" Turner (born 6 April 1992) is a New Zealand coxswain. She competed at the Rio Olympics with the New Zealand women's eight. Private life Turner was born in Christchurch in 1992 and grew up on a dairy farm near Southbridge in C ...

(born 1992), rowing cox

Notable staff

Helen Gibson Helen Gibson (born Rose August Wenger; August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, Horse riding stunts, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the f ...

(born 1868), educator and principal

References

External links

1968 photo of St Andrew's Church
i.e. prior to its relocation {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1889 Girls' schools in New Zealand Intermediate schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in Christchurch Boarding schools in New Zealand 1889 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia