14/03/2025
John Murphy
[FYI request #29771 email]
Tēnā koe John
OIA: 1341952 – Residential Specialist School data
Thank you for your email of 16 January 2025 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) requesting
the following information:
Data broken down by school( Halswell Residential College, Salisbury School, Westbridge
Residential School) for each question as applicable
Students who applied to enrol in RSS in 2023 and 2024
1. How many applied for each school?
2. How many were accepted?
3. How many enrolled?
4. How many were turned down at enrolment meeting?
5. How many were turned down due to a section 37 decision?
6. How many students while enrolled in RSS faced any form of Kiwi standdown,
suspension or exclusion? Provide timeframes in each situation.
7. How many students were referred to RSS by RTLB, Intensive Wraparound Service,
and Ministry of Education regional staff?
8. How many students who enrolled in a RSS had been enrolled in a regular local
school prior to attending RSS?
9. How many were enrolled in a day special school prior to attending RSS?
10. How many were funded through the ORS?
Students who transitioned from RSS in 2023 and 2024 of the students who transitioned
home in 2023 and 2024
11. How many returned to the school they had been enrolled in when they moved to
RSS?
12. How many returned to their local school?
13. How many returned to their local school full-time?
14. How many did not return to school?
(Te Kura does not count as a local school for purposes of these questions)
Achievement and of qualifications
15. For each RSS what qualifications were achieved by students in the time they were
enrolled?
Wellington National Office, 1 The Terrace, Levels 5 to 14, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, DX SR51201 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
16. How many students in RSS are in years 11 to 13?
17. How many students achieved NCEA credits?
Restraint
18. How many students were restrained per term in each school?
19. What was the total roll per term in each school?
20. How many students were restrained more than once?
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
As we informed you in our letter dated 14 February 2025, we transferred
parts 6, 10 and 15-20 of
your request to Halswell Residential College, Salisbury School, and Westbridge Residential
School, in accordance with section 14(b)(ii) of the Act.
In response to
parts 1-5 and
7 of your request, please find the information requested at
Table A in
Appendix A below.
In response to
part 8 of your request, please find the information requested attached at
Table B in
Appendix A below. Please note that, for
part 8 of your request, we have interpreted “regular local
school” as the type of school (e.g. primary, intermediate) attended just prior to enrolment at a
Residential Specialist School. We also combined 2023 and 2024 data to preclude the need to
mask small numbers of students, for privacy reasons.
In response to
part 9 of your request, two students were enrolled at a day special school before
attending a Residential Specialist School in 2023 and/or 2024.
In response to
part 11 of your request, 21 students returned to the school they were enrolled in
while attending a Residential Special School in 2023 and/or 2024.
In response to
part 12 of your request, please find the information requested attached at
Table C in
Appendix A below. We have again combined 2023 and 2024 data to preclude the need to mask
small numbers of students, for privacy reasons.
The Ministry does not record the full- or part-time status of students, so I am refusing
part 13 of
your request under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information requested is not held by the
Ministry, and I have no grounds for believing that it is either held by, or more closely connected to
the functions of, another department or organisation subject to the Act.
In response to
part 14 of your request, eight students did not return to school after attending a
Residential Special School in 2023 and/or 2024.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details will be removed.
OIA: 1341952
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Michelle Ashby
General Manager Learning Support
Te Mahau | Te Pae Aronui (Operations and Integration)
OIA: 1341952
Appendix A
Table A: Students who applied to enrol in Residential Specialist Schools (RSSs) in 2023 and 2024
1. Applications
2. Accepted
3. Enrolled
4. Turned down
5. Turned down
7. Referred by
at enrolment
due to section
Resource Teachers
meeting
37 decision
of Learning and
Behaviour (RTLB),
Intensive
Wraparound Service
(IWS), or Ministry of
Education (MOE)
regional staff
2023
2024
2023
2024
2023
2024
2023
2024
2023
2024
2023
2024
Halswell
25
26
15
12
15
12
10
14
0
0
MOE 12
MOE 12
Residential
IWS 4
IWS 6
School
RTLB 9
RTLB 8
Salisbury
14
9
11
6
11
5
3
3
0
0
MOE 5
MOE 4
School
IWS 1
IWS 0
RTLB 8
RTLB 5
Westbridge
40
20
18
12
18
8
19
8
0
0
MOE 19
MOE 9
Residential
IWS 3
IWS 5
School
RTLB 17
RTLB 6
- Data provided is as at 7/03/2025.
- Other outcomes for the applications, such as applying at multiple schools, withdrawn after application and multiple referrals are not covered by this data request.
OIA: 1341952
Table B: Number of students enrolled by school type or a day special school before attending an RSS, 2023-2024
School Type
Headcount
Composite
9
Contributing
6
Correspondence School
7
Full Primary
24
Intermediate
8
Secondary
35
Special School
2
Total
91
- Data provided is as at 4/02/2025. This data is subject to change and may differ if re-run at a later date. The Ministry cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information, as we
rely on the school recording the information into the ENROL system.
OIA: 1341952
Table C: Number of students enrolled by school type after attending an RSS, 2023-2024
School Type
Headcount
Composite
7
Contributing
1
Correspondence School
9
Full Primary
4
Intermediate
4
Secondary
33
Still attending the same RSS
23
Other Special School
2
Total
83
- Data provided is as at 19/02/2025. This data is subject to change and may differ if re-run at a later date. The Ministry cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information, as we
rely on the school recording the information into the ENROL system.
OIA: 1341952
