Aquinas College is a state integrated Special Character school on the south western outskirts of Tauranga

Tauranga

Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...

 City, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is a Roman Catholic Co-educational combined collegiate and intermediate (yrs 7-13). It was founded in 2003 with St. Thomas Aquinas as its patron by the first Principal Brendon Schollum (2003–2010), a former Catholic monk.

The school colours are green and navy blue. First formers (Yr 7) to fifth formers (Yr 11) wear white (female) or dark blue (male) blouse/shirts with navy shorts or green skirt. Sixth and seventh form (Yr 12-13) wear a Green Blazer with navy skirt or trousers. All students wear the blue and gold school tie from term 2 until term 3 along with the winter uniform, which changes back to the summer uniform in term 4.

House system

The school has four houses. They are:

• Browne
• Cluny
• Foy
• Heni Pore

Each house is represented by a different colour - Purple for Browne, blue for Cluny, gold for Foy and red for Heni Pore. The annual House Championship is fiercely contested for.

Sport

Aquinas fields numerous teams across a wide range of sports, with many teams and individuals representing the College regionally and nationally, including, but not limited to: basketball, rugby, soccer, water polo, softball, tennis, rowing and clay pigeon shooting.

Curriculum

NCEA levels 1,2 and 3 are offered to years eleven to thirteen. Religious Education is compulsory as a subject from years seven to year thirteen.