2018 ENROLMENT PROCEDURE
Welcome to Aquinas College and thank you for considering us as your child’s preferred school for
secondary education. Aquinas College is an Integrated, Catholic, co-educational college and as
such has 95% Preference, and if places are available up to 5% Non-Preference (Non-Catholic) enrolment.
Preference Cards
As part of the necessary enrolment documentation, Catholic (Preference) students require a Preference Card. The
process for obtaining a Preference Card is outlined below: (a copy of the student’s Baptism Certificate or parent’s
Baptism Certificate in the case of the student not being a baptised Catholic, is required at the interview)
 Mt Maunganui/Papamoa/Te Puke residents should contact All Saints by the Sea parish (phone 575 4807) to make
an appointment with Fr Darren or Deacon Henk.
 The issuing of Preference Cards for Tauranga/Te Puna parishioners is handled by a committee. To meet with a
member of this committee, please ring the St Thomas Aquinas parish office (578 6209, between 8:00am and 1:30pm
weekdays) to make an appointment. Appointments are Tuesday and Friday mornings at St Mary Immaculate Church.
Each year we host an Open Day for prospective new enrolments and it is on this day that enrolment applications
open. We have scheduled Thursday 4th May 2017 as this year’s Open Day. Two sessions are offered for you to select
from; 9-10am or 12:30-1:30pm. You are encouraged to bring your child along to see the school in action and listen
to a presentation from the Principal and student leaders. Enrolment packs will be available at this time. They will
also be available to download from our website www.aquinas.school.nz after this date. You are encouraged to visit
the college website for full coverage of information on Aquinas College, or you can contact Moira Ramsbottom at the
college by phone on (07) 543 9032, email [email protected] with any queries.
The enrolment procedure requires an Application for Enrolment form to be completed fully and together with the
necessary supporting documentation outlined in the enrolment form, submitted to the College office before closing
date of Friday 7th July 2017. For 2018, we have up to 110 places available at Year 7 and limited other places
available at Years 8 to Year 13. Applications for positions for 2018 will be processed during Term 2 of 2017 with all
applicants being notified by early September. Siblings of our existing non-preference students will have priority for
any possible non-preference positions. Late applications considered only if there are vacancies.
ACADEMIC RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES …..
NCEA
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
NZ Average 2016
Decile 8-10
91%
93%
87%
2016 National Standards
Year 7
At or Above
National Standard
Year 8
At or Above
National Standard
Aquinas
2016
92%
99%
91%
Aquinas
2015
96%
96%
85%
Literacy
Reading
Writing
Aquinas
2014
94%
95%
86%
Numeracy
Mathematics
87%
85%
87%
Reading
Writing*
Mathematics
90%
84%
89%
ATTENDANCE DUES
Attendance Dues are a charge for attendance at an integrated school and are one of the main sources of income for
maintenance or upgrade of existing buildings, plus meet the costs of servicing loans incurred for this purpose. The
Attendance Due is a compulsory charge invoiced from, and payable to, the Catholic Integrated Schools Office. It is
administered and collected by the Hamilton Diocese Office. Dues are not tax deductible. The 2017 Attendance Due
for Year 7/8 students is $426 per student, and for secondary students $852 per student.
AQUINAS COLLEGE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION
The Board of Trustees has responsibility for governance including Finance, and as such, has set the College Voluntary
Contribution at $1200 pa per student, with a maximum of $3000 for three or more students from the same family.
At this stage, we do not expect this amount will change for 2017. This is a voluntary contribution but the great
majority of families have accepted the need to resource and staff the College adequately, and this school contribution
supplements the Operations Grant from the Ministry of Education. These contributions support curricular and extracurricular resources, as well as some of our necessary support staffing. Any Preference family whose financial or
family circumstances are such that the full school voluntary contribution is too difficult to meet, should talk with me
as Principal at the time of the enrolment interview.
Ray Scott
PRINCIPAL