Dear Parents & Caregivers,

Our senior boys are now well underway with their NCEA external exams. All three senior levels do a full course of internal and external assessments. Not all schools do a full NCEA course at Year 11. We believe that doing a full academic course at Year 11 sets our boys up to  meet the challenges of NCEA Level 2 and 3 and provides them with an academic focus and rigour.

On Tuesday October 29th the PTFA hosted the annual Mother-Son Afternoon Tea.  This lovely event was well attended and acknowledges the vital role of our boy’s mums in their educational journey. The boys came in at Year 7 as little boys and leave seven years later towering over their mums as Year 13s. This year the PTFA introduced a very special touch whereby the boys presented each mum with a rose as well as a big hug. At this point I would like to thank Audra and her PTFA team for all their hard work supporting events like this throughout the year. Their next big event is the annual Golf Day on November 28th.

The following night we held our annual academic prize giving. It was a wonderful celebration of the academic achievements of our senior boys. Congratulations to all the boys who were awarded certificates, trophies and scholarships on the night. Many thanks to Jon Dale for all the hard work and organisation he put in to ensure the night was a success.

The following morning began with the Leavers breakfast. Our Old Boy guest speaker this year was John Thornley who is also a parent and current Board member. John gave an excellent speech outlining his life since leaving the college firstly in Law and most recently in senior positions with the Police. After the breakfast the leavers returned to school for the Leavers Mass which was celebrated by Fr. Mark Bond. Throughout the morning the traditional shirt signing continued until it was time for the Year 13s to leave for the final time. The school performed a passionate Haka to farewell them before they headed down the drive singing and chanting for the final time. There were plenty of tears as always as the boys find this a very emotional time.

God bless
Nixon Cooper
Headmaster

Recent News

Leavers Day 2024 The Class of 2024 at Rosmini College concluded their journey with a memorable Leaver's Day View More   Mother & Son Afternoon Tea 2024 It was wonderful to welcome our Year 13 cohort and their mothers to a special celebration to reflect on their time at Rosmini View More   Prefects announced for 2025 Rosmini College Head Prefects for 2025 have been announced View More   Senior Academic Prizegiving 2024 Rosmini College celebrated our senior students that have showed a commitment to their learning and academic excellence in 2024 View More

NZQA External Exams

Our Year 11-13 students have completed the first week of the external examinations and I am pleased to report that students have been well organised, have turned up on time and are ready to sit these important exams. It is great to see many boys also using the extra support available by attending the revision sessions and workshops available. You can find these here Revision Workshops if your son needs further support. A reminder that boys should attend these in school uniform please.

Why do we genuflect?

If you attend Mass, you might see some Catholics walk in and perform an action where they bend or lower one knee, so that it touches the ground. This half-kneeling posture is called genuflecting, and it finds its basis in scriptures such as Isaiah 45:23, in which God says, "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear". We know that kneeling, or bowing one knee, is an appropriate response to the Lord, and so we do it whenever we come into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (since Jesus is truly present there) and whenever the Holy Cross is processed on Good Friday (for more, see the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 274). 
But genuflecting is not just an act of adoration; it's an act of humility and vulnerability. As Fr. Keith Streifel puts it, genuflecting "puts one at a distinct disadvantage, a literally awkward position", since a genuflecting person can be easily pushed over. "Like holding out a swordless right hand, genuflecting shows the other that we mean no harm—and even [that we] place ourselves at the mercy of the person we are encountering". 
So next time you enter a chapel or church, make sure to genuflect in the direction of the tabernacle, where the Blessed Sacrament is kept. By doing so, you're behaving in the manner of a knight before his King— genuflecting is, after all, a practice as old as the Middle Ages! 
Father Mark Bond

Thank you to Y13 students Jacob Smith and Mathew Mihaljevich who made this legacy project for the school, a beautiful bench for the chapel garden.
Mathew and Jacob both finished their individual NCEA Technology Projects on time, with both students gaining an excellent for their individual work. The boys were keen to be part of the Technology Department's legacy program offered to all Y13 students, which involves service to the school or community. The boys need to identify a need, design, plan and make for their chosen stakeholder. It has been an absolute pleasure to see all the boys grow in confidence and ready themselves for the next part of their journey.
Mr Carl Mainwaring

A number of our Year 10 students attended the North Shore Catholic Schools Connection Day at St Mary's Northcote. This annual event is for Year 6 students from all our Catholic primary schools on the North Shore to meet and build connections with each other, and it is the first year that Rosmini was a part of this event.
Students from both Rosmini and Carmel helped lead activities and games. But moreover, they provided a welcoming presence to students who will be joining the secondary schools in 2025. Thank you to the students for representing Rosmini College so well.

Enterprising students win award

Rosmini College has won the Excellence in Product Development Award at the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme for the Auckland region. The Re-Vinyl team offered products made from recycled vinyl records, with a goal of achieving a positive relationship with sustainability and production. 
The experiential programme is run by Lion Foundation Young Enterprise and supported by Auckland University, Deloitte, Auckland Business Chamber, and Auckland University Business School, and gives students the opportunity to unleash their inner entrepreneur and experience the start-up world first-hand. Close to 1900 students and 59 schools throughout the country are involved in the business enterprise from Year 13 Business classes. Congratulations team!

Gardening Club feeding our community

The Rosmini College Gardening Club, facilitated by science teacher Mrs Renee MacKay, donated fresh produce from the community garden to De Paul House this week. De Paul House was very grateful for the fresh produce. The Gardening Club came into being under the EnviroGroup, led by Mrs Eleanor Snowsill and her team. We hope to keep this kind of community service gesture going as long as we have a community garden.

TOTCUS invited to the NIWA Freshwater Laboratories

Two new groups have joined the TOTCUS network. They will be working with students in Germany and the USA examining the relationship between climate change, pollution and blue-green algae. To help them upskill NIWA invited them to visit the national freshwater laboratories located in Hamilton to meet and work with the national algae team. The knowledge and skill gained will be focused locally on understanding what is happening at Lake Pupuke and other local water bodies, including fresh-marine water mixing on several locations in Shoal Bay.

TOTCUS students readying for TOTCUS Symposium

The Rosmini community is invited to attend the TOTCUS Symposium on climate change impacts. The Symposium will to be held in the Rosmini Auditorium on December 6. The Symposium will feature presentations by 24 collaborating student groups from Latin America, the Pacific, Asia and Europe. This is an opportunity to learn how climate change is impacting Auckland / New Zealand as well as other regions of our planet. 
Parents and community are invited to attend and participate in the discussion around the wide range of topics from water quality, plastic pollution, air pollution, wildfires, infrastructure damage and flooding, soil erosion, food scarcity and supply chain disruption. Over 120 Rosmini students are involved in presentations.
The Symposium runs from 9:30am to 1:30pm. If you can not attend in person you can join the world-wide audience on ZOOM by requesting connection details at the email below.
A smaller Symposium is held November 21, from 6 to 8pm featuring presentations by schools in Europe and Asia (that do not fit into the NZ time window). Parents and community are also welcome to attend, however they must request a seat, as seating is limited. If you would like to attend the mini Symposium, please email [email protected].

A sneak peek of some of our amazing Y12 Painting pieces, before they were sent off to NZQA! The creativity and workmanship was amazing and all of the students can be very proud of their work.

Celebrating our International Student Academic successes

The Rosmini College International team takes great pride in the outstanding achievements of their Senior International students, who have been recognized for their academic excellence at the recent Senior Academic Prizegiving ceremony. This success is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and the supportive environment fostered by Rosmini College, which encourages all students to reach their full potential. These academic awards highlight the commitment of both the students and the staff in pursuing educational excellence and contributing to a vibrant, diverse school community. Congratulations to all the award recipients!  
Kato Gerald - Top International Student Prize | Year 13 Academic Excellence Certificate for English for Academic Purposes
Kakuru Godfrey - Year 13 Commitment to Learning Certificate
Joaquin Jose Hoyo Gibson - Year 12 Academic Excellence Certificate for English as an Additional Language | Year 12 Commitment to Learning Certificate
Chris Huang - Year 12 Academic Excellence Certificate for Chemistry | Year 12 Commitment to Learning Certificate
Seongyong Lee - Year 12 Commitment to Learning Certificate
Meng Zheng - Year 11 Academic Excellence Certificate for English for Academic Purposes | Year 11 Commitment to Learning Certificate
Kento Hayashi - Year 11 Commitment to Learning Certificate

Year 9 Japanese students enjoyed a field trip to Daikoku restaurant last week, where they had an opportunity to use their learnt language, manners and the traditional Japanese meals in a Japanese restaurant.

Success at Ki O Rahi tournament

Congratulations to the Rosmini / Carmel Ki O Rahi team for winning the Mixed Novice Grade at the Y9/10 Auckland Champs! The team won 4 games and drew 1 - an amazing result considering it was both schools first time competing.
Thank you to Mr Rakena, Mr Manuel and Mrs Peek from Carmel for helping on the day.

Celebrating our student Touch coaches

A huge congratulations to seven of our student Touch coaches for completing the Touch NZ Foundation Coaching Course. They are Nathan Tofilau, AJ Douglas, Quinn Pybus, Kane Te Whiu, Karney Prendergast, Ethan Bates, and Shaedyn Morgan. Their commitment to learning and growing as coaches is inspiring, and we’re excited to see how they’ll bring their new skills and knowledge to the game, benefiting our teams and players alike. Two more student coaches are working on their course - Lachlan Murray and Elijah Wharepouri. We hope all these boys will inspire future Touch players to take up a coaching position in the years to come.

We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Dynasty Sport for their incredible support. Their sponsorship of the eye-catching coaching tee shirts means our coaches will stand out on the field, embodying both professionalism and school pride. These shirts represent not only their hard work but also the sense of unity and encouragement within our community.

Gymnastics success for James despite hurdles

James Vaughan (Y10) recently travelled to Palmerston North to compete at the National Gymnastics Club championships. He competed in four disciplines: vault, floor, high bar and rings, with great scores taking top honours and championship level 5 winner. 
This has been a real show of resilience and courage as he started the year with a broken collar bone and was unsure if he would be able to practice let alone compete again! Well done James.

Volleyball set for best ever finish

Rosmini Junior Premier Volleyball team is in for their best finish ever in the Auckland Premier League. The team have won 5 out of 6 games and are sitting top of the Auckland table. This Friday is the last week and they are playing Kelston Boys and One Tree Hill. Two wins will make Rosmini Champions; one win will make us second in Auckland. 
Meanwhile, on 5 November the North Harbour Beach Volleyball Champs were held at the Mairangi Bay Beach Centre, and Fletcher Gaylard and Ben Roa (below) were narrowly beaten in three sets, claiming the silver medal.

The Old Boys Triangular is back! Next Saturday sees old boys from the three participating schools don their speedos and battle it out in the pool. Two games will be played per team. Come on down to support your old boys! Rosmini Old Boys please contact @williamcatlin for further details or message @rosmini_waterpolo.

Congratulations to Danny Murphy, Inoke Vaingalo, Quinn Pybus and Te Wharekokowai Paora-Chamberlin who were part of the Champion Te Raki Paewhenua U17 team (North Harbour U17 Maori Rugby team) that won the 2024 Te Hiku O Te Maori Rugby Tournament. They played three games and won all three!

Rosmini students star in Youth Theatre production

A magical world of energy and colour awaits audiences when one of New Zealand’s leading creative duos, Alver & Doy, premiere their latest offering, Alice - A Wonderland Musical, at Auckland’s Aotea Centre in November/December 2024.
This vibrant and fun re-telling of Lewis Carroll’s much-loved tale, Alice will bring to life a rich array of adored characters including the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, The Red Queen, Tweedledum & Tweedledee, and the Mock Turtle, in an adventure set to take audiences on a journey with Alice through the looking glass, across the chess board, and into their own imaginations. 
With 25 original songs composed by the dynamic creative pair, and a storyline crafted from the words of Carroll but shaped for today, this wondrous escapade presented by the National Youth Theatre is set to light up the stage.
Rosmini College students Mitchell Ryan-Osler and Joseph Wolfkamp will star in the show, so make sure you head along and support them! Book your tickets through Ticketmaster.