Sports played include netball, rugby, basketball, rowing, mountain biking, badminton, volleyball, soccer, tennis, cricket, and hockey.

[citation needed] The school has a large foreign student population, coming from Europe, South America, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

[citation needed] Roncalli College was awarded the 2006 Education Outdoors New Zealand (EONZ) Program Award by EONZ for its years 10, 12, and 13 outdoor education programs.

St. Patrick's was the local high school for Catholic boys, run by the Marist order, and Mercy College was the local Catholic school for girls, run by the Mercy sisters, from their convent, which was situated on what is now the rugby field, also known as the Thunder Dome.

[citation needed] The schools were separated by the "Iron Curtain" or "Brown Curtain", a corrugated iron fence that ran the length of the boundary between the two schools, which kept the boys and girls separated.