Roseville College Exchange
Approximate Exchange Timing
Dio - Roseville: Term 3 (5 weeks)
Roseville - Dio: Term 3 (5 weeks)
Roseville College is an Anglican girls day school located on Sydney’s North Shore (Australia) and is home to 800 students.
Important Information for Applicants and her Family
Hannah Hittmann
The exchange to Roseville College in Sydney was the best thing I have ever done and was a life-changing experience. I had never been away from my family for more than a few days before, so going away to Sydney for five weeks to stay with people that I had never even met sounded very daunting. As it turned out that was not the case at all, my host family, the Dawsons and host sister, Emily were absolutely incredible as was everyone at Roseville College, they all made me feel so welcome and at home. What I really loved about our exchange is that Emily and I truly swapped lives when we stayed with each other. I experienced the incredible buzz and thrill of city life in Sydney and Emily enjoyed the quiet country life in Pirongia, feeding lambs and riding horses. During my time on the exchange, I gained so much self-confidence and I have become a lot more independent. Even though our lives are so different we have become true members of each other's families. The Dawsons are my second family and I have been to visit them twice since the exchange and Emily came back to New Zealand in the October holidays for her birthday treat. Emily and I get on like sisters, we have developed an amazing friendship which I know will be life long. If you ever have the opportunity to go on an exchange, grasp it because it could be the best thing you ever do.
Alexia Ramsey
I had the experience of a lifetime at Roseville College. In the five weeks I was in Sydney I learnt so much about myself and what life is like away from home as Sydney and Hamilton are such different cities. I got to experience travelling to school each day on a double decker train and was fortunate enough to experience Luna Park, a show at the Opera house, Taronga Zoo, a day at the world famous Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains and a visit to Australian capital, Canberra.
School, was so enjoyable and I loved waking up and wondering what each day would bring. Olivia and I were treated like celebrities; everyone was fascinated by us…. it was a cool feeling!. I met some great girls who I will be friends with for the rest of my life, the teachers were amazing and very supportive in my learning and the whole school community was so welcoming.. it reminded me of our community here at Dio.
I was understandably a little apprehensive about my host sister and family but within the first few minutes of meeting Ruby, Camille, John and Darcy I knew it was all going to be just fine. It was wonderful to host Ruby on her return to New Zealand to to share my life as she had shared hers with me. Ruby and I have described our exchange as the worlds longest sleepover! I would recommend an exchange to all of you if the opportunity arises. From an exchange you gain confidence, independence, knowledge…. this list goes on and on. It is important that you be yourself and have pride in who you are and what you represent as you are an ambassador for yourself, your family, Waikato Dio and New Zealand. To all the current Year 10’s, I cherished this opportunity and would recommend you go for it!
Olivia Morgan
Last year I experienced five weeks on an exchange at Roseville College, Sydney. The exchange was everything I imagined it would be and so much more. I ticked items off my bucket list, experienced Sydney at its finest and made friends that will last a lifetime.
Sydney is so much more incredible than I expected; the big city really was a huge change to the small town that I am used to (as Sydney has roughly the same population as the whole of New Zealand!). It was amazing; I went to school on two storeyed trains and went shopping in six storeyed buildings. I also went to Luna park, Jenolan caves, the Blue mountains, the production of the Lion King and shopping of course!
Roseville is a beautiful school, similar to Dio in many ways but also very different. The first day at Roseville sort of felt like my first day at Dio in a sense and since Cee Cee and I were in the Dio uniform while we were over there, we stuck out with our multi-coloured skirts and red ties (as you can probably imagine.) Since it was Roseville’s first exchange they were not used to seeing people that look different, so CeeCee and I would get lots of stares but also a lot of friendly hellos, from people we had never seen before. It was also great to be taught in different ways and to experience different subjects. Other new experiences included being able to buy ice cream at the canteen and caramello koalas (sold as a fundraiser almost every day), their 12s (our yr13s) having the option of wearing mufti day every Friday and being offered options such as aquatic Zumba, Yoga and Flamenco dance classes as part of the PE programme. All in all though, the highlight of the exchange for me were the people I met and who I will never forget. Having a great host family just makes the whole experience that much better, and thankfully I was privileged to bring my host sister, Gina back with me, who after 10 weeks become like a sister to me.
The whole experience taught me so many things, especially about my self. I can assure any student thinking of applying that you will not regret it. All in all, I would not change a thing about my exchange; it’s a life away from home and I will remember it for the rest of my life.
School Exchanges Coordinator
For all enquiries regarding school exchanges, please contact the School Exchanges Coordinator.
Mrs Claire Foot
Email: cfoot@wdsg.school.nz
Phone: 07 8552038 extn 2817
