This Term GHS was delighted to welcome back international students to our school and community. For the month of February our Year 5 and 6 classes hosted a group of 7 students from South Korea, and just last week saw Room 18 have a young Japanese student join them for 5 days.

International students come to New Zealand for short stay cultural and educational experiences as a way of expanding their world view, developing wider understanding of different cultures and improving their language skills, all in preparation for a globally connected future.

The students are integrated into our classrooms, paired with an Ambassador student to show them around, and they then engage in daily classroom life, supported with ESOL lessons each week. They are encouraged to participate fully in all activities, and to make friends with GHS students.

For our domestic students, visiting students bring opportunities to demonstrate our school values, and to practice ‘Being the Difference’ in a real-world context, show manaakitanga and also develop leadership skills. They also gain global citizenship competencies and cultural awareness through their interactions and conversations with the students.

Of our Korean students 6 students studied for 4 weeks with one 10 year old student staying all term, and leaving this coming weekend (see below for how Derik felt about his stay).

When the main group left our school Tuakana were treated to a farewell assembly where we had a cultural performance exchange, with our Kapa Haka students singing some wonderful waiata, and the visiting students featured their learning of the Haka, and an amazing K-Pop dance performance. It is fair to say that Tuakana were very impressed. After receiving their Graduation Certificates and a teary goodbye, they left with some wonderful memories of their time here, and new friends to connect with.

In Room 18, Kosei joined the class so easily and was an instant hit among the students, making friends easily. When he left he presented them all with his own hand made origami swan. 

We would like to acknowledge all our students, and our staff for making these visiting international students feel welcome, for helping them settle and adjust to new routines, and making sure they were involved. The overwhelming feedback was how kind and friendly everyone is at GHS!

A special mention also to our Homestay Host families that helped contribute to the students’ overall experience by sharing their homes and daily lives, as well as showing them around our local area. This truly helps give them a deeper understanding of different cultures and build global citizenship competency, as well as gain confidence and resilience in the face of a completely new and very different environment. Thank you for your kindness and manaakitanga. 

Goodbye Derik!

We have had the pleasure of having Derik join our school for a full term and we will be sad to see him go. During his time here he has engaged in all the class activities and made some great friends. We asked some of his friends what was the best thing about getting to know Derik and they said, ‘his magic tricks, and the way he makes us laugh’ and 'he is fun'!

This has been such an amazing adventure for a young student to be able to experience a culture and way of life so different to his own, and he has faced it with a positive attitude and resilience – well done Derik! 

Here is a short interview with Derik about his time at GHS.

What were the main things you hoped your experience would provide?

Most important to me was to make new friends, experience new culture and become more confident and independent. Next was improve my English.

And did you do all those things? Yes definitely.

What did you notice as most different between South Korea and New Zealand?

First thing was the language, but it got easier.

What was the hardest thing about living in New Zealand?

I missed my friends a lot. And then the food. Some Kiwi food was delicious, some not so good. In Korea we like it very spicy.

Did you cook for your homestay? Yes, I made ramen with a spicy sauce. They found it hot.

What was the best thing about your time here?

My new friends. I will miss them. I made lots of friends and some best friends. We played at lunchtime and talked.

How do you rate Gulf Harbour School?

10/10! The teachers were all very nice and friendly, not strict like in Korea. Here we use learning devices, not in Korea. GHS is bigger space than my school.

Would you recommend it to other students? Yes. When you stay for at least 10 weeks you can make lots of friends. Everyone is so friendly. 

Heading Homestay Host Opportunities

If you would be interested in becoming a Homestay Host family we will have more students arriving in Term 3 and are currently looking for hosts. Students are staying between 2-4 weeks and will be from Japan, China and South Korea. Hosts receive $325/week/guest (we place 2/host). Please contact international@ghs.school.nz for more information.