8:30 am — our first group of new pupils arrived: anxious, serious, not sure what to expect! All they heard was a jumble of words spoken in a language they weren’t too sure about.

9:00 am — the second group arrived, and the day had started! Pupils were given instructions, and a bag full of information in English. They were asked to fill in a lot of forms.

Then ... a group of Kiwi pupils arrived to gather all the new international pupils up. These Kiwi pupils asked their names, spoke to them slowly about things only fellow young people can talk about and showed them around their new school. So the new international pupils started to relax a bit. They were given morning tea and they made new friends.

Just when all seemed to be going so well, they were asked to do a Maths test. The nerves returned, and faced with all these foreign sounding mathematical terms written in English, the new pupils were really frightened.

By the end of the first day, heads were spinning and all these young people wanted to do was speak to parents, lie down and sleep, or just relax.

Day Two started with an English test. When were these tests going to end? Then the very friendly Kiwi pupils arrived. The new pupils saw faces they recognized and they could remember how kind and helpful these pupils were. They could relax a bit again.

This is how the first week of school starts for international pupils first arriving at Middleton. It is daunting, even terrifying. We expect a lot from these young people in their first few days of school. Thank goodness for the really wonderful International Ambassador team, who step out in courage and welcome these new people into their school and their lives.

On the 10th and 11th February, the International College took all the new pupils away to Living Springs for an overnight orientation camp. We included 10 International Ambassadors.

This year’s camp was absolutely awesome! It was a time for new pupils to ask questions, to get to know other pupils and staff a bit better and to experience a few outdoor activities that are designed to help them grow in confidence but also rely on each other.

We are truly blessed to have these wonderful young people at our school. Thank you to everyone for making them feel so welcome!