As the International Student programme returns to pre-pandemic levels of interest, international travel and students looking at overseas school experiences, we are are very busy with inquires for International Student placements at Te Aroha College.

We have built an outstanding reputation for providing great experiences for our International Students that come to our school. A standout piece of feedback is the quality of our Homestay parents and the care that they receive.

As our International Student programme continues to grow, we are in need of more International Student Homestay parents. While it might appear quite daunting to host a student from another country, the experiences we have seen over many years has been really positive.

The process of becoming a host family/parent is pretty easy. Megan Diprose (International Student Director) and Kate Wassell (International Student Homestay Coordinator) make the whole process really clear and provide ongoing support and advice. These International Students really enjoy learning about the kiwi way of life, how New Zealand schools and families work and practising their English. It can be very entertaining at times!

We are well known for our short-term experiences, often hosting groups of between 8-30 students anywhere between 1-7 weeks. We host around nine groups per year with our busiest times around February/March and August. Most of groups come from Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and increasingly South Korea.

We also host longer-term individual students as well. This can range from one term to a full year or even multiple years. These are really special experiences that often develop into lifelong connections between host families and their students.

To help host families provide a great environment for these students we contribute weekly payments of $300 per week, per student. As of the 1st of April this will increase to $350 per week.

If you are interested please contact Megan (mdiprose@tacol.nz) or Kate (kwassell@tacol.nz) and they will be able to explains what this all means in more detail.