We are very happy to have welcomed 35 new International Students this term – coming from Germany, Czech Republic, USA, Switzerland, Thailand, and Sweden.

We have been very busy hosting Orientation week for our new International students. A highlight was the Pōwhiri where we officially welcomed the students to Waimea College and also our popular Waimea College International ‘Buddies’ lunch where they share a pizza lunch.
These Waimea College buddies are students that have volunteered their time to help our new students find their feet and settle into life at Waimea College. This is a very important job and benefits both immensely. The power of a friendly face is never to be underestimated when faced with new challenges. Our domestic students get to improve their leadership and communication skills - and most importantly make new (often lifelong) friends from all over the world! So, a huge thank you to all those that are helping out this term.

We said a fond farewell to 18 of our students all returning home to their families. The farewell evening saw some emotional moments but was a true celebration of the students’ time in our country and at our school. We were also treated to some musical performances during the evening. We can definitely say that the students made the very most of their time here and we wish them more incredible journeys in the future.

This term we have some exciting events planned with several Gym/Movie nights, our Host Parent Workshop on Tuesday 25 July, our Cultural Night on Thursday 24 August and our Ski Trip which is planned from Saturday 26 August to Monday 28 August. Let’s hope we get some snow soon, otherwise we will plan another event to replace this!

In addition to this we have the Ichihara City group of 10 Japanese students arriving for a two-week taster of Nelson region lifestyle and how it feels to be a Waimea College student in timetabled classes.

Lastly, we sincerely thank our host families who do an amazing job looking after our International students so well. Our International Department could not be this successful without the support of our wonderful host families.