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New Zealand high schools
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High schools in New Zealand are well set up to receive international students. Many have extensive international departments and offer a range of programmes – including those that make use of the great outdoors.
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Many high schools in New Zealand have been offering special programmes for international students for a long time and there is an established tradition in the country of welcoming high-school-age students. Prue Kelly from Wellington High School says, “We have been receiving international students since the 1950s and they were mainly Asian. For the last 15 years we have received students from all around the world. Students study an academic programme with ESL included and opportunities to play sports, music and drama and travel.”
Lorraine Klitscher from Kings High School in Dunedin says that for many students the appeal of the New Zealand university education is the lure for many students entering high school programmes. “The ‘pathway’ is important,” she says. However, while perfecting language skills and gaining a good education may be important considerations, Klitscher says that for many European students the “NZ lifestyle experience” is also important. “We offer an outdoor education course,” she says. “It gives the opportunity for students to learn how to participate safely in outdoor activities such as surfing, skiing, tramping, mountain biking, trapshooting and skating. This is a very popular course.”
Riccarton High School is another school that incorporates outdoor education into its curriculum and this can be a completely different experience for many international students used to a different school system. Craig Rosengrave at the school says that they also offer trips around the South Island, as well as other interesting courses for international students. “We have a new introductory course to Maori language and culture which is proving popular with students from other countries,” he says.
As well as special interest programmes, EFL exams are also widely available to international students in New Zealand high schools. Ewen Cameron from Bayfield High School in Dunedin says that they have adapted their EFL provision since first running international courses 18 years ago. “We have enlarged the Esol department and offer English language tuition for things such as Ielts and Toefl,” he says. “We have also added an academic English component and hired extra helpers to ensure there is good pastoral care.”
As many high schools in New Zealand have been welcoming international students to their classrooms for a long time, they have often developed effective systems of ensuring that they mix with local students. Jean Harding from Mount Roskill Grammar School in Auckland says that all international students are introduced to a “buddy” when they arrive. She adds, “They usually mix well during sports classes as well as in classes. We have an orientation programme when all students are taken on a day out around Auckland, as well as talks with police and the homestay company about safety and New Zealand laws.”
Klitscher adds that she “insists as much as possible” that internatiuonal students participate in a range of sports as a way of making friends. “An intake last week already has boys playing in the school hockey, badminton and soccer teams. Another boy has started to learn the guitar, yet another is playing in the school jazz band,” she says.
While Asia tends to be the largest student market for high school programmes in New Zealand, schools report that interest for their courses comes from throughout the world. Kelly says, “The most noticeable trend at Wellington High is the number of students from Europe and the Americas. Germany and Brazil are very important sources of students but we have students from Italy, Mexico, the USA, Vietnam, Thailand, China and even a student from the Czech Republic.”
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