News from the International Department

While the school was closed our international student leaders, Lilianne Cave, Hugo Kelliher and Adriana Feng, were having regular online meetings with the international student group.  The last meeting they had was a dress up party where the leaders and international students dressed up in an international theme.   All the meetings had a good turnout from our international students, and they had a fantastic opportunity to stay connected with their peers and have a sense of belonging in the WSC international community.

When our students were not attending the online meeting with the student leaders, they had their own “Bubble” experience.  We would like to share some of these.

Yuki Takagi from Japan

During the school holiday, I played soccer in my backyard and played PS4 and cards with my nine-year-old host brother.  I also enjoyed cooking and baking.  Except for the school holiday period, I was quite busy with doing my work.  I think I studied harder than usual as I could do my work at my pace, and when I was not sure of something, I could get to the bottom of it.

Anton Konaplev from Russia

While I was staying at home, I did my school work, did some exercises like boxing, and read English and Russian books.  I am glad that I can now meet my friends at school.

Paola Villalobos from Chile

For me, every day was fun at home.  I enjoyed watching movies, playing board games and walking with my host family.  After the lockdown was lifted, they took me to Piha.  It was so beautiful!

Jason Men from China

While I was at home, I was doing my school work, playing games, watching some English movies and walking to the park near my house.  I am glad to be back at school as I can see my friends and attend class at school.

Alexandra Schweitzer from Austria

I enjoyed the time I stayed at home walking near my house, riding a bike and watching Netflix and YouTube.  I was also doing my school work from WSC and my Austrian school.  After we moved to Level 2, my host family took me to Hobsonville where we enjoyed walking in the park.  I am excited about going back to school, seeing my friends and moving more actively.

While we were in lockdown, we had a very important day – Mother’s day!  It was the day for our students to acknowledge their mother from their home country, and host mother and caregiver in New Zealand.  Here is the card that one of our host mothers received from her student.

Now that the school opened after the closure for seven weeks, our international student leaders and the International Office are excited to welcome our international students back to school.   Our leaders prepared a small welcome-back-to school gift with a personalised encouraging message for each student.