2013 has seen International Students
come to HNHS from Austria, Japan, Germany,
Korea, France, Netherlands , Brazil, Thailand,
Indonesia, Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland and China.
Sixty four students have studied at HNHS at some stage
through the year, New Zealand is as far as you can go in the
world for many students and I am always impressed by how
brave students are. They come huge distances to a culture
and language that is often very different from their own
and must fit into a host family as well. They succeed in
meeting this challenge admirably.
The homestay programme is managed by Mrs Bird and
she makes a huge effort to support both the students
and the families. I am most thankful to both Mrs Bird
and the homestay families for the care they provide
to our students.
Mrs Mclean is a vital link in our IS programme
with entry and exit testing and placement of
students to get the most out of their time in NZ.
Mr Lowry has also done a great deal to
support our students in Japanese.
Many of our International Students have
contributed greatly to the schools cultural
and sport programme. It was fantastic to
see almost all our IS group supporting
their house kapa haka.
As well as the work of academic
learning the students take part in
outdoor education.
Term One featured weekly surf
trips as we enjoyed the extra
weeks of surfing that the long
summer gave us as well as
three rafting trips.
We had a trip to Taranaki
and Rototua in the term 1
holiday.
Tramping, more rafting, bone carving and
kiwi cooking were the activities for term two.
A four day ski trip to Mt Ruapehu was the
term three highlight while in term four
we look forward to three weeks of activities.
To the international students and your families;
I appreciate the challenges you have faced in
studying in New Zealand and congratulate you
on the way you face up to these and succeed
in so many ways. For students returning to
their own countries I wish you all the best for
your future and know that you go well prepared with
many lifelong lessons learnt in New Zealand.
I thank all students for the contribution they have made to
making HNHS a better place. I also thank the staff and
local students of HNHS for the warm welcome and care
shown to our international guests.
MJ Kitchin
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS