ICC Group
2015 has seen International Students come to HNHS from
Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Germany,
Luxembourg, France, Netherlands, Italy, Chile, Thailand,
Philippines, and China. Forty eight students have studied
at HNHS at some stage through the year, New Zealand is as
far as you can go in the world for most of our 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.
Mrs Bird manages the homestay programme and 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.
International
Students
Mrs Mclean is a vital link in or IS programme with entry and exit testing and placement of students to get the
most out of their time in NZ. Many of our International
Students have made a huge contribution to the schools
cultural and sporting programme. It was fantastic to
see almost all our IS group supporting their house kapa
haka group.
During the year HNHS has offered an outdoor education programme to International Students. Term One
featured surfing with Mr Throp and Mr Wilton as well
as two rafting trips on the Mohaka river. Tramping,
more rafting, bone carving and kiwi cooking were the
activities for term two.
Kosei Group
A four day ski trip to Mt Ruapehu was the term three highlight, (even if we had more snow in November), while in term
four we look forward to two weeks of activities. It has been
fantastic to have nine former students visit us over the year.
It is a testament to the feelings that students develop towards
our community.
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