Welcoming International Students Back to the College

On the first day of this term we were delighted to welcome 21 new international students. This was our first group arriving from overseas since New Zealand’s borders closed in 2020.

They were introduced to our school family with a pōwhiri led by Whānau Tutor and Kapa Haka. Things were a little untraditional as we replaced the usual hongi with an elbow bump in Covid times. The rest of the day was spent selecting their subjects, finding out about the school, and taking a tour of the college with some of our Peer Support Leaders.

Our new students come from a wide range of countries in the northern hemisphere. including Italy, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Hong Kong, and USA. The school year has recently finished in many of these countries and our new students have chosen to study here in New Zealand during our winter, instead of holidaying with their families so that is pretty admirable!