Semester 1 2018
CONTACT DETAILS International Team Kerry Finnigan Director of International Students kerry.finnigan@onslow.schoool.nz May Wong Office Manager may.wong@onslow.school.nz Andrea Reiser Homestay Manager andrea.reiser@onslow.school.nz
English Language Team Carol Piper English Language Subject Leader carol.piper@onslow.school.nz Veronica Aitken English Language Teacher veronica.aitken@onslow.school.nz Catherine Griffin English Language Teacher Assistant
Term Dates 2018 Term 1: Term 2: Term 3: Term 4:
24 Jan—13 April 30 April — 6July 23 July—28Sept 15 Oct— 12 Dec
Address Burma Road, Johnsonville Wellington, New Zealand Phone: 0064 4 4788189 Fax: 0064 4 4771140 www.onslow.school.nz international@onslow.school.nz Facebook: Onslow International
OUR NEW 2018 STUDENTS This year so far we have welcomed 25 new student enrolments from a variety of countries: Germany, Korea, Italy, The Philippines, East Timor, Brazil, Korea, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Colombia, Netherlands, France and Japan. We also have students from Austria, Vietnam and India. Some of these students are 1 semester placements, others are also here with their parents who are on diplomatic assignments or have long term work placements. The majority of our students are either 1 year placements or long term students aiming to complete their schooling with us. Currently we have 50 international students in our programme.
WELLINGTON ACTIVITY WEEKS NOVEMBER 2017
Our 2 weeks of activities for the years 11 to 13 students not sitting NCEA examinations when the students go on study was very successful and enjoyable for all the students and staff! We combined with Wellington High School International students as usual and did a series of indoor and outdoor activities. We started with a Wellington Treasure Hunt around our wonderful city which was fun. Other activities included a trip to Palliser Bay in the Wairarapa, a Somes Island visit, Laser Force, visit to a golf driving range, a visit to a bird sanctuary, a sports day, paint ball and the Adrenalin Forest.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FEBRUARY ORIENTATION PROGAMMME The students started their orientation with a day of Mathematics and English language testing as well as choosing and confirming their courses for the year. This was followed the next week by a Powhiri (Maori welcome) with all the new Year 9 students and a morning tea where they met their year level buddy. We spent the rest of the day telling them about Onslow College, our education system, and how to enjoy living in Wellington! The following day we all went into the city on the train and took the cable car to the top which is near Victoria University. From there you can see the view of the harbour and the city centre. After that we had an ice cream, and wandered through Wellington’s lovely Botanical Gardens, then walked to Parliament to look at our old government buildings. The next day the students were given timetables and started their courses. The real work began!
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION This year we took our Chinese students for a dinner at a local restaurant in the city to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dog. Many of our students missed being at home to celebrate this important festival together with their families.
INTERNATIONAL DINNER This was held on a mid February evening and was an opportunity for all of our returning students to welcome the new students and their host families. Our year 13 students welcomed everyone and all the new students introduced themselves. We shared a meal together with food from their home country that the students had prepared. There was a lot of variety and everyone enjoyed all the different dishes.
INTERNATIONAL CAMP/ DAY TRIP Unfortunately our annual overnight camp in the Wairarapa (a region about an hour’s drive from Wellington City) was postponed twice this year due to the weather. The weather came right in the middle of March and instead of overnight camp we went for a long day trip. We hired a bus and took 42 students over for the day to go rafting and abseiling! We had a wonderful day and a very quiet and tired group of students slept away the late afternoon bus trip back to Wellington!
MAYORAL WELCOME In March we took a group of new students to the annual Wellington City Welcome Ceremony for all new international students in the region. The new Mayor of Wellington, Justin Lester, welcomed everyone and there were a lot of different activities for them to join in. Our students enjoyed meeting other students from their home countries as well as other nationalities. NCEA (NATIONAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT) : UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE RESULTS FOR OUR STUDENTS 2017 Our students achieved some good results last year and 80% of our year 13 students gained entry to university in New Zealand or their own country. Our NCEA results were well above the national average. The school also gained 26 Scholarships including 7 Outstanding Scholarships.
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, ACCOUNTING AND PHYSICS SUPPORT We continue to offer extra classes for students in Year 11, 12, and 13 Mathematics and Year 11 Science. Year 11 students have up to 4 hours of extra teaching to support them in their mainstream Science and Mathematics classes. The students learn how to interpret questions and prepare assessments as well as extra subject vocabulary and academic vocabulary teaching. Years 12 and 13 students have 4 hours of extra support a week also increasing their mathematical and academic vocabulary, working on interpreting questions and preparing for assessments. We are now noticing a significant improvement in the students’ NCEA results. In addition we are in the process of organizing some extra tutoring for students studying Accounting and year 12 Physics.
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES It is with considerable sadness we announce that our Principal, Peter Leggat, has resigned effective from the end of Term 3 this year. This accords with the commitment Peter made when he first accepted the role. Peter has made an enormous contribution to the college in the seven years he has been Principal. He has been very supportive of our International Programme and marketed for the school in China with our Office Manager, May Wong. The Board of Trustees has begun the process of recruiting a new Principal. It is the Board’s intention that the role is filled in time for the start of Term 4.