A group of our local students returned from an exciting trip to China on 19 April 2015. They were buddied by a student from the school (Pan Yu ZhiXin Middle School, Guangzhou) and also stayed with this family – their host family. This was a wonderful experience for our students and gave them a real taste of experiencing another culture with a Chinese family.
During Term 3 we will have a visit again from Meijo University High School and Namiki High School. Meijo will be bringing 36 students to visit us from Tuesday 21 July to Tuesday 4 August and Namiki will be bringing 20 students who will be visiting us from Wednesday 19 August to Thursday 27 August. Our own students who went to China benefited greatly from staying with their buddy. We would like to offer the same experience to the students coming to visit us and ask that our own school community supports this visit by offering to take a student for this short term visit. There is remuneration to help cover any costs associated with the student’s stay with the host family. It is not absolutely necessary for the student to have their own bedroom but is preferred if this can be managed.
Having a student is great way to learn about another culture. Please note, the visiting Japanese student will also have several buddies at school so the hosting student will not be expected to be buddying them at school as well as at home. If your family is able to help us in this way for either visit, could you please get in touch with either Robyn Keeling, rkeeling@horowhenua.school.nz or Nancy Jones, njones@horowhenua.school.nz as soon as possible as there is a process to complete. Thank you so much.
Robyn Keeling, Director of International Education