TRANSPORT TO OAMARU
Students generally arrive at Christchurch International Airport. Providing we have received the Arrival Information at least 72 hours before time of arrival, we will collect your son and his luggage from Christchurch airport and drive him to the school. We will also collect parents or relatives, providing there is room in the school van.
If this is your first trip to Waitaki Boys' High School as a new student, there will be no charge for any part of the transport from Christchurch to Oamaru.
Sometimes students take an international flight to Auckland International Airport, and then a domestic flight to Christchurch. Please be careful to inform us if this is the case, so we are waiting at the right terminal!
ORIENTATION AND WELFARE
Orientation
International Students arrive at all times of the year. Sometimes several arrive at once. At other times there may be only one arrival.
The Hostel Manager or Home-stay Co-ordinator will
- Familiarize you with Oamaru and North Otago
- Help you open a bank account, if necessary
- Familiarize you with Hostel or Home-stay rules
- Check that you have travel, medical and fees insurance
- Keep your passport for you
- Organize further travel and holiday accommodation
The ESOL Department will
- Familiarize you with School Rules
- Familiarize you with the New Zealand way of life
- Show you around the school
- Help you choose your subjects
- Make sure you know where to go if you have a problem
- Assist you to get an I.D. Card, e-mail address and internet access, and stationery
- Arrange musical tuition if you want this
- Assist you to get into a sports team, if you want this
- Organize an International Student 'buddy' for you
- Be available to give advice with any problems
Your Dean will
- Finalize your choice of subjects, and arrange your timetable
- Place you in a form class
- Organize a Kiwi 'buddy' for you
You will find that other International Students will also be keen to help you settle in to the hostel and school.
Welfare
The Head of the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Department is Mrs Janet Hammond-Tooke. She is assisted by Mrs Mary McRae. They have special responsibility for the welfare of international students in the school.
The Hostel Managers are Roger Pennycuick and Danny Fountaine. They have responsibility for the welfare of International Students in the Hostel.
The Home-stay Co-ordinator is Mrs Helen Pederson. She looks after the welfare of International Students who live in home-stays.
International Students also each have a Form Teacher, a Dean and access to the school's Guidance and Careers Advisors.
Supervision of all international students is performed by Mr Danny Fountaine, Director of International Students.
WHAT FORM LEVEL WILL YOU BE IN?
This will depend upon:
- your age
- your current form level
- your proficiency in English
- your academic ability
- the time of year you arrive
It is not usually possible to know for sure what form level you will be in until you arrive and have been assessed here. Therefore the form level on your 'Offer of Place' is provisional.
It is normal for International Students from Asia to be placed in a form with New Zealand students who are about a year younger. This is because New Zealand students start school a year earlier, and because International Students will probably need more help with their English.
Form Levels and Qualifications
Years 9 and 10 - All students follow a compulsory core of subjects, and can also choose from options. There is no external qualification.
Year 11 - English and Mathematics are compulsory. Three or four other subjects may be chosen. This is Level One of the NCEA - National Certificate of Educational Achievement.
Year 12 - English is compulsory - you must take five other subjects from a wide range of options. From 2003 this is Level Two of the NCEA.
Year 13 - No subjects are compulsory. You can study five or six subjects from a wide range of options. In 2003 the qualification is University Bursary, which gives entrance to universities throughout the world. From 2004 the qualification is NCEA Level Three, which is also a university entrance qualification.
| |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
| FORM FIVE/YEAR ELEVEN |
NCEA Level 1 |
NCEA Level 1 |
NCEA Level 1 |
| FORM SIX/YEAR TWELVE |
Sixth Form Certificate |
NCEA Level 2 |
NCEA Level 2 |
| FORM SEVEN/YEAR THIRTEEN |
Bursary |
Bursary |
NCEA Level 3 |
| Top |
WHAT COURSES WILL YOU TAKE?
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
When International Students arrive, they are given a language assessment by the ESOL Department. This determines:
- How much ESOL they will study
- What form level they will initially be placed in.
Most International Students take ESOL as one 'subject'. A student with very limited English may initially take it as two or even three subjects. As his level of understanding grows, he will be placed in more regular classes, usually one subject at a time. It can take a student quite a while to adjust to the differences in spoken English from what he may be used to, as in every country English is spoken with a different accent and there are different local (colloquial or idiomatic) words.
Occasionally, new students are so proficient at English that they do not need ESOL at all.
The ESOL Department assists students with written and conversational English, and also helps them with their work in other subjects. For year 12 and 13 students the ESOL Department provides a course in IELTS, the test that many Universities require for entry to their degree courses. There is no extra cost for IELTS tuition or ESOL courses - just the fee for entering the IIELTS exam. The ESOL Department is an attractive and well-resourced department
General Courses
Most senior courses at Waitaki Boys have pre-requisites. This means you have to gain a certain mark in the same subject (or other stated subjects) the previous year to enter the course. These pre-requisites apply to all students, including International Students.
Only when International Students are new to the school do the pre-requisites not apply. Then we try to determine from their previous courses and marks what level of study in each subject they are ready for.
We will do our very best to give you the course of your choice. However, please note that:
- It may not be possible in any year to offer all of the classes that are listed.
- Students who arrive after the start of the school year may find that a few classes are full.
Click here for a list of school courses
CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
International Students are encouraged to participate, as this is a good way of making new friends. Soccer, Basketball and Badminton are very popular among International Students, and an increasing number are choosing to play Rugby.
Click here for a list of co-curricular activities
THE FIRST FEW DAYS
Initial Assessent and Settling In
When students arrive they are assessed, using both formal and informal methods, by the ESOL teacher. In the first few days, the student is made to feel at home and assisted in every way. At the same time his language abilities are noted.
- There is a friendly interview in which his listening and speaking ability is assessed.
- A written introductory essay and daily journal show writing skills (or lack thereof).
- Two reading books are selected by the student from the ESOL library and changed over the next week, with the correct reading level being found.
- In normal classwork over the first week, the level of ability of the student is evident.
During the First Weeks
There is regular free-flowing contact between the ESOL teacher, deans, and subject teachers, and difficulties, weaknesses, and needs of the student are discussed.
It is usual for an international student of average ability to struggle with listening for at least six weeks, until his ear is attuned to local accents. Waitaki Boys' understands this period of adjustment and does everything possible to make the new boy feel at home and happy in his time of settling in.
WHERE WILL YOU STAY? - HOSTEL OR HOME-STAY
Hostel
It is a school rule at Waitaki that International Students stay in the school hostel, where we can look after them well. The hostel is on the school site and has excellent facilities. A few senior students may be permitted by the Rector to home-stay. Students will not home-stay without parental consent. New students generally do not home-stay - it is better for them to start school at the hostel where they can get to know one other and we can get to know them.
Click here for more information on the Hostel
Home-stay
Oamaru is a small friendly town. Our home-stay parents are genuinely interested in living with someone from another culture. They also understand that they are acting in loco parentis and must treat the student as they would treat their own child. This includes transport, holidays, gifts, food etc. In a home-stay, students generally will have their own room and will be the only International Student in the home. These conditions will certainly be provided if they are requested. However, occasionally International Students prefer to share a home-stay and a room.
Home-stays are selected very carefully by our home-stay co-ordinator, Mrs Elspeth Mitchell. She visits them regularly to check that everyone is happy, and is available to help sort out any little problems that may arise. We find that home-staying works because both the student and the home-stay provider are given a clear indication of what to expect beforehand. In the unlikely event that a student is unhappy in a home-stay we will of course change it.
Home-stay and Hostel fees are the same.
HOLIDAYS
The Hostel closes during school holidays. Occasionally International Students arrange to stay with hostel families during holidays. Usually they stay with local home-stay families arranged by the hostel. Sometimes they travel or stay with relatives elsewhere in the country, or return home.
The school is still responsible for you during holidays. The school must approve where you stay and where you go.
There is a fee of $1490 if you are being home-stayed during the holidays. This fee is not part of the school tuition or boarding fees and is collected for the purpose of holiday homestays only. If you do not use a holiday homestay during one or more of the term breaks the money is refunded or kept in your school account.
RULES AND DISCIPLINE
International Students are subject to all normal school rules and disciplinary procedures. Serious infringement of school rules may result in an International Student being stood down, suspended, excluded or expelled from the school.
There is one additional rule for International Students. For their own safety, they may not own or drive a car.
Frequent or unexplained absences from school must be reported to the New Zealand Immigration Service, and this may result in the termination of a Student Permit.
International Students must not undertake any kind of paid employment. It is very important to obey this for the Immigration Service will revoke the permit of any student found working. Students may work during the long summer holidays or limited hours during the school week (Seniors only), but must first obtain a work permit from Immigration.
Click here for a list of School Rules
Click here for a list of Hostel Rules (pdf document)
Click here for the Hostel Rules Policies (pdf document)
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
International Students, while at school, have access to the same grievance procedures as any other student.
- In the first instance, a student should see the person most concerned with his area of grievance. If it is a hostel-related problem see the Hostel Manager. If it is a home-stay-related problem see the Home-stay Co-ordinator. If it is a school problem the student should initially see his Dean. If it is a financial problem he should see the School Accountant. If the student is not confident in approaching these people he should seek help from the ESOL department, or Director of International Affairs.
- If, after seeing one of these people, the student remains dissatisfied, he should see the Rector.
- If the student is still not satisfied he should complain in writing to the Board of Trustees.
International Students may also lodge a grievance if they believe the Code of Practice is not being followed.
- In the first instance contact should be made with the Rector.
- If the student (or parent) is dissatisfied with the response of the Rector he or she should communicate in writing to the Board of Trustees.
- If they are not satisfied with the Board's response they may refer the matter to the International Education Appeal Authority, at the New Zealand Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington. The Authority's decision will be binding on all parties.