Greetings from Mount Maunganui College!
Thanks for your partnership in 2011. We are having a great year, with record numbers of students and some really positive feedback. Our top international students are attaining high academic grades and are doing well in a variety of sports.�
Mount Maunganui College was the top-performing academic state high school in Tauranga, with better NCEA results and university entrance results than Tauranga Boys College, Tauranga Girls College and Otumoetai College.�
Here are some updates and information for 2012.
We have enhanced opportunities for international students to play Golf in 2012. For about NZ$300, students will get Junior Membership in our two local golf clubs. This Junior Membership includes coaching (at no extra cost) once a week at each club. It is an excellent deal. So we will not offer Golf as a curriculum course. it now will be outside normal school hours.
However, we can excuse any keen golfers for one school afternoon a week to practise and play a full 18 hole round.
Summer is the main surfing season in New Zealand. In Term One we arrange after-school group surfing lessons for international students. For NZ$100, students are provided with surfboard and instruction once a week for four weeks. Many local students enjoy surfing and most of our host families are near the beach. So international students will get plenty of opportunities to surf.
Students arriving in winter (July) need to understand that only the brave and hardy surf in winter, well insulated with wetsuits.
Mount Maunganui also has three surf lifesaving clubs. International students are welcome to train, qualify and join as volunteer lifeguards. The main season is from December to March.
Mount Maunganui College offers a full range of sports and clubs. However, international students need to understand that sports are seasonal. For example, rugby, hockey and soccer are winter sports in New Zealand; volleyball, surfing and sailing are generally summer sports. We encourage all international students to join at least one sports team or club, but students need to accept the seasonality of sports available to them.
Our revised policy, allowing international students to travel independently, has been working well. Students may be allowed to travel independently with prior school approval and then informed consent and indemnification from natural parents. In 2010 we need students to seek informed consent and indemnification letters well in advance of any planned travel. We need the completed forms a week before any intended trips.
Attendance at all classes is expected, so time off school for independent travel is not permitted; nor do we allow hitch-hiking or backpacker accommodation.
Of course, we prefer and promote professionally organised tours of South Island, Australia and Fiji.
We also offer a good range of travel options: White Island, Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Whangamata, Auckland, Waitomo Caves and Kiwi(bird) House, usually twice a year. See our Photo Gallery for pictures of these activities.
Students are young and impressionable. We were disturbed to learn that two international students got tattoos in 2009. We discourage this kind of permanent bodily disfiguration. Some unscrupulous tattooists have no qualms about offering their services to young people. There seems little we can do to stop them, other than inform the students about the permanence of their decision. We have asked the known tattooists to sight written parental approval before providing any service.
New Zealand law allows 18 year olds to purchase and consume alcohol. Proof of age ID is usually required. The temptation for a few international students is to try to access alcohol by presenting fake IDs. This is a serious offence and could lead to student visas and permits being revoked. We do not expect international students to access or consume alcohol.
A few of our special courses have extra fees. We make these clear to students during orientation and subject selection. For example: Hospitality has an ingredients cost of about NZ$120. Other courses have smaller fees to cover some take home materials.
We are really pleased to provide high quality host families for students during their academic courses. Accommodation at Mount Maunganui is at a premium over summer (December/January) so our host families are not expected to accommodate students after their courses have finished. Nor do we want to accept the responsibility of providing pastoral care for students who have completed their courses.
We know some students visas indicate a period well after academic courses have finished.
However, we expect students to arrive no more than one week prior to their course starting and to leave no later than one week after their academic course has finished. Students completing their study at the end of November are required to leave by 15 December.
All international students, regardless of their length of stay, must wear correct school uniform at all times. This includes regulation shoes and our school jacket (in cooler weather). Alternative footwear, scarves, hats and jackets are not acceptable. Our uniform is smart, simple and affordable. We want all international students to feel good about wearing it correctly.
We are generous in trying to meet the academic requirements of each international student. After an initial English test, we make recommendations about their appropriate level of study. However, if students have a particular interest in mastering grammar, or increasing speaking fluency, they should let us know, so we can modify their programmes to meet their needs.
Our IELTS preparation course is an excellent option for senior students. Although we do not charge any extra fees for IELTS tuition, the examination fee is about NZ$385.