International Student Program News

International school students welcome reception at Government House

At the start of every school year, the Governor of Victoria welcomes over 300 new international students who have just started their journey with us. The ceremony is a great opportunity for international students from schools across Victoria to meet each other, and to visit Victoria's most prestigious residence Government House.  On the 15th March Luna Liang and Joanne Nguyen represented MGC after being invited to the event by the new Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency The Hon. Linda Dessau AC.  This is the first time that Victoria has had a female Governor. 

Government House was impressive and there were more than 300 students enjoying speeches by the Governor and Ms Judith Graley, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier, as well as some fantastic food and open access to Government House itself.  Joanne was interviewed by the International Education Division to appear on one of their promotional films, which was quite exciting and a bit nerve wracking.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day was full of colour and cheer this year.  There were performances from all corners of the world and we finished off with a multicultural fashion parade.  Thanks to all who spent so much time rehearsing to perform for the assembly!

Teacher Profiles 

Catriona Cameron-Martin

你好! I am Catriona Cameron-Martin, maths teacher at MGC. I was born in Hong Kong. I attended a local school in Kowloon till the end of year 5 and immigrated to Melbourne with my family. As soon as we arrived, we loved it; we loved the atmosphere, the community, the many sporting activities and the warmth of the Australian people.

I had the opportunity to train at the Australian Ballet School and represent Victoria in Rhythmic Gymnastics. I was also a former MGC student! I have many fond memories: athletics and swimming carnivals, performing arts in year 9, all the camps, and the famous inaugural aerobics competition- when the whole school suddenly became very interested in high kicks and push-ups.

Education is very different in Hong Kong than Melbourne, and I had a chance to experience the reverse when I did an internship at an International School in HK (Yew Chung International School). It was interesting to see how they were trying to incorporate the Western society within their curriculum in HK, as most students end up attending Universities abroad. The school prepares them to be able to integrate and succeed overseas.

I am now the Assistant Head Coach of the Victorian Rhythmic Gymnastics Team. Though I did not succeed in ballet, my sisters have and thus ballet is still a major part of my life. I thank Melbourne for all these fantastic opportunities that I would not have had the privilege of being a part of in HK.

Wen Chin

I am originally from Malaysia and I moved to Melbourne to complete Year 11 and 12, and I can fully sympathise with the challenges and cultural differences they face. I decided that the way to make full use of this wonderful education opportunity I was given was to fully immerse myself in the co-curricular activities provided at my school, and so I joined many music ensembles which really opened up my eyes to different ways of thinking and different career pathways. As I went to a private boarding school, we were lucky to have fantastic resources and support for the international students, and were encouraged to always get involved in whole school activities. 

Jennifer (Jen) Hausmann

Jen has been working at MGC teaching French since 2016.  She came to MGC from Germany two years ago, but MGC is the first Australian school in which she has taught.  She’d never even set foot in an Australian school before she arrived here.  She taught German at an adult education center before starting here.

English is not her first language, she went to school and uni in Germany and Canada.  School in Germany is quite different from Australia, as you can expect.  You will not be given the choice of studying Jewellery Design or Outdoor Education, you can only study traditional academic subjects like maths or ethics, and additional languages are core subjects from year 5 until year 12. In Germany, you are enrolled in one of three different schooling streams, according to your year 4 school results, and that determines if you are allowed to go to university or not.  Can you imagine?  At ten years old, you have your whole life traced out before you?

Her first taste of studying in an additional language was when she went on exchange to Montreal in Canada, where she studied linguistics.  She felt at home from day one; her first day at university was the occasion to meet a thousand new friends and she’s still in contact with some of them now.  In contrast, her arrival in Australia was much less smooth.  Making friends was a real challenge without school or university, or work, she struggled to settle in.  Without people to share her experiences with she felt isolated but once she started work everything fell into place. 

Jen feels that living in a different country is a challenging experience, and it takes time to get used to; so don’t give up.  Moving to live in another country is so much easier when you are younger and you can participate in all the school activities that help you make friends.  Your friends become your new family in a way, and teach you much more than any classroom can.  Jen strongly encourages anyone thinking of studying abroad to take the plunge. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone and to get a new perspective on what you think you know about the world.  You don’t have to stay forever, but you will come back a bigger, better, stronger version of yourself (and you will have friends’ couches to crash on, all over the world)  And that’s worth it!

Events

If you’re looking for something different to do this weekend, why don’t you try the

VICTORIAN MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL?

When: Saturday 25 March 2017

Where: Federation Square, Melbourne

https://culturaldiversityweek.vic.gov.au/whats-on/victorias-multicultural-festival/

Call for Story-Tellers

We are all part of the Melbourne Girls’ College community, so we would like to hear the stories of some of the people that make up our diverse and colourful community.

We’d like you to share your story; where did you come from, where have you been?  If you have a family member, particularly a grandparent or older relative, who is a particularly good story teller, we’d like to invite them to tell us a story at school.  Please let us know!

League of Home-stay champions 

If you are interested in hosting one of our fabulous international students, please contact Lluani Williams via the College number: 9428-8955, or by email: lluani.williams@mgc.vic.edu.au , or you can pop by my office in room 302.  We are always looking for new Melbourne Girls’ College homestay families.