International Student Program

Dear Students, Teachers and Parents/Guardians,

Short Term Study

This term we welcomed two international students (Kitty and Abner) from China into our Year 8 Cohort as part of our Short Term Study initiative. We are so pleased to see that both students have had a great time and enjoyed the stay with our College community. 

Kitty: "This is my first time studying in Australia. The biggest difference is the TIMETABLE! Here, we can have so many interesting subjects to study, like Drama, PE and Cooking. I like PE best. The teacher made many sports games for the student to play. If I don't understand the rules, my classmates will help me again in their own words. They are very enthusiastic and helpful. However, there are still some difficulties for me in the English class: I have  to write and analyse the article like I learn my mother tongue in Chinese. As my English is not good I have to use an electronic dictionary to look up the unknown words. My teacher gave me some examples to help me. At first, I could only find the article's evidence according to the arguments given by my teacher. Gradually, I could summarize the article and the arguments by myself. 

Through continuous communication and learning, I feel that my English is constantly improving. Compared with what I could not understand at all before, now I can understand most of the content of what the teacher is teaching and the articles we learnt, and I can do the analysis by myself. This is the most meaningful summer vacation I have spent. Compared with the boring life before, this is also the happiest vacation I have ever had."

We also received a letter from Abner's mother expressing her gratitude and appreciation:

"My son, Abner, had a wonderfully happy time during his 8-week short-stay study at Mordialloc College. He loved to go to school every day where he made friends and experienced different and interesting courses. In particular, he most enjoyed PE, Drama, and Food Tech. He has never taken Drama or Food Tech classes before, but he immediately enjoyed them even in the first class. I had the lucky chance to taste Abner’s cooking, such as spaghetti and shepherd’s pie. What nice food! 

On Wednesday 23 August, we had online parent/student/teacher interviews. It was the first time and a valuable opportunity for me to get to know Abner’s teachers and discuss his progress at the school. Each teacher is very nice, knowledgeable and supportive.

The short-stay study school life is worth remembering. Many thanks for Abner’s friends and teachers for being kind and helpdul. I especially appreciate Ms Mao, the International Student Coordinator, for her helpful advice, nice communication, and much help."

Qun Joan Mao

International Student Coordinator