International Students

International Student Learning Hub hosted Orientation Day 

International Student Learning Hub welcomed 4 new international students who come from China and Malaysia. International student leaders & buddies have already been paired up with these students to support them in adjusting to school life smoothly.  Big thanks to the principal team Glenn and Belinda who welcomed these students on their 1st day of school.

Year 10 work experience at the University of Melbourne

Our International student Elly TE was selected to participate in the Year 10 work experience program at University of Melbourne. Here is the reflection of her experience. 

During the last week of term 2, I had the good fortune to take part in a work experience program at the University of Melbourne. This chance ended up being one of my most treasured experiences since moving to Australia. I had to submit a strong application that demonstrated my keen interest in STEM courses in order to get accepted into the program. Additionally, it was my pleasure to be admitted into the Mathematic and Statistic program after choosing mathematics as my top preference among the options given.

My expectations were exceeded throughout the entire process, and I found myself genuinely enjoying every second. From the very first day, which consisted of a school tour and an ice-breaking session with fellow students, the professors and other university students who are majoring in maths. There were 39 students from all different schools and surprisingly we get along extremely well to the point that we still keep in contact with each other. 

I was accepted into a research project about Complex Numbers with two other peers who are my very close friends now. We came across various aspects about Complex Numbers, such as notation, visualisation, history and practical implementations of complex numbers. We successfully completed this research project with a presentation on the last day of the work experience program. 

I wholeheartedly recommend everyone to go to University of Melbourne for their work experience as it is a satisfactory experience and opportunity that pushes you closer to your dream. 

-Elly TE, Year 10

International student buddy program

After thorough consideration, the International Student Forum Team has chosen 6 local students as buddies for our newly arrived international students. In term 3, the forum team has successfully run 2 lunchtime sessions in the International Student Learning Hub. Here is some reflection from our forum team members, new international students and their buddies. 

The international buddy program has already run for 2 sessions, this is the first time I tried to host a program, it is a brand new experience for me. Although I am a bit nervous to talk in front of all the students, they are all very friendly so I can quickly assimilate. In these 2 sessions I have learned a lot and at the same time have a lot of fun. I am very excited about the upcoming sessions.

Venus FUNG- International Student Forum Team

Throughout the whole process of the international buddy program and the art competition, I gain lots of priceless experiences, including how to think thoroughly about the whole process before the competition starts, how to work together as a team, and interpersonal and oral practice. In the first program we held, I was very worried and terrified about what would happen if no one joined the competition, but it turns out that we had many people joining, not just because we promoted it through one single event but a combination of ways, including the morning speech that we had to all the DSC staff, the poster that we put all around the campus, but more importantly, the word of mouth. I also gained some public speech experience in the second event that we held which is the international student buddy program, each section we must be organised to tell the students what to do, which is also a great way to improve my skills of organising things and events. To conclude, both two sections are undeniably priceless experiences for me, also somethings that I wouldn't be able to learn in classes.

Christy KWAN- International Student Forum Team

As an international student, becoming a forum member and organizing a programme like the buddy programme was an incredible experience for me. Our international student forum team uses this programme to allow freshly arriving international students to interact with local students at our school, which is beneficial to them because they can meet new friends. 

Giorgio HEWA ATHAPATHTHUGE- International Student Forum Team

The buddy program was a quite interesting experience, we get to play some little Chinese games with the new international mates at Lunch. My buddy Louis is a quite humble kid, he's really passionate in learning new things and getting used to this new environment but there's just one problem about language. As a buddy i helped him to translate if not all then most of the instructions instructed by the teachers and take him around the school knowing where things are to get him involved and really join into our DSC community, although language is a really big problem for Louis but I myself could really see the improvements throughout the 2 weeks. International Student Buddy Program is a really great program for the newcomers to our school actually get involved in our community and learning more efficiently.

Peiyi LI- International Student Buddy

During the 1st session of buddy program everyone was nice and interested in taking part of activities.  It’s not easy to remember other students’ names but I tried my best. The 2nd session of buddy program is about food culture where we guess the food from around the world.  everyone enjoyed the competition! I quite like it even my team lost the competition. The best part of it is that we were able to sample some delicious snacks from difficult cultures. 

Marcus QUAH- New International Student

Sally Huang

International Student Program Director