International Student Program News

ISP News

The last few weeks have been very busy in the International Student Program.  We have been visiting all the students’ homestays to make sure that everyone is happy with their living arrangements and to allocate homestays for 2017.  We have around 50 Melbourne Girls’ College approved homestays, and at the end of this year we have 12 current students wishing to move homestay, and 18 new girls to whom we will need to allocate or check homestays ready for 2017.  This means that on top of studying for their exams, preparing for Headstart and buying new books, there are a lot of girls deciding where they will live next year and packing up all of their belongings to move house! 

At the last School Council Meeting we presented and had approved the new and updated MGC Homestay Policy, as well as the new MGC Child Safe Policy for Homestays.  These are two very important documents that clearly set out Department of Education and Melbourne Girls’ College expectations for international students’ homestay experience.  We are responsible for the welfare of 50 international students under the age of 18, and we are committed to providing the very best care of each of them, as well as maintaining fair and reasonable expectations of our homestay families.  These documents will soon be found as part of the MGC Homestay Kit on the International Student Program page on the MGC website. 

Last Thursday was the Orientation Day for all of the students who will be starting at MGC for the first time in 2017 (local and international).  The new girls all met the Leadership Team and Year Level Coordinators, as well as many of the man important members of the MGC community.  They learnt a lot, in fact, so much that I’m sure that some things may be forgotten by the start of the 2017 school year, so if you see a new girls looking lost next year, please don’t hesitate to stop and ask them if they need help.  Let’s show some of that legendary MGC school spirit and generosity!

Presentation Night was an exciting opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our hard working students, and the international students gave a good accounting of themselves in the award stakes!  The following international students were recognised for their hard work:

Christina Luyao TENG – Year 10 English as an Additional Language

Chloe Zhiqi JIANG – Year 10 Mathematics

Stella Xiaolan LI – Year 10 Visual Art

Maika Truc Thanh TRAN – Unit 1 & 2 Chinese as a Second Language

Van PHAM – Unit 1 & 2 English as an Additional Language and Specialist Mathematics

Amy Mingshan WANG – Unit 1 & 2 Mathematical Methods and Physics

Pera Ngoc Hong NGUYEN – Unit 2 & 3 Business Management

Mary Yuxin ZHU – Unit 1 & 2 Chinese as a First Language

Skye Jingze QIAO – Unit 1 & 2 Physics

Cally Yingwei CHEN - Unit 1 & 2 Specialist Mathematics

Karen Songwen LUO – International Student Award

Hyun Jeong ROH – Confucius Classroom International Study Grant

We can congratulate them on their awards, and doubly so as all their work was done in their second language!  Who knows how many hours of extra translation work each of those awards represents! 

Student Reminders

December Holidays:

With the December holidays coming up, and all of the VCE exams finishing even earlier that that, we need to remind you that you need to tell me when you are returning to your home countries.

Holiday travel forms can be found on my door in my office, make sure you let us know your travel dates and flight details!

Year 11s and year 12s need to make sure they let their homestays know their final departure dates, and organise where they will store their personal belongings until the start of the university year.  You must also make sure that you have paid up until your final day of homestay.  Make sure that you leave your room in the cleanest state you can; imagine how you would like to find the room if you are a new student! 

Returning students must make sure that you give your homestays a copy of your travel itinerary, and that you leave your rooms neat and tidy.  You all know that you are not allowed to have food in your rooms, and this is especially true when you leave for the holidays.  Don’t leave anything for the ants during your absence!

If there are returning students who would like to move homestay next year, please remember that only in exceptional cases do we accept year 10s and 11s to live in a homestay that speaks their own native language.  We understand that you may wish to move to be closer to the school, or to live with a friend, but please do not try to ‘make a case’ for moving by reporting all the slightest inconveniences you experience with a homestay.  It’s not fair to your homestay and it makes you look petty and ungrateful.

League of Homestay Champions

We are coming up to the time of the year when we need to know how many rooms will be available in 2017.  With 25 year 12s graduating in 2016, and 27 new students starting in 2017, we will be doing lots of homestay moves, so make sure you put your hand up if you would like to host one of our handpicked future women leaders in your home!

For current homestay families, you will soon receive a requests to register your preferred times for the Term 4 homestay visit, when you can let us know how many rooms you will have available for 2017.  We will have around twenty new international girls to house in December and January, so it’s going to be a very busy time!

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!