International Students

Homestay Family - A Real-life Q&A

 

DSC recognises the importance of ensuring the best possible accommodation and welfare arrangements for International Students. This is why we take great care in selecting homestay hosts who are willing to help students adjust to life in Australia and improve their English through a variety of means.

 

They provide daily conversation, homework assistance, watching Australian television and reading through an English novel or magazine together. Homestays act as a semi-parental role and keep the school informed about any welfare issues.

 

Here is a reflection of Grace Guo, one of our many experienced homestay hosts:

 

Q: How long have you been our homestay?

A:We have been hosting DSC overseas students for over 10 years, since 2008. 

 

Q: What do you enjoy the most about being our homestay?

A: We enjoy students bringing their own culture to our family, sharing their own backgrounds and their personal upbringing experiences (such as their study experience, where they have been for holidays and what their interests are). We also enjoy their knowledge in digital technology (eg helping me use Wechat ). In addition, we also enjoy having our family meals with them and have them join our family parties.

 

Q: What are the challenges?

A: To guild and help them overcome any undesirable habits around tidiness, such as washing dishes and putting rubbish in the bin.  We always encourage students to come out for dinner with us, but some of them would rather stay in their rooms. We observed this mainly depends on each student’s personality. Another challenge is students spending a lot of time playing games. We need to consistently remind them to limit their gaming time.

 

Q: What’s the most heart-warming experience of being a homestay?

A: It has to be the student’s and their parents' appreciation for our help, and the friendships we establish. One of our previous students, Max, finished his tertiary education, went back to his hometown TianJing, just got married and invited us to visit him.  Another previous student’s mum became a close friend of mine and we often go out together.

 

Q: Who do you go to for advice or support?

A: Whenever we need to seek advice or support, we always contact DSC Director of International Student Program via email, call or text message. She is always very supportive with quick responses.                             

Melbourne Based education agents visit DSC

Over the last three months, DSC’s principal team representative, Mr Glenn Morris, and Director of International Student Program, Ms Sally Huang, welcomed some Melbourne based education agents, to build and reinforce beneficial relationships with them, and diversify our International Student Program.

 

For each agent, we spent time answering questions, conducting school tours, and of course taking pictures with them. We believe they were all impressed by our facilities and our whole school approach in taking care of international students.

 

DSC looks forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationships with these education agents in the short and long term.

 

Sally Huang

Director of International Student Program

School Free Dress Day - Halloween!

Reflection by Kiarash L (8L)

 

Thursday, 31 October was a free dress day at DSC with a Halloween theme! I decided to participate in this school event because it was the last student free dress day of 2019.

 

I think Halloween is fun, cool and I quite like it. During Halloween, we can wear interesting clothes, and get sweets and chocolates. I wore skeletal gloves and had "scars" on my face, arms and feet.  It was a great day, and I had fun with other students, saying “Happy Halloween” to each other.

Language Buddy Program -

Student Reflections

Newly arrived international students and local students alike benefit from the Language Buddy Program. The program aligns local students with international student "buddies", to help them integrate into the DSC community. The local students, who study Mandarin, can in-turn improve their Chinese language skills and their understanding of Chinese culture.

 

Student reflections:

 

“Every Tuesday, lovely students from the Victorian Young Leaders to China (VYLC) 2018 program meet with the international students for the Language Buddy session. We do fun activities and eat free biscuits. Through the Milo and activities, the VYLC and international students have developed lasting relationships. We hope to see this continue next year.

- Jordan L (10I)

 

“Every Tuesday we meet our buddies during recess. This has made our friendships even deeper. We can drink, eat biscuits, and happily chat about our learning and school lives”.

- John Z (9K)

 

“This activity has not only enabled me to make friends with a lot of new students, but it also provided me with the platform to share my happiness with my buddies. I’m glad that we have this activity as I believe it is not only necessary but also important.”                                            - Oliver W (8L)

 

“You can make new friends here. You can also discuss school life and study with them. In short, I have gained a lot of happiness here.”       

- Frank W (8L)

 

“I think Buddy program sessions on Tuesday recess were a great experience and it was a good opportunity to improve our speaking skills. It was great to see some Australian students who weren't international students. Overall, I liked the Buddy Program sessions because we could have a glass of milk and some biscuits and had a great time with our classmates and talked with them. Thanks a lot.”                     

- Kiarash L (8L)