International Assembly

Well done students for a fantastic International Assembly. Thanks to all who came in traditional costume and those who danced. Thank you to the speakers who introduced everyone and of course Ms. Blackwell for her work in organising things.

Farewell Students!!

Sadly we say au revoir, sayonara and aufvedersehen to three of our lovely International students this term, Beatrice, Suzu and Hannah. They have all been here for one year. Can it really have gone so fast? It is great to see them grow from shy students with little English to confident English speakers. Congratulations on your year here girls. All the best for your futures and may the memories and friends you have made in NZ stay with you forever :)

My Amazing Year in NZ

I came here on the 15th of July 2012.I have been here about 1 year. My first thoughts were different food, different language and people. NZ's food is really different from Japanese food. Japanese food is so healthy compared to NZ's food. Obviously, the language spoken by people is English. I was struggling so much that I couldn't understand anything about what kiwi were saying. But they kept trying to talk to me. I appreciated them. I stayed at Finnigan's house close to Fitzroy beach for 9 months. In the summer, I went to the beach to siwm or surf with my host family or friends everyday. I enjoyed hanging out at the beach. In March, I moved out to my best friend's house. It was hard to hang out with her before I moved. But after that, I was with her everyday. I was glad I moved. The families are both really nice. I thank the families for having me. My favourite subjects are P.E. and ESOL. Because there are some opportunities to get along with people who I didn't know through P.E. class and I can communicate with my friends who are from different countried in ESOL. My most memorable moment is not just one : When I saw a beautiful view with my friends at the beach. It was a sunset. When I scored a goal at soccer. When I was with my friends and laughed so much.. Everything is a memorable moment for me. What I spent most of my time in NZ doing was playing soccer. I couldn't imagine how amazing it was going to be. I wouldn't have enjoyed it without soccer. I went to Taupo for the nationals and also went to Hamilton, Palmerston North,Wanganui... I got along with everyone and they are my good friends now. I'm so glad that we met through soccer in NZ. I appreciate them. They made the year of my life. Thay mean so much to me. So, I'm leaving form New Plymouth on the 10th of July 2013. The next day I'm heading to my home Japan, I will be so sad to leave here, I can't imagine that I'm leaving soon. But that's life. I hope it will make me strong. I will never forget that I spent time with my host family and my friends in NZ. My plans when I get to Japan are catching up with my friends, and spending time with my family, eating amazing Japanese food - all the time (haha), and playing soccer at a high level, studying for university. There are lots of things to do. I will be so busy of course, I will keep in touch with my friends in NZ. I had an experience in NZ that I couldn't imagine if I was in Japan. I'm pretty sure it made me strong. I am coming back to NZ soon to see my friends. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me, helped me and made me happy! This is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. By Suzu

TOPEC BY YU

Hello I'm YU
Last week we went to th TOPEC. We did the mud run, bridge swing, climb mountain, river, kayak etc...
I was in group 2. They were 9 people in my group. And they were 6 people in my cabin.
That was so fun. I want to go once more.

TOPEC By ANNU

Hi!I am Annu.
I went to TOPEC last week.
I did mud run.
I think mud run is a dirty activity.
But I enjoyed TOPEC:P
Because I made new KIWI FRIENDS^^
I loooooooove them.
Because they are so kind and funny.
I especially like  my group member.
Bridge swing is so SCARY!
But so FUN:)
I want to do one more.

TOPEC

May 5th~10th
I went to TOPEC and I did the mud run, bridgeswing, kayak, climbing etc...
They  were so fun (especially bridgeswing ;P)
But I thought I'd die because it was very cold when I went into the river and fell out of the kayak.
and......... I played with kiwi friends !!!!!!!!! I was so glad I had a good time!!!!!!
by Shigeka

My Story

I looked at the snow on the mountains and it was so amazing! I have never seen the snow before, because in Rosario we don't have snow, only once but it was a little bit and it happened when I wasn't born. I think the snow is something wonderful and beautiful.

Also we don't have sea in Rosario, we only have rivers, when I looked at the sea it was something beautiful with her shells and her waves lit up from the sun. I think NZ is a really beautiful place. I remember in Argentina I had a dog called Chiche. It's a black dog with a little bit of white colour on his neck. I remember the first time when I got him. He was a little puppy and reaaly small like my hand. I was 6 or 7 years old and my Dad brought the dog from his work and the puppy was in a box.I will never forget the moment when I supported my dog Chiche.

Rosario is a really, really hot place in summer. In the afternoon I remember, you can't stay in the street because the temperature is too hot, like about 40 degrees. I prefer cold not hot places.

In Argentina I went to school in the afternoon from 1-5pm, we only have 5 hours of school and here is about 6 hours and 40 minutes. In NZ school is really fun and bigger than my old school. I was really bored at my old school. I didn't have really good friends so I want to learn English quickly to understand everything!

When I came from the school in Argentina we had dinner at 10pm and we went to sleep at 11 or 12pm. Now it is so different we have dinner at 7 or 8pm and I go to sleep at 9pm, well sometimes 10pm. It's not easy to sleep early because in Argentina I went to school in the afternoons.

Also in Argentina the temperature is so different. If we have a rainy day, we never have sun quickly or if it's a nice and sunny day without clouds we never have rain. Usually we have rain about 2-3 days and then sunny days.

In NZ it rains very much, everytime the sun comes quickly, I really like NZ it's a really beautiful place and I love it!

by Paula

Myself, My Culture Presentation - Japan

Take a look at the 'Myself, My Culture' presentation from Term 1, well done to you all. The display boards are in the library - please go and see them, they all look wonderful.

New Life in New Zealand

Hell! I'm Akiho. I'm from JAPAN. My first weeks, I met host family. I went to New Plymouth Girl's High School. It was very big and I was surprised. I had ESOL. Esol is very difficult for me because it was all English. I made Origami and I read books. I had an interview. My first day I went to the beach. It was very beautiful! I met many teachers .I ate lunch in the international room. I enjoyed swimming sports day. I enjoyed althletic sports day. Classes are very difficult. ESOL, English, Math, Social Science, Science...And I had a parade and I wore my Yukata. It was very fun!! Now I have joined Badminton club. I like to play badminton, so I enjoy it every time. I like New Zealand :)because New Zealand is very beautiful. My host family is kind! My host sisters are kind too! I went camping with my host family by bus .I went camping three times. I saw many beautiful New Zealand natures. I enjoyed it :) I visited Auckland, Cambridge and Rotorua. I want to visit Wellington. I had school assembly. I met my Kun-ei frends and I was happy to meet them.

Soccer in NZ

I looked up at the goal.There was a space.I kicked the ball to the goal and scored. I started playing soccer when I was 10 years old. After 7 years,when I score a goal,the excitement still hasn't changed. Nothing can compare to this feeling. I am from Japan. Now, I am in New Zealand to study English. I belong to NPGHS soccer club. When I came here, my English was not good.I couldn't understand anything and I was nervous. But I made lots of friends through soccer. I went to the nationals and some trips and made lots of memories with them. I wish I could go to the nationals this year with them again. I have to go back to Japan soon though. I am going back to my soccer club team in Japan. It's really different between NZ's soccer and Japanese soccer. In Japan, they have really good skills and they are always concentrating on practices. In NewZealand, they have powerful plays and strong.It's interesting for me. I like both of them.

I came here to study English. But I'm learning lots of things from New Zealand. I'm learning English all the time as well.

I'm really glad that I came here. I'm having so much fun. I like everything in New Zealand. I will enjoy rest of my stay in here. Written by Suzu.

New Overseas Students

A warm welcome to our new overseas students this term. We have Natnaree and Natcha from Thailand and Faye from China. We hope that you enjoy staying here with us and have fun learning about NPGHS and New Zealand.

End of Term

Last term we finished up our junior ESOL classes with a game of 'Life'. Some of the students had already played in in Japanese and in Spanish

before. It was lots of fun :)

My New School

Hi I'm Yu:)
I'm enjoying my new school life now. I have been here 2 months now. Here there is very nice nature.
I go on the NZ school bus to school. NPGHS is larger than my Japanese school. So remembering where my class is, is very difficult. I have got new friends in NZ. Everyone is very kind.
My elective subjects are DANCE and MUSIC and ESOL. They are very fun!! And I joined the badminton club with Annu and Akiho. My house colour is green, Tainui. Akiho Shigeka and Annu are in Tainui too. We had swimming sports and athletics sports. They were very fun. Everything is in English here. So work is very hard for me. But I try my best!!

Myself, My Culture - presentations

Junior ESOL students presented their 'Myself, My Culture' projects last week. They all did a superb job. If you want to see their work have a look in the library next term!! Awesome job!

Art's Week Parade

We had great fun - you all look fantastic, well done!