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Hosting a student can be a rewarding experience for everyone in the family – not only for you and your children, but for your student as well.
As signatories to the Code of Practice set out by the New Zealand Qualifications Department, we are of course looking for a high standard of care and homes.
Hosting is a learned experience. The more you do it, the better you become. We want to make hosting a pleasurable experience and we will provide a booklet with more information once you reach the interview stage of the process.
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so what is involved IN APPLYING?
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Because we want to ensure our students are staying in safe environments, all our hosting families are firstly vetted by the New Zealand Police. Every person over 18 in the household (or who visits frequently) is also required to complete our disclosure form for the Police Check.
Character references will also be collected, and then from there we come and meet with you to to commence an interview in your home.
Character references will also be collected, and then from there we come and meet with you to to commence an interview in your home.
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LOOKING AFTER YOUR STUDENT
What you will need to provide?
- Their own room with study facilities, a desk lamp and chair
- Storage and wardrobe space
- Three meals a day, and this can include help yourself breakfasts, a packed lunch and hot meal at night
- Laundry to be done by you or the student if they prefer
- Internet access
Your home will also need to be on a direct bus route to the Universities or with walking or biking distance.
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Hi I'm Donna and my husband Steve and I, along with our three daughters, Jordan, Victoria and Sophie have been hosting students with International Student Care for almost 15 years now.
We finished building our own home and we had a spare bedroom as the two oldest girls loved to share a room I saw an advert for host families wanted so we thought this could be a great experience for ourselves and the our children learning about different countries and their cultures and food.
Our first student that came to stay with us was a Chinese student named Judy, she had good English which made it easy for the girls to communicate with her. Judy became a part of the family very quickly and she enjoyed spending time with us all and telling us all about her home town and her family. The children found her life very interesting as it was so different to theirs, especially since Judy was an only child. Judy often came with us on outings if she didn’t have study to do, lived with us for 18 months then she went to continue her studies in Australia and is now married with children.
We finished building our own home and we had a spare bedroom as the two oldest girls loved to share a room I saw an advert for host families wanted so we thought this could be a great experience for ourselves and the our children learning about different countries and their cultures and food.
Our first student that came to stay with us was a Chinese student named Judy, she had good English which made it easy for the girls to communicate with her. Judy became a part of the family very quickly and she enjoyed spending time with us all and telling us all about her home town and her family. The children found her life very interesting as it was so different to theirs, especially since Judy was an only child. Judy often came with us on outings if she didn’t have study to do, lived with us for 18 months then she went to continue her studies in Australia and is now married with children.
Our second student was a boy named Mashary and he came from Saudi Arabia. He was also studying English. He came from a large family and had 4 sisters and three brothers so he fitted in very well with our girls! He became their big brother. Mashary loved ‘western food’ as he called it, and sitting together for our evening meals and talking about what we did on our day, he also loved spending time with us watching movies or taking the girls to the park. He was a delight and a ray of sunshine in our home, he also soon became like a son to us and we also got to meet lots of his friends which were also studying here. Mashary lived with us for two years, and then left to go to Texas to finish his studies, we continue to keep in contact, thank goodness for Facebook!
I always have a welcome letter waiting for the students when they arrive to tray and help them feel welcomed and relaxed. I always have a try of Cadbury chocolate goodies and a bottle of water on their desk.
I always have a welcome letter waiting for the students when they arrive to tray and help them feel welcomed and relaxed. I always have a try of Cadbury chocolate goodies and a bottle of water on their desk.
We all try and eat dinner together most nights so we can catch up with each other and talk about how everyone’s day was as much as possible in a busy family life! We encourage our students to be part of our family and join us when possible. They can be very shy and at times they find it easier to talk one on one as their English may not be very good as they are conscious about that. We also encourage them to let us know if they have any concerns or worries about anything to please come and talk with us and we will do whatever we can do to help.
Being a host family has been a wonderful experience for our family; we all have enjoyed meeting so many students over the years and developed really good lasting friendships. Hosting has been also fantastic and beneficial for our children as they also got to meet and share their family home with a different culture which has helped them become very accepting and respectful of other nationalities.
Donna
**Second photo is taken with student Ai Hayashi from Kansai University in Japan
Being a host family has been a wonderful experience for our family; we all have enjoyed meeting so many students over the years and developed really good lasting friendships. Hosting has been also fantastic and beneficial for our children as they also got to meet and share their family home with a different culture which has helped them become very accepting and respectful of other nationalities.
Donna
**Second photo is taken with student Ai Hayashi from Kansai University in Japan
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