Location
Dunedin is a University city with a population of about 120,000. Students who attend Queen’s High School can continue on to tertiary education in the city at the University of Otago or Otago Polytechnic. Dunedin has a thriving arts and music community and encourages creativity in the fashion industry.
Application Information for International Students
Queen’s High School welcomes enrolments at any time throughout the school year. Students can enrol from Year 9 through to Year 13.
Process
If you are interested in enrolling at Queen’s High School, complete the International Enrolment Form. Applications are considered as they are received. If your application is successful, you will receive an Offer of Place and an invoice for payment.
Transfer the fees as invoiced to the school bank account and notify the School when this has been done. Once the funds have been received, you will be sent a receipt. The Offer of Place and the receipt for payment need to be submitted as part of a student visa application.
Queen’s High School is a participant in the Pathway Student Visa Scheme. Students who meet the criteria may be able to obtain a student visa for the full length of their enrolment (if enrolling for more than one year, up to five years in total).
English Language Support
The English ability of international students is assessed on arrival and appropriate tuition is provided in small classes. All students in these classes work on an Individual Learning Programme. Only when they are ready, are they moved to a general English class.
The school accepts students from elementary level and upwards in the English language.
International students should have studied English for a number of years before coming to Queen’s High School. Students are assessed on their arrival at the school and are placed in ESOL classes or mainstream English classes according to their needs. Some students require in-depth ESOL classes before entering other mainstream classes. Most international students have at least four hours a week of English language support. Some students have eight to twelve hours a week.
Students are prepared for the New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (to at least Level 2 in English). and can be prepared for IELTS and TOEFL if specially requested and/or the Cambridge English exam. There may be an additional cost for these classes if they are in addition to timetabled English/ESOL lessons.
Accommodation
As an international student at Queen’s High School, we ensure that you have a caring environment which will help you to adjust to life in a new country. All international students live with host families and get to experience a Kiwi family. Your host family will help your English skills to improve quickly, and will be interested in your welfare. You will be included as a member of their family.
All of our homestay families have been carefully selected and are subject to police checks, which is a requirement of New Zealand law.
On arrival, students are met at the airport by staff and their new family. A comprehensive orientation programme is scheduled before classes begin. Staff encourage integration within classes. Several curriculum areas involve field work – international students are welcomed on Geography, Tourism and Outdoor Education trips. This provides a great opportunity to see more of the country.
Queen’s High School takes its responsibility to look after its international students very seriously. The Director of International Students has responsibility for the academic and pastoral care of all our international students and she maintains a close and caring oversight. The International Homestay Co-ordinator supervises homestay and assists with the orientation programme and she is available to assist the students daily.
Queen’s High School has a full-time student counsellor to provide advice and guidance for students where required and is available for consultation at any time during the school week. Health, careers and further education advice is also available to all students.
We take pride in placing our students in homestay families who care for the students and enjoy introducing them to New Zealand culture. Host families are visited and approved by our Homestay Co-ordinator and the school. If problems arise, the Homestay Co-ordinator responds promptly to resolve the issues.On arrival in Dunedin for the first time, students are met at Dunedin airport.
“I think one of my best choices in life is that I decided to come to New Zealand and go to Queen’s High School. It is great to have the possibility to spend a half year in a completely different and wonderful country and to spend such a great time at school. I will never forget.”
Laurentia, Germany
Uniform
All students wear full school uniform from Years 9 – 13. Details about the Queen’s High School uniform can be found in General Information under the Enrolment tab.
Curriculum / Courses
The student will be enrolled in a year level based on information given in the application but final class placement will be determined following assessment after the student has arrived at Queen’s High School. (The school reserves the right to change the course of study of any student if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the student to do so or if student does not meet the prerequisite for the requested course. If the course of study does not commence at the start of the school year, some subjects may be full and unavailable to new students).
Our curriculum is very broad. We offer all the traditional subjects such as English, mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics, history and economics as well the arts, including design, graphics, photography, music, dance and drama. Outdoor education is a strong subject and very popular with our international students. Itinerant music lessons, for almost any musical instrument, are also available for beginning to more experienced musicians.
Latin and Spanish can be organised after school hours for students who have already studied these languages in their own high schools and who wish to continue with these subjects while studying in New Zealand. There is an additional cost for these after-school classes.
Academic excellence is highly valued and students are expected to achieve to the best of their ability. Students study six subjects each year.
International students who intend to go on to university and who require English language tuition usually undertake study for two years, ensuring a sound preparation for university.
Special Features
Queen’s High School is a state school for girls between the ages of 12 and 19. It is situated in the suburb of St Clair, in Dunedin, close to local beaches, cafes and an easy bus ride to the city centre. Queen’s has a fine tradition of academic excellence and achievement, in a positive, caring environment. There are an extensive range of Outdoor Education opportunities at Queen’s High School with both short term or full year courses. These courses include opportunities to kayak, mountain bike, rock climb, surf, ski and snowboard, along with a number of other options.
Co-Curricular Activities
We encourage students to participate in cultural and sporting activities. We offer a wide range of opportunities including aerobics, athletics, badminton, basketball, cross country, equestrian, football, futsal, golf, hip hop, hockey, ice hockey, jazz band, karate, kayaking, netball, orienteering, orchestra, rowing, rugby, softball, tennis, touch and volleyball.
Pastoral Care
Queen’s High School has an extensive pastoral care network and international students are supported at each year level through form teachers, year level co-ordinators, guidance counsellors, homestay co-ordinators, teachers in charge of ESOL and the Director of International Students.
Health Insurance
All international students require medical and travel insurance to cover the entire length of their study period in New Zealand. This is a legal requirement set out by New Zealand Government’s Code of Practice.
Queen’s High School uses a reputable insurance company called Uni-Care. There Student Policy meets the 2019 amended Code of Practice. Please check the website for full details. ( https://www.uni-care.org/our-policies/nz-student-plan.aspx)
If you want to use a different insurance provider, you need to give the School a copy of the policy in English so that the school can check that this meets the requirements of the Code of Practice.
Travel
Under the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students the school must ensure that leave to travel is only granted where it can be assured that the student will be supervised by approved adults and will be living in accommodation that meets the appropriate standard.
If students wish to travel out of Dunedin at any time they must complete a travel request form which must be approved by the Principal. Travel forms (domestic and international) must be fully completed, signed and received by the Principal at least 2 weeks prior to date of intended departure. The Principal’s decision is final.
Please notify the home stay parent and the school if your daughter is to return home during the term breaks or before the end of the school term.
After Queen's
If a student attends Queen’s High School to gain qualifications to attend university or another tertiary institution, the careers team at the school will ensure she is undertaking the appropriate courses and that she knows of the entry qualifications required for particular universities in New Zealand and overseas.
Check out some of the things our students do here on facebook.
Queen’s High School has agreed to observe and be bound by the “Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students” published by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). Copies of the Code are available on request from this institution or from the New Zealand Ministry of Education Web-site: http://www.minedu.govt.nz.
Full details of VISA and Permit requirements, advice on rights to employment in New Zealand are available through the NZ Immigration Service, and can be viewed on their website at www.immigration.govt.nz.
Eligibility for Health services. Most international students are not entitled to publicly funded health services while in New Zealand. If you receive medical treatment during your visit, you may be liable for the full cost of that treatment. Full details on entitlements to publicly funded health services are available through the Ministry of Health, and can be viewed in their website at www.moh.govt.nz.