ENZ Europe connects with students

European students ‘Follow the Kiwi’ to New Zealand

Three high school students from Germany, France and Italy have received Follow the Kiwi scholarships valued at $15,000 towards study at a New Zealand high school in 2018/2019: Ellen Mamier (Germany), Gabriel Zerguit (France) and Gaia Leidi (Italy).

They were chosen from nearly 200 students who applied for the scholarship, each submitting a motivational letter, video or photo collage saying why and what they want to study in New Zealand.

Olga Elli, ENZ’s Market Development Manager for Europe, is pleased with the response from both students and agents in Europe.

“There’s a real interest in New Zealand’s education offerings. Across all applications, we saw students wanting to try their hand at subjects like design, sciences, music, theatre, Māori culture or to learn some Kiwi sports like rugby!

“While many of the applicants are already enrolled and preparing for their Kiwi study experience, we hope the unsuccessful candidates who are still in the decision process will ‘follow the kiwi’ anyway. ENZ will refer these applicants to New Zealand providers, working with their agents to encourage them to study in a New Zealand high school.”

Kiwi Cup in Hamburg

Nearly 300 teenagers from Northern Germany and Denmark descended on Hamburg for the Kiwi Cup tournament – a two-day hockey competition that profiled New Zealand sporting expertise and education.

Twenty teams of German and Danish students aged 11-14 competed in the event, organised by THK Rissen (a Hamburg-based sports club) and Hausch & Partner, one of Germany’s largest student exchange agencies sending students to New Zealand.

To support the event, ENZ and 30 New Zealand schools provided promotional material and prizes such as hockey bags, shirts and fluffy Kiwis all the way from New Zealand. Rupert Holborow, New Zealand Ambassador in Germany, handed the trophies to the winners at the award ceremony.

Olga Elli said the tournament promoted student exchanges to New Zealand to around 300 high school students and has no doubt sparked an interest in many of them.

“This kind of partnership between the agency, New Zealand schools and ENZ is a great example of working together to highlight the New Zealand school system, where students also get to enjoy the lifestyle and sports outside the classroom.”

Lifeswap screens at German universities

Following its premiere in April, the ENZ-commissioned episode of Lifeswap has reached a broad audience of students after screening in nearly 90 university cinemas around Germany.

Olga said the university screenings have been well received and are a great opportunity to connect with students, particularly those open to study abroad options.

She joined Lifeswap creators Steffen Kreft and William Connor at a screening at the Technische Universität in Berlin.

“The episode was a great talking point – we could share our experience of making the episode and also give information about New Zealand as a study destination.

“Steffen was an international student himself, so can authentically talk to students about his experience at Massey studying animation and filmmaking.

“The episode got a huge applause and the students liked the jokes and blend of German and Kiwi humour.”

Lifeswap is an animated series that follows the lives of Jörg (a German) and Duncan (a Kiwi) and the cultural misunderstandings that crop up as they live and study in each other’s country.

The episode features a cameo from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who voiced a line of dialogue. It premiered in April during Ms Ardern’s visit to Berlin.