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• Caroline plays her part in Christchurch rebuild

  But she is now a qualified quantity surveyor as comfortable working on building sites as she is back in the office crunching the numbers. 

  Caroline says it is not a profession she would have contemplated in China, where she grew up, but Christchurch’s rebuild inspired her to pursue a career in the construction industry and she is grateful for the freedom to be able to achieve her ambitions.  

  “It has been very rewarding to be part of the rebuild and to see the changes in the city. Bettabuilt, the company I work for, specialises in school rebuilds. When we finish a new school, you feel like you’ve done something you should be really proud of.”  

  And her parents are proud too. They have backed her career choice and know that the bold decision they made to send their only child to New Zealand for education was the right one.  

  

  New Zealand a safe place to study 

  Caroline says they had travelled widely as a family before making the decision that she would come to Burnside High School Te Kura o Waimairi-iri in Year 11. “They wanted me to be open-minded and take on new experiences and cultures,” she says. “They decided it would be good for me to study in another country with a different culture and chose New Zealand because it was a peaceful and safe country.” 

  Before she arrived, Caroline was set up with a “buddy”, a student from her school in Beijing who was already studying here and helped provide insights into life in New Zealand. She also took an online course prepared for international students.  

  “This made me feel more confident and familiar with what I was coming to which was important, because the culture and environment is quite different from my home country.” 

  But there were still some big adjustments to be made when it came to schooling. “All courses in China are set by the Education Department. In New Zealand, you have freedom to choose your own courses,” she says. “At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by the options available to me because I didn’t know exactly what I should take. But it was good that I had the opportunity to try courses that I was interested in.”  

  She also had to get used to a self-directed approach to learning. “It allows you to study in a way which suits you best, which was positive for me. And it means when you start work you have the ability and discipline to study by yourself. I have used methods I learned in high school and university to build my knowledge in the workplace.” 

  With more free time in her life, Caroline had the opportunity to play sport and even take on a part-time job which she says would not have been possible in Beijing. “That job really helped me because I got to practice English and gain more confidence talking to local people.” 

  New career opportunities 

  It was all part of an international education experience which Caroline believes is about much more than study.

  “When you’re an international student, you quickly acquire life skills and become much more independent.

  You also learn about other cultures because you are mixing with people from many different backgrounds. It was quite an eye-opener for me, but I enjoyed it.” 

  

  Once she determined her career choice, Caroline chose Ara Institute of Canterbury as the next step on her education pathway. Starting with a Diploma in Quantity Surveying, she followed it up with a Bachelor of Construction. Job and internship opportunities were regularly shared by their programme leader, illustrating the close ties with business. 

  The decision to study in New Zealand has taken Caroline on a journey she couldn’t have imagined when she arrived. “In China I would not be working in construction. I would probably have been working in finance or management,” she says. “The environment here changed me and gave me career options I would not have considered at home.” 

  In the past few months Caroline has secured residency and bought her first house, giving her a real sense of belonging. “I enjoy my work and my life in New Zealand. I love Christchurch and I’m proud to be contributing to the rebuild of the city.” 

  “I feel really happy that I came here.”  

• NZIEC 2018 to be held in Wellington

  That’s right, we’re heading to the Coolest Little Capital in the World, Wellington! 

  NZIEC 2018 will be held at our national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 August next year. We hope to see you there.

  The nature of our venue next year means we’ll be changing our standard programme structure to allow more time for delegate movement around the venue between sessions. This affords us the opportunity to Think New about how we structure our conference.

  If you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see at NZIEC 2018, please email Sam Mackay, ENZ Strategic Projects Manager, at sam.mackay@enz.govt.nz. We warmly welcome suggestions for speakers, topics, session formats – and more!

  We’ll be announcing the theme of next year’s conference in November when we launch our Call for Presenters. If you’re interested in presenting at next year’s conference, please don’t hesitate to drop Sam a line and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

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• Kiwis team up at AIEC 2018

  Held 9-12 October at the new International Convention Centre in Sydney, the theme for AIEC 2018 was ‘empowering a new generation’ and featured a diverse range of Australian and international speakers. With some 1,600 attendees, it was the largest AIEC to date.  

  ENZ joined the strong New Zealand contingent there, including 40 representatives from seven New Zealand universities and Ara Institute of Canterbury.

  Greg Scott, ENZ’s General Manager, Industry Development said it was a good opportunity to look at international education approaches across the ditch. 

  “The conference sessions provided valuable insights for participants on approaches from Australia, such as work-integrated learning and employability, internationalisation, transnational education and professional development for international education practitioners.” 

  Hayley Shields, ENZ’s Director Student Experience, noted that many Australian international education representatives were impressed by New Zealand’s approach to the sector. 

  “The industry in Australia is taking a keen interest in the New Zealand government’s strategic approach to sustainable growth, and our student-centred approach to experience and development of global citizens.” 

  As well as presentations from a number of our industry representatives, ENZ provided a New Zealand perspective through a number of sessions: 

  • Hayley appeared on a panel discussing innovative models of social inclusion and community engagement, while Ross Crosson, ENZ’s Student Experience Manager, took a deep dive into work led by ENZ’s Student Experience team, which garnered lots of interest and follow-up questions. 

  • Anna Dekker, ENZ Scholarships, joined Catherine Stephens (University of Auckland Careers team) and Kate Moore (Academic internship Council) to present how the Prime Minister’s scholarships are an enabler for international internship programmes. 

  • ENZ Business Development Managers Richard Kyle and Mary Camp explored the role of SIEBA in the international schools sector and the benefits of a strong and transparent sector/government partnership. 

  • Greg Scott joined Rebecca Hall, International Education leader for Austrade, to facilitate a New Zealand-Australia Roundtable meeting with participation from Austrade, Department of Education and Training, International Education Association Australia (IEAA), New Zealand Ministry of Education, NZQA, Immigration NZ, Universities New Zealand and ENZ. They explored the potential for aligning activity in professional development, research and industry practices in areas of mutual advantage. An action plan is being considered to guide initial priorities during the next year. 

   

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• Marketing tips for schools

  These topics and more were discussed during The Crowdsource Café session, led by ENZ Business Development Managers Mary Camp and Richard Kyle. The session tapped in on the wealth of experience in the audience by pooling together practical ideas for improved marketing of schools.

  Working in groups, participants shared key tactics they use to nurture meaningful relationships with students, school staff, agents, the local community and alumni.

  “Participants all agreed that our industry is built on relationships. They left the session with the challenge of taking away one thing they could action in the next week. No better time than now to get that action going!” Richard said

  “It’s also great to remember that the ENZ Skills Lab is a rich resource that schools can use, with many tools that take you step-by-step through marketing projects (including digital marketing and PR),” he said.