Education
Wellington Xiamen Association wins First Prize
WXA are pleased to announce being awarded first prize in the Air New Zealand Sister Cities Award for "The Best Youth, Education or School Project" in 2006. Download the Xiamen Entry (4.2Mb PDF).
Students at launch positive about Wellington
The launch of Sister Cities, the new Social Studies resource, at the Wellington Council Chambers was an opportunity to take part in some fun activities and eat some food, as well as listen to speeches.
It was hosted by the Wellington City Council, who helped pay for the resource, and the Wellington Xiamen Association, who produced the resource.
Deputy Mayor Alick Shaw welcomed the students to Wellington. Chinese Ambassador Chen Ming Ming also addressed the guests. He wished the students well in their studies and praised the resource as being something that will enable students from China to work together with local students.
Guests at the launch broke up into groups and expressed their views on Wellington using video and posters. The Chinese students were very polite about Wellington's weather!
"The seaside is very beautiful, like the Xiamen seaside but the wind is very heavy. In one day you can experience four seasons, so my hairstyle changes four times. It is very interesting."
"Wellington's weather is really so changeable. We have wind, rain, sunshine in one day. I don't really like the weather but the environment here is really perfect."
"What has made the biggest impression on me, are the windy days."
Apart from the weather they are enjoying themselves studying in Wellington:
"I like the people, they are very friendly and kind to us. It was very exciting today to come to the Wellington City Council and meet the Deputy Mayor."
"In my country it is very noisy and crowded. Here there are very few people wherever you go."
"When I first came to Wellington everything was strange, everything was different — different language, different people and different culture. But the people made me feel at home."
"It is great to be in the place where Lord of the Rings was made. I sent some Lord of the Rings stamps to my father."
Teachers' resource
Teachers' resource Sister Cities (1 Mb PDF) — a teachers' book to support level 5 of Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum launched by Mayor Kerry Prendergast on 27 August. The high interest area of tourism is used as a context in which students investigate their own city and its culture and that of its sister city, particularly the life of teenagers there. Activities in Sister Cities have been developed to meet achievement objectives in the Culture and Heritage strand and culminate in students creating promotional materials and an itinerary for teenage visitors from their sister city.
The activities offer opportunities for interaction with migrant and international students in local schools, and for working with schools in sister cities. There are also opportunities to work with local authorities, organizations and individuals in the community.
Sister Cities was developed by The Wellington Xiamen Association in consultation with Social Studies teachers and with funding from Wellington City Council and the Asia 2000 Foundation.
The Wellington Xiamen Association can help schools using Sister Cities with addition material about Xiamen, speakers and contacts with schools in Xiamen. Please e-mail: wellington.xiamen@gmail.com.
