Testimonials
Name: Clara Gonzalez
Country: Brazil
Year: 11
The Gold Coast is beautiful and very safe, I love the lifestyle. I'm surprised not to find a kangaroo in every street corner. I couldn't have chosen a better school, in the beginning I had some difficulties with making Australian friends, but the International team always made me feel very welcome. My favourite thing so far has been the beaches.
Name: Emma Rossetti
Country: Italy
Year: 11
The Gold Coast is very different from Milan, the city where I'm from, and even if at the beginning this threw me off a little bit, once I saw the beautiful beaches I missed my city a little bit less. During this first weeks I've had the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful places in the Gold Coast like Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay, Burleigh and Palm Beach and I can't wait to visit all the others lovely spots that the Gold Coast has to offer.
I was positively surprised by how nice and sunny all the shop assistants are. I was also very surprised in finding out that students are able to work in Australia from a very young age.
I like the school's environment and the subjects that it offers, but they way of studying is very different from the one that I'm used to and the same applies with the rules that are much stricter than the ones that I have back in Italy. My favourite thing so far has been the trip to Byron Bay where we were able to walk in the nature and spend some time on the beach.
Name: Leonardo Cozzi
Country: Italy
Year: 11
The Gold Coast is a beautiful place in where I'm spending my trip and I am enjoying it very much. All the city areas are close to each other and this makes it easier to visit, which I really appreciate. Even if the cities areas are very different from Italy, the fact of having astonishing beaches a few kilometres away is amazing. Elanora SHS is a well prepared school which for these first weeks offered me everything I needed.
Teachers are very friendly and competent, although the Australian accent made it harder to understand them in the early days. Another aspect that I really appreciated of Elanora SHS are the other students that are all very friendly and interested in knowing me and my country. The thing that I appreciated the most are the people that I have met during this first month, from my host family to all the international students coming also from other schools. Everyone has been very friendly and if this experience is going so well I owe it mostly to them. By the way, there are a lot of other activities to do and cities to see and I am really looking forward to visit Sydney with my host family.
Name: Stella Bendinger
Country: Germany
Year: 11
The Gold Coast Coast has a lot of interesting places and even an animal Sanctuary you can go visit. There are a lot of beautiful beaches and you can meet a lot of people there. Even though it's very different from Germany I still feel like home here.
Elanora SHS has got a lot of nice teachers and students. There are many assignments and sometimes it's hard to keep up with the accent but nonetheless it's a great experience. Since there aren't many students you can get to know a lot of students and make friends very fast. Almost everyone knows each other. My favourite things so far has been definitely the people here, they're very friendly and the language difference is kind of refreshing. Also the beaches I've been to with friends! There is still so much to see so I want to be open for everything and experience as many things as possible.
Name: Marcel Michaelis
Country: Germany
Year: 11
It's cool here on the Gold Coast. Something that surprised me about Australia has been the haircuts. Elanora SHS and the teachers are great, but the uniform rules suck. Apart from the natural beauty, so far the cookies from Woolworths have been the best thing.
Name: Maren Waldvogel
Country: Germany
Year: 11
I would describe the Gold Coast as beautiful and the perfect place for a year abroad. The beaches are beautiful and there are lots of places to go. Whether it's a relaxing afternoon in the shopping centre or action in the theme park, everyone gets their fun.
And I can't say a bad word about Elanora High School either, because we were all very warmly welcomed and everything was done to ensure that we would have an unforgettable time here. We as a group of international students have already made many extremely beautiful and exciting excursions with our two super dear coordinators but also the local students have welcomed us very warmly and shown us their country.
Out of the many experiences we have had in our first month here, I can't single out one that I found the best, I would just say that the whole experience of a year abroad is unique and I would recommend it to anyone who gets the chance.
Name: Kiara Martens
Country: Germany
Year: 11
The Gold Coast is very pretty, safe and warm. There are a lot of things to see and do. Something that surprised me about Australia is that it can be very cold and windy sometimes. I really like Elanora SHS, but it's very different from German schools. So far my favourite things has been the excursions.
Name: Jule Pahl
Country: Germany
Year: 11
I've been here on the Gold Coast for over four weeks now and already seen enough to want to stay here forever. The beaches are just magnificent, everyone is VERY friendly and there's always heaps of amazing stuff to do! Choosing the Gold Coast was perfect for me, the nature is close and beautiful, there's always a new location to discover and you can get everywhere easily by bus and train. Our go-to spots after school are Palm Beach (just to sit at the beach, enjoy the skyline of Surfers'), Burleigh (so many pretty shops and restaurants) and Robina (endless shopping possibilities). Of course The Pines as well, to run some errands and just spend time with your friends! I've been really happy with the Elanora SHS so far, luckily I don't have any problems understanding the Aussies, and the teachers as well as other students are very nice and welcoming. The school system here is completely different to the German, but this is the perfect way for me to just do the subjects that I like rather than hating to go to school. Drama for example is lots of fun, it's very interactive and us Internationals get to talk a lot and really participate in little plays etc. Maths is interesting as well, because it's quite easy for me, I can even present my solutions to the class! Even though I might never need this new knowledge, Aquatic Practices is my favourite subject so far. We learn a lot about what we might have already seen somewhere, but never really understood, for example radio techniques and navigation at sea, in addition, our teacher is very nice and tries to really make us understand everything (with success) even though we missed most of the topic. I general, I like Elanora SHS for not being too big, I usually find my classes easily and the school uniform is one of the prettier ones I've seen around here ;). Also, the staff is friendly, the books in the Hub are good and there are many nice spots to sit and chat on the school campus. Still, the best part about school are probably the Morning Tea and Lunch breaks. I get along very well with the Internationals and there are always Australian students who want to know more about us and our countries. My weekends so far were very adventurous as well, with the Friday off, I met friends, went on trips with our host mum and explored the city for three days straight. With me sadly only being here for three months, I'm on a good way to making most of my stay this way. I still have heaps on my ‚to see'-list, but I really enjoyed Nimbin, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (I nearly died of cuteness when holding the koala) and all the beaches. The trip to Byron Bay was absolutely amazing, I had a great time there!
I cannot possibly decide on one favourite thing being here so far, I had so many great days just having fun with my new friends or exploring Australia, but I can say that I'm having the best time of my life.