Teaching assistants in New Zealand

country:	New Zealand
departures:	Departures can be arranged to start at any time during the school term
price:	From £1445 (4 weeks) - £2445 (12 weeks) excluding flights. We can help arrange flights from the UK
vouchers:	Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday

Teaching projects

New Zealand holidays

the amazing things you'll be doing

Teach at a school in the largest city in New Zealand, Auckland.

You will be teaching at a school where the children are from underprivileged countries and communities. A lot of the children come from different backgrounds and countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia and the South Pacific islands. You will work as an assistant teacher, helping small groups of children in a variety of subjects.

You'll be accommodated in a centrally located lodge that is friendly and relaxing, making it ideal for long-term stays. You may have your own room or you may share a room with other volunteers. There is a communal kitchen and storage area for cooking meals and plenty of space to relax.

Entertainment at your accommodation includes cheap internet access, TV and free pool table. You are literally a stroll from the Sky Tower, harbor and waterfront. Accommodation is very central and close to the main train station and shopping district. Buses are also only a few minutes away to take you to parts of Auckland and New Zealand or to the many other ‘things to do’!

The city centre boasts great shopping, restaurants and pubs or head over to the viaduct for more pubs, nightclubs and multicultural cuisine. You'll get to work via bus, which is close to your accommodation. Maori settlement in Auckland was at least 800 years ago where by different tribes built there fortifications on the various volcanoes in Auckland. When the British arrived in 1840 they claimed Auckland as the capital city of New Zealand until Wellington became the capital 25 years later. The city is modern and vibrant - a fun and friendly with beautiful surrounding islands and harbour.

a day in the life of a volunteer

You will be working at a school in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Auckland is known as the city of sails and is surrounded by beautiful islands and extinct volcanoes. There is a shortage of teachers in New Zealand so you'll really be able to help make a difference here.

You will work as an assistant to the main teacher and will get involved in a variety of subjects. The school has a large number of ethnic children who are classed as the under-privileged community in Auckland. There are children from many different communities and countries at the school such as Maori, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tonga and Samoa. These children come from lower socio-economic areas of Auckland.

You will have the opportunity to work one-to-one and in small groups with the children to really give them the attention they need. Class sizes vary between 20 and 30 children in each class and you will be teaching children between the ages of 4 and 12. As an assistant teacher at the school you will be involved in a number of different subjects such as sports, music, drama, math, art, geography, history, English and possibly other academic subjects. If you'd like to teach a specific subject that is not listed here, please let us know and we'll arrange it for you.

The lessons you'll teach generally last for 40 minutes and the school day runs from around 8:55 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Your working day will be around 4 to 5 hours of teaching and preparing for your lessons.

volunteer travel - what's it all about?

Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world.
Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.

how this holiday makes a difference

The project:

We work with a school that has a large number of ethnic children who are classed as the under-privileged community in Auckland. There are children from many different communities and countries at the school such as Maori, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tonga and Samoa. These children come from lower socio-economic areas of Auckland and will greatly benefit from your input. You will also be encouraged to learn about the Maori culture and it's traditions as well as the history of New Zealand and its people. This will open your mind and increase your awareness and enthusiasm for such a beautiful and fascinating culture.

Our company:

You taking part in this project enables us to continue to donate financial assistance as well as necessary goods, where it is needed around the world. Examples of donations include building new classrooms, providing school uniforms for poorer students, buying computers, sports equipment, playgrounds, toys, mattresses, classroom equipment and funding school trips and the building of libraries, and more. We also donate significantly to conservation research efforts and the purchasing of necessary conservation equipment. In the past, these donations have been made in all continents and in projects where we work, and some where we do not work.

Recent donations made in Summer 2008 include:

Approximately £1,500 towards the building of a desperately needed classroom in a Zulu school in eMakhosini, South Africa.
£1,500 to build a roof at the Grace Kennet Foundation Orphanage in Madurai, India. This was a donation made to match the fundraising efforts of an ex volunteer. A tree had fallen through the roof of the orphanage during a storm, and so a large part of the building was un-usable and dangerous. Work is currently beginning and should be finished by early 2009.
Approximately £880 to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Malaysia to help publicise the centre and draw funds to care for injured and abandoned Orang Utans.

We employ an all local staff force in most of our destination countries, which benefits the local economy. These range from skilled country managers, who are often pillars of their community, to local labourers and craftspeople. We believe in paying our overseas staff fairly, and many are rewarded with higher than average wages for local standards. When required, we send local staff on training courses to widen their skills. For example, a member of staff in South Africa recently attended an ‘eco-school’. Here, she was trained in eco teaching methods, which she will take to the schools around her region of South Africa to encourage eco-friendly farming methods.

We are committed to upholding strict ethical standards that ensure a positive and lasting impact upon the environments, communities, institutions, volunteers, animals, children and people that we work with. For example:

We encourage our volunteers to make the most of local opportunities available to them, such as shopping at local markets, eating in local restaurants and using local services and transport.
We encourage volunteers to pay fairly for goods and services. We believe that over payment for goods and services or payment to beggars can have negative consequences and result in the over-reliance of tourism within the local community.
We strongly advise against purchasing wildlife souvenirs or anything which may perpetuate the death or cruel treatment of animals for the purpose of profit.
We advise on dress codes and codes of behaviour in all of our destination countries to ensure volunteers don’t cause offence to local communities.

Our aim is to create always a win-win-win situation in terms of the benefits for the local communities and institutions that we work in, for us and for the volunteer. We do not embark on any project that is not beneficial to the communities, institutes or volunteers. We conduct regular volunteer satisfaction surveys to monitor our performance.

Our projects enable vital conservation, research, care and education work to take place directly where it is most needed. For example, the schools where we teach English very often have no other English teachers, and so they rely on us for continued lessons. We kept a Species Survival Conservation project in South Africa afloat until completion after it was threatened by lack of funds. Our volunteers contribute, all over the world, to projects that would not exist without them.

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