The Oscars come to Dominion

This month we had a video competition.  We asked our students to make a 2 minute video marketing Dominion to future students and to upload it to our Facebook page.  The video that received the most likes by 3.30pm on 29 May would win 2 free movies tickets.

Well, we were amazed at the entries we received.  All of the videos that entered were so professional, creative and represented Dominion perfectly, so we decided that we couldn't have just one winner.  We awarded 3 prizes in the end, for 3 very special videos:

Adipong (Arty) Suwannachairob (Thailand) - Most Popular Video - Arty's Video
Shingo Tokugawa (Japan) - Most Professional Film Making - Shingo's Video
Gwangho Yoon (Korea) - Best Interpretation of the Dominion Message - Gwangho's Video

You can watch all 3 of the videos on our YouTube channel, just follow the links above.

Here are the 3 lucky winners with their prizes.  Congratulations again guys and thank you so much for giving us these amazing videos!!

For more information about our school and our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz.

Exciting Courses Starting!

TESOL started Monday

On Monday, we started our TESOL/TKT course with 11 students from 6 different countries - Japan, Korea, Colombia, Thailand, China and Switzerland. A perfect mix of students striving to improve their English and learn the techniques to be a successful English teacher. This training course lasts only 4 weeks. So, if you want to teach English too, the next TESOL/TKT course starts on 13 October.

Lower level IELTS course

 

For the first time, we opened a lower level IELTS course on 19 May for 6 weeks with an entry of 3.5 - 4. Its popularity is proven by the fact that it was full a month before the course even started. This class is composed of 15 students from 7 different countries - Japan, Korea, Thailand, Russia Vietnam, Colombia and Brazil. This is an early preparatory course to help students prepare for the IELTS exam and is an excellent course to do before our regular IELTS course.  We will announce the start date of our next lower level course very soon.  Our next higher level IELTS course (entry level 5 -5.5) starts on 23 June.

For more information on any of our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz or contact us at marketing@dominion.school.nz.

Written by Hinarau Lin, Intern from Tahiti.

 

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’

 

When deciding to study in an English speaking country, there were plenty of destinations to choose from, but it was New Zealand that caught the eyes of Lucas da Silva Fontes, a young teenager from Brazil. Lucky us, as we had the opportunity to welcome him to the Dominion family – and what a great student Lucas has turned out to be!

Lucas started his studies at Dominion as a General English student. His dedication and commitment soon led him to our Cambridge course, which he successfully completed last week. The beautiful country of New Zealand alongside the high quality education and student support Dominion provides, made Lucas realise that his studies were bound to help him in his future goals and that he could count on us to support him.

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’ The more, the better! After all, English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world! From General English to Cambridge, Lucas is now part of our IELTS class and we are very proud of him and even happier to have him longer!

Studying English abroad is a big decision and requires a lot of work, but equally can be the best experience of your life. No matter what your goal is, Dominion will work with you towards achieving it and provide you with an outstanding language education!

 

New Website!!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our new website! www.dominion.school.nz

Updated Look

  

More photos and videos

Bright and attractive, with improved graphics
Links to all our social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube and our blog.
More user-friendly
 

More Course Information

Much more information available on all our courses (adult and teenage programmes), including entry requirements, start dates and course descriptions.

  

Testimonials

Testimonials from students from all over the world

Homestay testimonials

Video testimonials for exam courses

 

New Student Services Section!

Information on:

• Welfare
•  Activities
•  Accommodation 
•  Study and work
• Our pathway agreements with other institutes

Translation Tool

Our site can be translated to a range of languages in seconds, including Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Korean, Russian, Chinese and Thai.

Find out more at www.dominion.school.nz!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

 

Talented Students!

Last week the students in Martin's class were studying current events. As part of their writing class, Martin challenged the students to write a class newspaper.  We were so impressed with their work that we had to share it with you here. 

This newspaper was prepared as part of an afternoon General English class.  Our General English course is structured so that students get time to practice all areas language learning.  Morning classes concentrate on grammar and vocabulary, whilst afternoon classes focus on key skills, such as speaking and writing, with a new topic each week.  For more information about our General English course, please visit www.dominion.school.nz.

Study and Work in New Zealand with Dominion!

As mentioned in a previous post, it's now easier for students to work and study in New Zealand.  Students who study 20+ hours per week for at least 14 weeks at a Category One school are now allowed to work for up to 20 hours per week.  To support these new changes and to make it even easier for our students to find work, we have put together some helpful packages that are available from January:

Job Seeker Package - FREE

• Job skills workshops including how to write a CV and prepare for interviews
• Regular information sessions covering opening NZ bank accounts and registering for a tax number, where to find jobs, and information on labour laws such holiday entitlement and minimum rates of pay
• CV checking service
• List of current job vacancies within key industries
• Short courses information such as barista (coffee making) training and cocktail making

 

Job Seeker PLUS Package - $250
 

Includes all the services available on the standard Job Seeker Package, plus up to 3 one-to-one sessions with our highly skilled marketing department. Individual sessions can cover:

• Careers guidance
• Looking for vacancies
• Contacting employers
• Practicing interview/telephone skills, etc.

 

Please note for both the Job Seeker and Job Seeker PLUS packages:

• Students must study a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least 4 weeks.
• Students must have the correct visa and right to work in New Zealand
• Students must be at least 18 years old.
• Job placement is not guaranteed.
• Open to all levels of English.

 

Job Placement and Internships

 

For students who are looking for professional work experience related to their qualifications and/or job history, our partner Internex is very experienced in this area and can offer job placements and internships around New Zealand. Internships can be done in:

• Business administration
• Media
• Tourism
• NGO
• Sports Management
• Law
• Sciences

Job placements can be arranged in a number of areas including hospitality and retail. Please note that this package is for students with an Upper Intermediate level of English or above only. Terms and conditions apply. Prices are available on request.

For further information on any of our study and work packages, please contact us now marketing@dominion.school.nz.

It just got easier to study and work in New Zealand with Dominion!

From January 2014, it will be easier for students to study and work at select schools in New Zealand.  From January, students that study full-time for at least 14 weeks will be able to work for up to 20 hours per week.  This is a significant improvement on the current situation where only those students who are studying for at least 6 months and who have IELTS 5.0 are permitted to work.  There is one small catch; these new work rights will only be available to students who are enrolled in top-quality schools that are considered to be Category 1 by NZQA.  The good news is, Dominion English Schools is a Category 1 school and has been for many years!  We are very excited about these changes and are happy to assist our students in finding work in New Zealand.  We offer a range of services to support students looking for work.  Our services include:

• Monthly lectures providing information on travelling and working in New Zealand
• Optional CV writing workshops
• 3 day courses in coffee and cocktail making (conducted at our partner institute)

For more information about the changes in work rights, please see http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/internationalstudentchanges

For more information on our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz

How to make a Traffic Light cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 parts Midori
• 2 parts orange juice
• 2 parts grenadine

Instructions

1. Tip 2 parts grenadine into the bottom of the glass. 
2. Then hold the glass at a 45 degree angle and tip in the orange juice down the side and the grenadine will float.
3. Then, still holding the glass at that position, tip the Midori down the side of the glass

The traffic light was just one of the cocktails being demonstrated during our recent visit to our pathway partner New Zealand Management Academies (NZMA), although we only got to sample the mocktail (alcohol free) version!  As part of our Friday options classes, we took a big group of students to NZMA's open day.  During the afternoon the students were shown around campus, participated in a scavenger hunt (with chance to win an ipod shuffle), watched some excellent barista and mocktail making demonstrations, and had a yummy free BBQ, complete with mocktails and freshly made coffee!   We even got to sit in on some classes and talk to tutors. NZMA have a range of courses in management, hospitality and cookery, and they are a Dominion pathway partner.  That means that students who successfully complete our English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, can gain direct access into specific courses at NZMA, without having to take the IELTS exam.  For more information, on our EAP course and our pathway options, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz or contact us now marketing@dominion.school.nz.

 

Teacher Training Courses Starting Soon!

 

Dominion Raises Money for Kiwi Charity

This Friday (23^rd August) was Red Nose Day in New Zealand.  Every year on Red Nose Day, people wear red noses and do silly things to raise money for Cure Kids.  Cure Kids is an iconic kiwi charity dedicated to finding cures and new treatments for childhood illnesses such as cancer and heart defects.  This year we supported this outstanding charity by selling red noses around school, wearing red to school for the day and having a bring/buy cake sale.  We were overwhelmed with the support of our students in this event.  It was amazing to see students from all over the world bring in such beautiful cakes to sell for charity.   A lot of them enlisted the help of their homestay families to help them bake, which must have been a special experience in itself.  During graduation there was a prize for the best red outfit.  The students voted and the best dressed prize went to Amy (top right in the picture above) – congratulations Amy!  After prize giving, the students went to the cake sale to start buying cakes and raising even more money for Cure Kids.  In total, the day’s event raised $450 NZD.  We are so pleased with this outstanding result, and we’d like to thank all our students for being so motivated and involved. Well done everyone!  To see more pictures from this great event, please see our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DominionEnglishSchool.
 

Agent Newsletter Out Now!

 

 

Every month we email our newsletter to our agents to keep them updated on what is going on around school here in Auckland.  If you would like to receive our newsletter, please email marketing@dominion.school.nz.

Cambridge Course Starting Soon!

　

Our next Cambridge course starts on 9 September. Students can study this globally recognised course for the same price as General English (plus $470 for exams/text/materials). Please contact us if you have interested any students.

Welcome Erin & Gelise

Erin Madden (left) joined us on July 1 as Marketing Manager, replacing Keizo in a local marketing and complementing Alyson in other markets. Erin has a Masters in International Business and Languages from Heriot Watt in Edinburgh and speaks Spanish and French. Erin has experience in marketing healthcare products and cosmetics in UK and NZ. She has also Cambridge CELTA and has experience in teaching English so we feel she will fit very well into our marketing team. Expect a visit from her in the future!

Erin has been featured in the IALC website too.

Gelise O'Hare (right) has moved from Reception to become Registrar. Gelise is a very talented Kiwi who studied languages at university and speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French. We know she'll do an excellent job and that you will enjoy communicating with her.

Our brand new Marketing Team...

From left to right... Erin Madden, Gelise O'Hare, Martin Wall, Alyson Craig and Andrea Soares.

Our Facebook page

Have you already "like" our facebook page? We have 340 people + have already liked our facebook page and it is growing every week.

 *Mondays new students - every Monday we welcome new students from many different countries. Students come from more than 30 different countries every year. This week we welcomed new students from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany and Taiwan. 

 
*Free activities - we provide a wide range of free interesting activities for all ages. Our most popular activity is... Wednesday drinks at Provedor in Auckland's viaduct (only for 18+ students).

*Relevant videos and links for Dominion students.

*You can enquiry information too about courses, levels, accommodation or anything else you would like to ask us.


See you in Facebook! 

January Newsletter

We are happy our January newsletter is out now:

Happy New Year 2013! 2012 was a tough year in New Zealand and around the world. When times get tough, the Dominion response has always been: ‘Focus on what’s important, quality teaching and services – look after your students, staff and agents.’ We are very focussed on keeping a consistently high level of performance in all areas. New Zealand remains a great place for a visit, to study and to live in. Thank you for your support and best wishes for the coming year.

Signed Martin Wall, Principal.

New for 2013 - This year we have started a new 10 week cycle for our General English classes. Dates are:

7 January - 15 March
18 March - 24 May
27 May - 2 August
5 August - 11 October
14 October - 20 December

It is an advantage to start at the beginning of the new cycle, but our system allows ongoing enrolment and students can start any Monday throughout the year.

New year courses - EAP 1 starts 21st January & IELTS starts 4th February

Best wishes,

Alyson and the Dominion Team - marketing@dominion.school.nz
 

Movember in Dominion

During November each year, the Movember organisation is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in New Zealand and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men. We are proud to say that this year Martin (photo) has helped to raise $60 in Dominion English Schools Auckland. Thanks very much for all who contributed, the money raised will be donated to support this cause.

Dominion English Schools on YouTube!

We are updating our YouTube site at the moment. We have some of our videos and others that we would like to recommend to you. Here you can see some of the videos we liked...


From NZ Educated

From NZ Educated

What to see and do in Auckland

Thanks to See and Do New Zealand we can share this Auckland video with you, we hope you like it and come to study English in our school. Did you know we have been in New Zealand for 42 years now?