Christchurch closure

 

It is with sadness that I write to confirm that Dominion English Schools Christchurch will not reopen for a foreseeable future. Our building is still inaccessible and we have decided to cut our losses. This is specially sad when you look at the photos above. When the earthquake struck, Dominion Chc had just celebrated its 20th birthday. We were lucky that no-one connected in any way to the school was injured, apart from shock. We miss the school and working with wonderful staff that showed such responsibility and courage right up until the very sudden end. Many thanks to them for building such a warm, friendly high quality school.

Martin Wall - Principal, Dominion English Schools

An earth shattering experience

On 4^th September 4.35am the lives of many Christchurch residents and business people changed forever as most of us were awoken from a peaceful slumber to the sound of  breaking glass, creaking walls and the rumbling of the earth beneath us an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 shattered our hopes and dreams.

Never in a million years did we ever think our beautiful city and landscape would be changed forever by mother nature in this way.

We have been humbled and amazed at the generosity and kindness shown to us all from friends and neighbours and from a homestay point of view to find that during this distressing and trying time, how many of our past students have  taken the time to phone, txt or email more than once to check on our well being and find out if there is anything they could do to help.

We have heard from such a lot of lovely people who have stayed in our home over the past 15 years, from as far away as Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, and Japan you all know who you are. The support has been great and we really appreciated hearing from you all. It is really nice to know that you all still think of us “under the bed” or as our current student reminded me “the end of nowhere”.

We are thankful for no major loss of life, thankful for the tireless efforts of those who have toiled over the past few weeks.

We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.

On behalf of all the other Dominion English School homestays I would like to thank you all.

Cheers

Lorraine and Paul Pentecost

Click here to see more photos

Click here to read more about the earthquake

Dominion Christchurch is back in business! - After the 7.1 earthquake

On Wednesday 15th September we returned “home” after the 7.1 earthquake on the 4th September. Our building had only a few broken windows but some of the surrounding buildings were not so lucky.

We are thankful that no one was hurt though one of our long serving homestays lost their home. The students have been amazingly resilient and optimistic and I want to say a big thank you to them all. We are very fortunate to have such loyal, hardworking teachers. Thank you!

I also wish to thank Marie Bristow, Dominion Senior Teacher for her organisation and constant support and to our Auckland team, especially Martin Wall, Principal, who flew down to lend a hand.

Meanwhile the sun is shining, it’s Spring and there are daffodils and blossoms everywhere. Christchurch will emerge better and stronger than ever. Our classrooms are “buzzing” as we get on with what we do best – teaching English!

Margaret Jillings

Principal

Photo Stories - Level 4

Ghost Stories - Level 5A

Table Tennis Competition - Friday afternoon programme

Last Friday we had a very entertaining afternoon programme. On Friday afternoons students have different classes and activities to choose from. Some are academic options such as reading or pronunciation classes while other choices are more recreational. It means that there is something  for everyone and the best is that the choices are different every week.

One of the activities last Friday was the Table Tennis Competition. Likasit from Thailand won out of sixteen contestants.

Futsal competition - Dominion English School team

Well done Dominion team!!!

On Sunday the 25th April some of our students took part in an Inter Language School Futsal Competition. It was lots of fun. We even had a cheering group supporting us. The Dominion Team didn't have the best result but we appreciate their participation.

A big thanks for Taka (the organiser) ;-)

21 nationalities in Christchurch

Welcome all students from...
Japan, Finland, Korea, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Taiwan, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Argentina, Austria, Belgium and Russia.

Christmas in Dominion Christchurch

This is what we did in Christchurch: After our first morning class we had a Quiz - What do you know about Dominion staff?
At 1 pm the whole school went to Latimer Square just one minute away from Dominion. We played lots of different games as you can see!! Then pizza came...

Thanks to Michael for the wonderful video and pics!!

Merry Christmas everybody!!

Where to eat out in Christchurch - Level 4

When I feel lonely I go to Osaka – it is not far from Dominion. I usually eat tomkatsu. It is very nice and very cheap. Normally it’s under $12. You can eat sushi and curry. There is kareoke . You can have as much rice and misu soup as you want. Also you can drink beer and other kinds of drinks.

Su Jin

I often go to Tomato which is a Korean restaurant. I like cold noodle soup so I often eat it. Also mixed spicy noodles is a popular Korean food. Especially the tofu soup – it’s to die for. Tomato is located near Dominion. It also sells kinchi which is really delicious and cheap.

Dong Ki

City Express is a convenience store. It’s handy because it has Korean noodles, drinks, snacks, ice-cream etc. We can buy many things there – it’s convenient. In addition this store is near Dominion. It’s useful for us.

Yosuke

I prefer to have lunch from the Swiss Café. You can find it just across from the Dominion entrance on the other side of the street in Cathedral Junction. It’s open from 9am – 4pm, Monday – Friday. The menu is priced from $8 - $15. It also sells chocolate.

Li

Do you want to know an insider tip?

Pop in and look – test yourself:

· Test original Japanese food.

· Good and cheap.

· Lots to eat.

· Quality is the trump card.

· It’s just the right thing for you.

· Tell me a better place to eat … I’ll follow you immediately.

Erhard

This store’s name is Yellow Rocket. I usually follow the tram-line from school. You can see Yellow Rocket in front of a black building. They sell bagels, salads, smoothies, coffee and soup. The best of all the food is bagels – they are cheaper than salads or soup. They cost about $8.50. They taste really good. Soups and salads are more expensive than the other foods. You can eat inside or outside if you want. Yellow Rocket opens at 10.00am.

Ji Hyang

I usually pop over to Coupland’s Bakery to buy sandwiches. I think most people already know this place because it’s not too far from Dominion School and the price is really good for students. Also there are many kinds of food like doughnuts, cookies, muffins, bread etc. The taste’s also good. Sometimes I don’t know which one to grab. Finally it’s opposite the end of New Regent Street on Armagh Street, next to the ASB bank. The opening hours are Monday – Friday 7am – 5.30pm and Saturday 8.30am – 4.30pm.

Hyo Young

Kwassui Junior Senior High School

We are happy to welcome once again our Japanese students from Kwassui Junior Senior High School, Nagasaki. After all these visits, we feel they are part of our family. This time, the girls had a lot of fun doing different activities: Horse Riding, Bone Carving, Aquarium, Antarctic Centre, Tram, Farewell Lunch and Shopping Mall.

They really enjoyed their morning class with our lovely teacher Sieg. We hope to see Mr Suzuta again next year!

Antarctic Centre

Making fabulous jewellery

Farewell Lunch

Teenage Programme

Our winter Teenage Programme is coming to an end. We had lots of students from many different countries enjoying activities in Auckland and Christchurch.

Students in Auckland had a lot of fun. These are some of their photos:

Mini Golf

Mission Bay

Students in Christchurch had also lots of fun. These are some of the activities’ photos:

Antarctic Centre

Ice Skating - Cathedral Square

Our most popular activity in Christchurch was Paintball. Some of our Senior students joined as well:

Please e-mail us to receive a sample of our activities (Auckland or Christchurch) study@dominion.school.nz.

Rugby Quiz & Rugby Night

Students from Christchurch have enjoyed a great rugby match with one of our teachers, Peter Ward. It was lovely to have him teaching again here at school. More than 25 students beat the cold weather to watch their first rugby match here in New Zealand.

Can you see Dan Carter on the screen? He is one of our most popular All Blacks player. Fantastic to see him back on the field.

Before the game we had a Rugby Quiz at school!!! The Waikato Team won the chocolates.


We also learnt how to form a scrum. So much fun! Thank to Warner and Peter who run this special Friday activity.

Ten great things about Dominion and Christchurch...

… from Porntip’s Group – April 2009

We have been studying at Dominion for five weeks and gained a lot of invaluable experiences every single day of our visit. The staff and teachers are so helpful and try to encourage us to speak English as much as possible. An English speaking area policy helps us improve speaking and listening skills within a very limited time. Dominion is an excellent place to study English because it gives such a homely environment and that really helps us overcome the feeling of homesickness especially when you are in a different culture.

Activities provided at school are so interesting:

*We had a fabulous night at the Christchurch Gondola while watching sunset and dining at the Pinnacle Restaurant.

*And the little penguins at the Antarctic Center are so cute!

Here are 10 great things about Dominion and Christchurch

- common room – table tennis, pool table, and soccer table

- The best Principal in the world

- Good hospitality and high quality education

- Wonderful caring host families

- Fantastic hangout @ Dux de Lux

- Great Art Gallery and beautiful Botanic Garden

- Variety of international food

- Excellent and fun weekend trips by Hello New Zealand

- Wonderful, kind and helpful friends

- Clean air, no pollution and good traffic

Interschool Soccer in Hagley Park










Pub Night











Jet boating in Queenstown

With Cam from Hello New Zealand

Asian Cultural Fiesta

18th April by Shoko Tampo

I went to the Asian Cultural fiesta on 18 April in Christchurch. We could eat Asian food and see some traditional Asian performances. As I had known one of the performers was Chie, our Japanese counsellor at school, I had been looking forward to seeing Chie playing the drums.

Although, I am Japanese, I don’t think I have seen a live Japanese drum performance before. I might have seen it on TV.

When it started, I was really excited. I could feel the power of the drums and performers. I felt carried away by the rhythm. I really enjoyed it. It was overwhelming. I would like everyone to see it. It was a good experience for me.

I hope this drum group continues to play here in New Zealand so it becomes more popular. I would go again if I had the chance!