Yōkoso. Hoan nghênh. Huānyíng. Hwan-yeonghada. Svaagat. Willkommen. Welcome!

In a post-COVID boom, international students are back in record numbers at South Australian public schools this year.

Students started arriving in mid-January with more than 690 new international students set to be welcomed throughout the year into more than 60 metropolitan and regional public schools across the state.

The students come from 34 different nationalities, with the largest numbers this year from Japan, Vietnam, China, Korea, India and Germany.

More than 40 per cent of the students were here for Term 1, with the remainder arriving later in the year and staying for varying durations ranging from a couple of terms to several years.

The previous largest intake was in Term 3 in 2019, when more than 570 international students were welcomed across South Australian public schools.

While developing their academic skills, the international students also gain an understanding of the South Australian lifestyle.

Banksia Park International High School hosts 24 students from a wide range of countries, and Principal Natasa Penna said the school prides itself on helping students be ethical global citizens.

“The participation of our international students in classes and extra-curricular activities strengthens our intercultural understanding and delivery of our curriculum and learning in a practical way – in this way our local students get as much from this program as our international cohort does.”

Homestay parent Victoria Chaplin has hosted a dozen different students off and on since about 2018 from a range of countries.

“I like our house to be busy, and this is a wonderful opportunity to show off our state to these international guests,” she said.

It gives my two girls exposure to different people and different cultures and has made us all more adaptable while meeting some wonderful people.