Published on: 27 July 2017


Eight boys and two staff members from St. Paul’s College in Hong Kong have been with us for the past week as part of an exchange program which Christ Church has shared with the school for the past six years.

Each boy is paired up with a local buddy for support, and the visiting boys have had the opportunity to gain exposure to daily life at Christ Church, participating in a range of activities including classes, visiting tourist attractions, and living with a Christ Church family.

St Paul’s College exchange student Ryan Kwok says, “Although I have only been in Australia for seven days, I have had many unforgettable experiences. The kindness and good qualities of Christ Church students and my host family, the freshness of the air in Perth, and the wonderful and amazing animals in Caversham Wildlife Park – these all have given me precious memories and an excellent impression of Perth. I have treasured every moment here and my daily activities with my buddy.”

In addition to our Hong Kong visitors, Christ Church recently welcomed student visitors from Saint-Jean et la Croix School in France, students and staff from Hotoku Gakuen School, Kobe, Japan as well as boys from Huijia School in Beijing who will be at the School for the following two weeks. As part of the Beyond Queenslea Drive exchange program Christ Church is also joined by four boys from the UK and one from the USA, South Africa, New Zealand, Switzerland and Japan.

“We live in a globalised world where communications, trade and travel has made everyone our neighbour. It is important that our students experience and understand other cultures as a citizen of the world, and embrace the idea of ‘living with others’ from diverse and rich backgrounds”, says exchange program co-ordinator, Mr Ben Hodson.

“For example, being immersed into a culture by living with a family from China can only benefit in developing long-term relationships and understanding. Benefits of the exchange include furthering goodwill and understanding between both school communities, allowing boys to experience a different environment to their own, broadening the boys’ outlook through learning to live with and meet different people, and allowing the boys to act as ambassadors for their school and city.”

The School has hosted ten exchange groups to-date where Christ Church boys share a reciprocating opportunity throughout the year to visit St. Paul’s College in Hong Kong.