Geraldine High School

Summary

We are a school of about 600 students, located in the safe, picturesque town of Geraldine, 1.5 hours south of Christchurch. Geraldine High School welcomes students from all nationalities and cultures. We provide a caring and positive environment in which students can grow and learn. We believe strongly in academic achievement for all our students, and we specialise in an optional two year Outdoor Education programme that takes advantage of our close proximity to the mountains and rivers. International students are well cared for, with an excellent multilevel ESOL programme that prepares students for IELTS or university, and with welcoming homestay families. Throughout the year we organise trips and activities around the South Island of New Zealand. 

Our town has a number of boutique shops and small enterprises with a local producer of fruit syrups, jams and chutneys being the most famous but our home-made chocolate and cheese shop is also very popular. The foothills of the the Southern Alps are on the western side of the town and the Pacific Ocean is on the eastern side (about a 30 minute drive) and we are surrounded by farms (mostly dairy, sheep and cropping). Our host families are caring and supportive families and come from a range of backgrounds. Most of our families live in Geraldine but some of our families live on farms and have horses and other animals).