We are so happy you will be joining us at AICOL 🙂 Hopefully you will find the following pre-arrival information useful.
Living on the beautiful Gold Coast of Australia
Weather and location – follow this link for summer and winter temperatures and location information.
Summer: You will need sunscreen, a hat and perhaps sunglasses.
Winter: At night you will need some warm clothes. A few days could be cool although most days are around 20 degrees Celsius. Nights are cooler as you will see if you follow the link.
First Day at AICOL
You will need to bring with you a pen/pencil, notebook and your passport. Your homestay family will bring you to our school on your first day. If you are not in homestay you need to arrive by 08:30. You will be given a short placement test, an inside orientation and an outside orientation.
Accompanying Parent
Parents are welcome to attend orientation with the new students.
Parents are requested to leave the school premises when students are in class.
Parents are requested at all times. to keep any use of the student wifi to a minimum.
Lift
Students are not to use the lift. Only students with a disability who cannot use stairs are permitted to use the lift.
Food
There are many food shops at the Australian Fair shopping centre just 3 minutes walk from AICOL providing local and international cuisine. Fresh fruit and vegetables are readily available at reasonable prices.
There is a small kiosk at AICOL where students are able to purchase hot cup noodles, cold drinks, chips, chocolates etc. Fridges and microwaves are provided for student use.
Clothes
Bring enough clothes because homestay clothes washing is usually done once a week. If you are coming in winter – June, July, August – make sure you bring something warm. In summer – January, February, March – something cool. Host families will not provide clothes so if you don’t have enough clothes you will need to buy some.
Accommodation
Most AICOL students choose Homestay arranged by our own homestay staff.
The Gold Coast offers a wide range of accommodation choices including hotels and short term rental apartments. Homestay availability is very limited due to covid. Even if arranged it can be cancelled by a host family without notice.
Activities
Swimming and Surfing are very popular particularly October to May
The Gold Coast offers many different activities:
More water sports: paddle-boarding, wind-surfing, scuba-diving, swimming, snorkelling. More sports: tennis, golf, mini-golf, volleyball, skate-boarding, trampoline, bowling, indoor sky diving etc.
Theme Parks. Zoos, whale watching and nature based activities.
Internet
Internet is provided at AICOL and is available in the homestay but is not to be used for gaming or video downloading or any other form of excessive usage.
