Like many international pupils around the country, the group at Otago Boys’ High School have not been able to go home since their arrival before Covid-19.
International prefect Bruce Zhang said it had ‘‘definitely been tough’’.
There had been a lot of uncertainty among the group as the pandemic developed and they did not know when they could visit home.
Of the eight pupils who remained, five were from China, two from Hong Kong and one from Thailand.
Bruce said he often missed his parents and his home town in Shanghai.
Immersing himself in new things, such as debating or exploring Dunedin, helped him deal with it.
Another thing which had helped was the support of the school and its director of international students Wayne Angus.
Mr Angus was always supportive whenever there were big developments here or back home and made the pupils feel comfortable, Bruce said.
Mr Angus said it had been a really tough time for the pupils, but he was proud of how well they had handled the situation.
Each year an individual pupil was awarded the Rectors Award for Courage, but last year it was awarded to the international students as a group to recognise their struggle, he said.
Most of the pupils had arrived in 2019, when he first started work at the school, and a few in early 2020.
It had been a pleasure to see them grow and mature throughout that time, he said.
Having fewer pupils had freed up space, which allowed him to put more care into those who were here.
However the boys had been so good at looking out for each other he rarely needed to offer emotional support.
Things were starting to ease up, but not everything was back in place just yet.
Many of the boys were from countries still struggling with border control, which made coming back to New Zealand after visit hard.
However it looked like most would be home for Christmas this year.
Another issue was the lack of homestay parents, who took in international throughout their studies or during breaks.
Many had dropped off in the past few years, but with pupils returning there were many who needed a place to stay, he said.
The school was lined up to have three new international pupils coming in this year and more next year.
