French teacher Guillaume Charton organised the annual trip to New Caledonia for the fourth consecutive year, with the aim of giving the pupils, who were all advanced in French, a chance to learn by "living in French", and at the same time learn about a different culture.
During their stay, the pupils studied French at a language school, where the tuition was entirely in French at a high level.
But they also found time for several cultural excursions, and fitted in a lot of snorkelling.
For most of the trip they were housed at home-stays to intensify the cultural experience.
"They were really stepping out of their comfort zone by being surrounded with all these new impressions and constantly being bombarded with the language.
"It was the first trip to the South Pacific for all of them.
"But throughout the entire trip they all remained active and positive, even in the 35-degree heat," Mr Charton said.
For many months, the pupils had been earning money for the trip by working on Friday afternoons selling chocolate croissants.
With that, and other part-time work, they had managed to raise almost the entire amount needed for the trip, he said.
"At the age of 15 or 16 years, it is healthy for them to know that they have to put in an effort to earn a reward, and it made them appreciate the trip even more.
"When they arrived back in New Zealand on Friday evening, they had become so absorbed in the experience, that they kept saying `au revoir' and `merci'.
I basically had to remind them to speak English again," he said.
