Settling In Animations for Victoria's Department of Education

The Victorian Department of Education needed to reach prospective international students aged 12 to 18, primarily from China, Vietnam and India, and reassure them about life at a Victorian government school.

Many had limited English. Most relied on their parents to interpret the information. Almost all were nervous.

The existing pre-departure resources were thorough but institutional. For an audience whose concerns are mostly emotional, a policy-shaped explainer wasn’t going to do the work. The Department needed content that felt human, not procedural, and that worked in four languages.

We produced three animated videos, each deliberately cast with a different narrator. What to Expect When Arriving in Victoria is narrated by an international student walking viewers through a typical school day. The script never sells the system. It just shows a day, which is the most reassuring thing you can show a nervous teenager.

Overcoming Homesickness and Staying Safe switch narrators to a homestay parent. This is the person the student will actually live with on arrival. Hearing her speak directly, “we want to get to know you,” “we can’t wait to meet you,” reframes safety information from warning to welcome. The same advice about scams, road rules and emergency contacts becomes helpful rather than bureaucratic.

We worked with Ethnolink on translations into Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese and Hindi, ensuring each version landed for families across the three priority markets.

The Department now has a series that meets students and parents where their anxiety actually sits, and a content asset that supports both recruitment and pre-departure briefing across multiple channels.