Holmbury St Mary Teens Language Camp - Dorking, Surrey. England

Every student takes part in English lessons in the mornings of the course (except on trip days). These classes will be for grammar, conversation and vocabulary practice. There will be a lot of visual exercises, and the classes are interactive, to ensure that all students are involved and are given the opportunity to practise their English amongst peers.

Classes are small, and we try to keep classes to a maximum of 12 students. On every course there are a range of abilities. We are able to offer excellent provision for those with a basic level of English, but those with an advanced command of the language should not be deterred from the course.Even the top class is challenged, and lessons will explore challenging issues on wide ranging topics from politics to national identity.

The English lessons themselves consist of 15 formal teaching hours per week inside a classroom environment. This is made up of structured lessons, which include speaking and vocabulary practice, alongside written, reading and listening exercises.

The teachers have a number of resources available to use in the lessons, including the Internet and projectors in their fully equipped classrooms. Students take a short written test at the beginning of the course, as well as speaking to their teachers individually in order to be placed into the correct class. They will then, generally, remain in these classes for the whole course.

During the afternoon there is one hour of further collaborative work, this time in houses. This might include creating a video diary, a short performance or presentation, or constructing the “weekly newspaper” in which the students produce a detailed written newspaper to send home, informing readers of events throughout the week, including photos.

We believe that this is a great way for students to put their English into practice, whilst working as a team through editing, photography, writing and publishing. The newspapers and videos will be sent to relatives once a week, on “publishing day”, and can be used as evidence of a student’s level of English when applying for a school or University at a later date.

All teachers are native English speakers and most of our teachers are English teachers throughout the rest of the year. They are all fully TEFL qualified.

Students are tested three times throughout a 4 week course – once at the beginning to assess their level of English, and mid-way and at the end to ensure they are learning effectively.

Presentation morning: We believe that students can only improve their confidence in English if they practice speaking in front of their peers and in front of the staff. We have an innovative presentation morning, whereby students are in mixed-ability groups, coming up with an idea for a new gadget, idea, product, game, etc.

They have a lot of freedom in what they create, but they must present their idea to the ‘panel’ (senior staff) in their groups, to explain it, and justify why their product would be so popular to the world. Some years the products have a theme, such as a new environmental gadget, but other years students have free-reign as to where their imaginations can take them.

This morning is vital to learning English and public speaking skills, and helps students to gain confidence to freely talk without notes in front of those older than themselves from a young age. Each day, lessons are structured thematically, so that students gain a broad range of vocabulary and can practice their English through repetition daily.

Some themes last one day, others might last two or three, depending on how in depth students are able to work within the topic. Each student gains a varied and broad knowledge of English, and learns ‘colloquial’ phrases so that they can feel comfortable conversing at the end of the course.

Themes throughout the course are likely to include the following:

• British culture
• Environment
• World records
• Traditions from around the world
• Holidays and festivals

Our sports and activities programme is a key part to the course here at the Camp. It is a time when the students can relax and enjoy taking part in their favourite sports and activities, whilst making friends and practising their English in a social environment. We aim to keep the students occupied all day every day with a range of fun and educational games.

Students are not allowed electronic gadgets such as ipods or mobile phones except at strictly controlled times such as on day trips or on Sundays when students are allowed to ring home. We find that this helps to keep students from feeling homesick whilst maximising the opportunity to speak English.

A typical afternoon’s sport might include a choice of volleyball, tennis, football, swimming, basketball or softball on the school’s extensive sports fields or in the pool. There are also impromptu games of dodgeball and benchball organised throughout the week.

Our staff are energetic and enthusiastic about keeping everyone included and making sure that no one, however unsporty, feels left out or excluded. No one is forced to participate but when your child sees everyone else having fun (including staff) she or he will no doubt want to join in.

A few students prefer to spend the afternoons doing art in the classroom with our course helper, preparing posters and props for the evening activities, or taking afternoon photography lessons with our resident photography teacher.

During the evenings, there is a varied programme which is imaginative and again, incredibly fun. We have had a fashion show, a murder mystery night, casino night, Olympics (extremely competitive between houses), scavenger hunt, gladiators and an awards night. In between, when the students have had a busy day in London, they can relax with an evening swim.

Each week we offer a day trip. Previous trips have included a day in London; a cultural tour of Oxford; a theme park outing; Brighton seaside visits or historic Windsor as well as one evening at a West End show. Future trips will follow a similar pattern but the attractions may vary, depending on the weather and students’ preferences.

Each week students go on a range of unique and exciting trips and excursions. For example, last year our full day trips were to London, Brighton and Oxford (all included in the course fees*) as well as having the option of extra trips, activities and excursions which are not included in the course fees.

During optional trips, those students who wish to stay at the school will be provided with a full programme and will not get bored or miss out on not attending- it’s a personal choice who goes on the trips!

We have an excellent link with a local riding stables near to the school. They provide 2 x 2 hour sessions of riding, with 30 minutes learning how to care for the horses. Students get the chance to learn about how to re-hoof a horse, how to brush them, and spend time with them before going on a hack in the beautiful countryside.

We select sunny days for these trips to ensure that the ride is pleasant and enjoyable, and anyone can ride, from beginners to advanced riders.

Cost – £70 per student, including all transport and equipment.

Students have the unmissable opportunity to visit London’s West End one evening. We choose London’s top shows to visit, with past shows including Lion King, Wicked and Mamma Mia. It is an exceptional opportunity to get dressed up, have dinner and see a live show in the capital.

We guarantees all students tickets, if they book before June 1st, for London’s most exceptional shows.

Cost – £55 per student, including all transport and dinner

We are now providing tennis lessons to all students free of charge. We understand how enjoyable tennis can be if you are a confident player….and how disheartening it can be if you’re not! So this year we will have a number of coaches on rotation giving students lessons during Sunday afternoons and any free time when students wish to play.

Cost – Free of charge