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If you talk to any international student who has attended Whitgift Summer School, they would probably describe it as busy! Our comprehensive summer camp has been designed in this way so students can quickly make friends and develop a good routine in their ‘new home!’ Here we look at a typical day at Whitgift Summer School.
Wake-Up – 07:30
Rise and shine! Students at Whitgift Summer School wake up at 07:30 through a traditional ‘alarm’ with the old school hand bell being rung by the House Parents in the boarding house corridors! It’s then onto the morning House Meeting at 08:00 where the House Parents speak to the students and give them important messages for the day. This is a good opportunity for students to ask questions about anything they do not understand before the school day starts. After this meeting, the students head to the canteen for a delicious breakfast. The first meal of the day varies, but will always involve one or more of the following: bacon, eggs, sausages, waffles, cereals, fruit, yoghurt, toast, pancakes…
Our modern boarding house early one summer morning.
Morning lessons – 09:00 – 12:30
At around 08:55 the students go to their morning lessons. For the General English students, they will have 2 hours of English based around communicating as much as possible with each other, looking at the four key skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. They will also look at systems such as Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation as well as have a one-hour lesson based on British Culture. For the Pre-IB students, the morning will be spent on either English (Week 1), Maths (Week 2) or Science (Week 3) looking at the core elements of this subject as they prepare for their first year of the IBDP.
Break times: 10:00 – 10:15 & 11:15 – 11:30
Students have 2 breaks in the morning. The first is between 10:00 - 10:15 and the second between 11:15 – 11:30. Students are offered fruit at break to keep them going before lunch!
Students making the most of their break!
Lunch 12:30 – 13:30
At lunchtime, our Student Hosts - the year round students from Whitgift who also take part in the Summer School – arrive at the school and stay on campus until 21:30, fully taking part in all aspects of the summer programme. Lunch provides the international students with their first opportunity of the day to speak English in a relaxed, social context and with English speaking students from the UK.
We cater for all dietary requirements and allergens and our fantastic catering team that is based at Whitgift all year round is always ready to help and assist students who have specific food requirements. Whether you are vegan or vegetarian, we have everything you need, and we always offer a variety of healthy and nutritious food each day: 2 hot options, a pasta option, a salad bar, and desserts are all available to our summer school students.
Students eat in our canteen and on some evenings, eat in their House. Here you can just see the House names on each table.
Progressive Skills in Action: 13:30 – 15:45
This is one of the most dynamic aspects of the Whitgift Summer School programme: Progressive Skills in Action. In the afternoon, the Whitgift students – our Student Hosts – join the international students in project-based lessons. You can find out more information about our project-based lessons here, but in short, students are placed in groups of 5, with 1 English speaking student joining 4 international students. Each group is given a project to work on and on Friday afternoons they must present their findings to the rest of the school at the end of week exhibition event. This is a unique approach to using English, as it isn’t really a language lesson, it’s more about students using soft skills: teamwork, leadership, communication, problem solving, flexibility and people skills. Pre-IB students join up with the Advanced English language learners for this part of the course. Students are supported by their classroom teacher in these lessons.
Our dedicated teachers offer support and advice to students during the Progressive Skills in Action project work.
Back to the Boarding House: 15:45 – 16:10
Once lessons are over, students return to the Boarding House to get ready for an exciting afternoon of Academies and Activities!
Academies and Activities: 16:15 – 17:45
On each arrival day at Whitgift Summer School, all students choose the Activities/Academies they want to take during the week (apart from Fencing, Golf and Horse Riding which need to be chosen when booking). Organised by our Activity Manager and led by the dynamic Activity Team, the Activity Programme at our summer camp offers lots of choice for students. We also offer Academies that are run by professional sports coaches, many of whom work at Whitgift during the year. Find out more about our Activities and Academies here.
We offer a wide range of activities and academies for our summer school pupils. Here, they are taking part in Survival Skills.
Back to the Boarding House: 17:45 – 18:45
After activities, the students return to the Boarding House to have a shower before dinner. This is also a good opportunity for the boys and girls to relax, perhaps call home or read a book for 20 minutes! The students can make the most of the kitchenettes, the two common rooms, or play table tennis, pool, table football, volleyball and basketball.
Students can make the most of the common rooms in the boarding house and play pool, table tennis, or table football.
Dinner: 18:45 – 19:30
Dinner is held every evening between 18:45 – 19:30 in the canteen (except on Fridays when we have our weekly BBQ). On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, all students must sit in their House. This is to encourage a sense of community amongst the students, especially students who are maybe not in the same class or in the same afternoon activities as each other. The idea is that students mix as much as possible and communicate so that they maximize their opportunities to make new friends. More information on the House System can be found here.
Evening Activities: 19:30 – 21:30
Led by our fantastic Activity Team, the Evening Activity Programme offers the students lots of different activities each evening. The students select these options just after dinner. Here is an example week of the evening activities:
Monday: Capture the flag OR Tye Dye OR Campfire
Tuesday: Football tournament OR Just Dance OR Egg protector challenge
Wednesday: Movie & Popcorn OR Arts & Crafts OR Pamper night
Thursday: Laser Tag (whole school event)
Friday: Disco with Ice Cream Van
Students during the egg protector challenge!
Bedtime: 22:00 – 22:30
In evening, the Welfare Manager and House Parents have a quick meeting with the students before everyone gets ready for bed. We ask all students to hand and sign in their phones so that they are not tempted to use their phones late into the night. All the phones are locked in a secure cupboard in the Welfare Manager’s office and returned to students in the morning. Lights out at 22:30 so that the students wake up well-rested before another busy summer school day!
Whitgift Summer School will run for 6 weeks from Sunday 10 July – Sunday 21 August 2022.
Students can attend for 2, 3, 4 or 6 weeks to attend either our Intensive General English Course or our International Baccalaureate Preparation Course, known as the Pre-IB Course.
To book, please click here.