News

Another summer season has come and gone, but we are pleased to say that bookings for the 2023 edition of Whitgift Summer School are now open! Whether you are interested in attending our Intensive General English Course or want to know more about our Pre-IB Course, simply click here to download some quick information. We also have some great videos to give you a flavour of our summer programme, check out the 2022 videos,  they are fantastic! On that note, we thought it would be a nice idea to tell students and parents who don’t know about our summer school a bit about what happened in 2022! Hopefully this will give you an idea about the unique course we run here in south London for international students from around the world. 

Firstly, it was incredible to welcome international visiting students back to Whitgift School for the first time in 3 years in July and August 2022. With 181 international students from 22 different countries and 79 students from Whitgift and Old Palace of John Whitgift Schools, it was a memorable summer indeed. Students who attended this year’s summer school either took part in our Intensive General English Course or our Pre-IB Course. For the students who take our Intensive General English Course, they are split by age and English level. Therefore, we had the Lower School students (11-13) and the Upper School students (14-17) with English levels ranging from A2 – C1+ having morning lessons which consisted of 2 hours of General English and 1 hour of British Culture. Students who took our Pre-IB course (14 – 16) had morning subject-based lessons in English Literature and Language, Mathematics, and Science.

In the afternoons, all the students took part in the Progressive Skills in Action project-based classes, which sees the English-speaking students from Whitgift and Old Palace of John Whitgift join the international students in lessons in order to work collaboratively towards a common goal. On Friday afternoons, the students had to present their work to the rest of the school, with house points available for the best projects. These projects are based on the IB learner profile and encourage students to take individual responsibility for their work, but also require them to be able to work well as part of a team.

After lessons, the students were able to make the most of the beautiful campus here at Whitgift and take part in our activities and academies programme. From Animal Care to Survival Skills, Softball to Music, along with classic academies such as Basketball, Football and Tennis, there really was something for every type of student this summer.  The fantastic thing about our activities programme is that it allows the international students to develop their fluency in English outside the classroom as well as make friends with English-speaking students from Whitgift School. This all happens within a real life, everyday context, leading to spontaneous interaction and conversation, which greatly benefits the international students.

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the students went on some incredible excursions, to places such as the West End, Thorpe Park, Cambridge, the London Eye, Canterbury, Brighton and many more! The students who attended the summer camp in 2022 told us that they really enjoyed our excursions, but that their favourite excursions were in London. Therefore, given that our summer school is so close to Central London, in Summer 2023, we will be visiting London more often for our excursions.

The students were supported by a fantastic team of summer school staff, many of whom work at Whitgift School during the academic year. Teachers, coaches, activity leaders and house parents all made sure that the students had a fantastic time learning English, preparing for the IB diploma, taking part in activities, going on excursions and of course, enjoying the end of week graduation and disco!

We hope that all the students have returned back to school for the academic year 2022/23 feeling more confident and prepared for the year ahead. We also hope that parents (and students!) found our Weekly and End of Course Reports helpful, inspiring and motivational! For those who don’t know, each week we send reports to parents so that you receive important information about how your son/daughter is progressing on the course. These reports give you information on the areas where we think students need to improve and how they can achieve the suggestions provided by the teachers.

Whitgift Summer School will run from Sunday 09 July 2023 - Sunday 20 August 2023. Book early to avoid disappointment.