![Students during project work]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1644832026/whitgiftcouk/ndmoknqin4ywstb8nbxy/BakariLeon.jpg","width":2200}])
Bakari, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Firstly, in your opinion, what is a ‘student host’ at Whitgift Summer School?
A student host is a role in which Whitgift, and Old Palace students get to meet and help international students who come from abroad to attend Whitgift Summer School. We help them with their English through loads of activities. For example, there are project lessons that we take in the afternoon, called Progressive Skills in Action, involving several in-class activities with the international students. Being a student host isn’t just about work though, there are loads of other things we do with the visiting students: it’s about making friends, which is cool and fun.
Students presenting their work during the exhibition event, which is held on Friday afternoons.
Tell us more about your time with the international students.
It all starts on Sunday afternoon with a BBQ in the Founder’s Garden, which acts as an ice breaker. We then arrive on Monday and have lunch with the international students, before having our first afternoon project lesson. The projects vary each week, and, in the past, we’ve done projects that have required us to think creatively. For example, create and then make a board game with rules or even rewrite a famous play or pantomime. At the end of the week, we get to show off what we have come up with to the other groups. In the afternoon, we play sports, and, in the evening, we have more activities. Also, on Friday afternoons, we have a celebration of the week, a sort of prize-giving ceremony where students are rewarded for hard work, for example, most improved English speaker. We also get to see a video of the week, which shows all the things students have done that week in a montage – it’s fun to see what everyone’s been up to.
Students enjoying a BBQ in the Founder's Garden.
Can you tell us about the friends you have made?
I have made quite a few friends, both international ones and other student hosts from Whitgift too. I keep in contact with international students and it’s nice that I have been able to meet friends from different cultures and backgrounds. I’ve managed to keep in touch with a friend who is in China as well as students in France, Japan and Russia, it’s a sort of ‘potluck’ in terms of the nationalities you meet!
Bakari, front row, third from left, with other student hosts and international students at the entrance to Whitgift School.
For you personally, what’s the best thing about being a student host?
Just getting to meet loads of different people from various backgrounds. We live in the UK, but things might be different back home for the international students and the part of the world they live in; they have loads of interesting stories to tell us.
What has the experience of being a student host given you as a person? Working with international students has broadened my horizons and improved my social skills. When you meet someone, clearly you don’t know them at all, and being a student host has allowed be to be aware of someone else’s culture and what it is like to be them. My ability to meet and talk to people I didn’t know - that social aspect – improved greatly for me compared with before the Summer School experience.
Do you have a particular memory that sticks out in your mind?
The Thursday evening talent show - seeing what secret talent some students have in their back pocket!
Students taking part in one of the Thursday afternoon talent shows.
What would you say to a Whitgift or Old Palace pupil who was thinking about applying to become a student host?
I’d say do it, it’s fun! Summer School might seem like you’re doing ‘extra work’, but it’s not like that as you get to make new friends and it’s a fantastic experience to have.
Could you sum up the experience in once sentence?
A unique, brilliant, fantastic and broadening experience, one that makes you more independent as a person.
Student Hosts are English speaking students from Whitgift and Old Palace of John Whitgift Schools who take part in the Summer School.
The international students who attend our Summer School, have the chance to have real and authentic English language encounters with the Student Hosts.
This cross cultural exchange allows students from around the world to make friends with students from the UK and also make memories that will hopefully last a lifetime!
Details on applying to to be a Student Host will be circulated to Whitgift and Old Palace students in Spring 2022