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Whitgift Summer School - a fantastic place to improve your English, Academic and Life Skills

A very warm welcome to Whitgift Summer School. We are delighted to showcase our brand-new website; we hope you find it interesting and that it offers lots of insight into our fantastic programme. For our first blog post, we thought we would give a quick overview of each aspect our Summer School. Your journey to Whitgift Summer School really does start here!

Our Summer School
Whitgift School, located in South London, is an outstanding British independent school, renowned for the highest standard of education. Since 2015, during the summer months, the School has opened its doors to children from around the world, as well as the UK, to study and take part in an exciting activities’ programme. Whitgift Summer School is completely organised by the school itself and not run by an external company, meaning that each student who attends experiences what it really is like to attend a traditional day and boarding school in the UK. As the Summer School team is based at the school throughout the year, we prepare every aspect of the programme: course content, activities and academies, excursions, airport transfers, rooming, food (the all-important garden tea parties and BBQs!) every detail is carefully looked into to ensure that, by the time the summer arrives, our students have an incredible time with us and create unforgettable moments!

Location and Grounds
Set in beautiful parkland in South London, the school benefits from a water garden that is inhabited by flamingos and wallabies, while peacocks roam the grounds freely. The experience of staying at Whitgift is therefore unique with students having the chance to study in a safe and beautiful environment. The School itself is situated very close to London Gatwick Airport, which is only 30 minutes away and London Heathrow Airport which is a 1 hour drive away. London St Pancras International Train Station is also only 30 minutes from the school.

Arrivals & Departures
Arrival and Departure days are on Sunday and we offer a free “meet and greet” service for flights landing and taking off between the hours of 09:00 – 18:00. A member of staff will greet students at the arrivals hall before accompanying them to Whitgift in either one of our mini-buses or by train, depending which is quicker and more convenient for that specific transfer. On departure day, students will be accompanied to the airport and checked-in by a member of staff before being taken to security. We also have a lot of experience when dealing with Unaccompanied Minors and are more than happy to help with this process. Please do check our key information page for more details.

Student Mix
One of the aims of Whitgift Summer School is to welcome children from as many different nationalities as possible – to be as diverse as possible – and in 2019 we welcomed children from 22 different countries. Students stay for a minimum of 2 weeks, but we also offer 3, 4 and 6 week stays at the school.  All residential students stay in our modern boarding house, called Founder’s House and share a room with somebody of the same sex and a similar age but of a different nationality. All our rooms are single, double or triple and have their own en-suite bathrooms. Founder’s House is a state-of-the-art boarding house with communal areas for students to relax and socialise – it really is a home from home!

English Course
Our English Course runs for 23 hours a week and includes morning tutor classes of no more than 12 students. Furthermore, we have a strict language quota meaning we only ever have 15% of any one language on our programme. This encourages English to be the de facto language in the classroom as well as in other areas of the school: boarding house, canteen, on activities and during excursions.  In the classroom, all the students are encouraged to have a “can do” attitude to learning English and achieve beyond what they thought they were capable of. Each week, we send detailed progress reports to parents so that they can receive immediate feedback on their son/daughter’s progress and at the end of the student’s stay, we give each student an “End of Course Leaver’s Certificate” which gives a detailed account of their stay with advice on how they should improve their English in the future. Ultimately, our aim is to help students become more confident and fluent when communicating and it is hoped they leave feeling motivated and have the desire to continue to work on their English long after they have left Whitgift Summer School.
 

Pre-IB Course 
We are delighted to be offering a brand-new course for 2021. Called the "Pre-IB" Course, this is an academic programme for students who will be aiming to take the International Baccalaureate in their home country/school after the summer. The course, which lasts for three weeks, covers English Literature and Language, Mathematics & Statistics and Science. As well as this, elements of TOK (Theory of Knowledge) and CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) are embedded into all elements of the course so students leave Whitgift feeling inspired and fully prepared for the rigour of the IB. In afternoon, Pre-IB students join the advanced English Students in our "Progressive Skills in Action" lessons which have been developed with IB learner in mind. Finally, all aspects of the Pre-IB course feature 3-4 Whitgift students who they themselves aim to take the IB here at Whitgift. Therefore, international and visiting students will really feel part of the Whitgift Community! It really is the ultimate preparation course!

Study with British Students
International students who study at Whitgift Summer School also have the chance to study alongside and make friends with year-round boys from Whitgift, and girls from our sister school, Old Palace of John Whitgift. These students, known as Student Hosts, take part in every aspect of the course and ensure the visiting international students quickly feel part of the wider-Whitgift Community.

World Class Facilities
Outside the classroom, students benefit from the world-class sporting facilities that Whitgift School has to offer. Our modern Sports Hall comprises a 25m indoor swimming pool as well as squash, basketball, table tennis and badminton courts. All our Academies are run by professional coaches, many of them Whitgift staff members, meaning students who take sport seriously can improve their skills with us. For those who are more creative, we offer a Musical Theatre Academy as well as Dance and Arts and Crafts activities. Please do head over to our Academies and Activities page to discover the full list of what is on offer.

Exciting Excursions
On Wednesday afternoons the visiting international students head for a half day excursion which typically involves heading to Central London. In past years we have gone on the London Eye, watched a musical, been on a river boat tour on the Thames and visited Wimbledon Tennis Club. Saturdays are the full day excursions to cities such as Cambridge, Oxford and Brighton as well as visits to Warner Bros. students and the London Olympic Site. Of course, we can’t forget the obligatory shopping afternoon here and there!

Looking ahead
Each month we will be updating our blog,  focusing on all the fantastic things our Summer School has to offer: academic excellence, fantastic facilities, studying with British students, comfortable accommodation, small class sizes, personalised airport transfers as well as our famous ‘weekly’ videos.  We will also be hearing from our past students and student hosts! There is sure to be something that will interest you. For now, please do look around our website, why not take a look at our ‘Virtual Tour’?