Summer Schools accredited by the British Council


 

“A summer school, not just a summer camp”

WHY CHOOSE THAMES VALLEY SUMMER SCHOOLS?

  • We have operated high quality summer school courses for more than 45 years.
  • We work with only the most prestigious English boarding schools. Though they were founded hundreds of years ago, they’re as up-to-date as any in the country – with a blend of traditional, historic buildings and modern first class facilities.
  • All of our courses have an academic focus – every student will take an exam at the end of their course.
  • We’re as selective about our teachers as we are about our schools. They’re all nativelevel English speakers and are expected to hold internationally recognised teaching qualifications.
  • We are accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.
  • We are a member of English UK and Young Learners English UK – dedicated to raising standards and awareness of courses for young learners.
  • Ranked as one of the top two residential multi-centre summer schools in the UK, based on British Council inspection results published by the EL Gazette February 2018.
  • We are an international summer school. Our students come from all over the world; Italy, China, Russia, France, Spain, Germany, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Korea and many more!
  • We recruit local English boys and girls of a similar age to spend time in lessons, activities and excursions, encouraging our international students to speak as much English as possible = English School Friends.

OUR SCHOOLS

  • Our residential schools could hardly be better situated. All are within easy reach of London, Heathrow Airport and some of England’s most historic towns and cities.

St George’s School, Ascot was founded in 1877 and one of its early pupils wasBritain’s famous wartime Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The school is only a 5 minutes’ walk from Ascot town centre, and Windsor Castle – home of the Royal Family – is just 10km away. St George’s recently won Tatler Magazine’s award for Independent Schools (UK) best school food!

Epsom College was founded in 1855 with Royal patronage granted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The college is set in extensive landscaped grounds, close to the worldfamous Derby Race Course and 15 minutes’ walk from the centre of the small, lively town of Epsom. Epsom is 22 km from central London, with fast and frequent trains to London Victoria station (journey time 30 minutes). Heathrow and Gatwick airports are less than 45 minutes by coach.

St John’s School, Leatherhead has a beautiful mix of old historic buildings, and new modern facilities. The school forms a quadrangle around beautiful lawns and grounds, which makes it feel very friendly and comfortable in summer months. Leatherhead is only 45 minutes from London, and Heathrow Airport is 40 km away.

Students are divided into juniors (8-14) and seniors (14-17). Juniors and seniors will be taught in separate classes with a dedicated Senior Teacher for each age group.

Rugby School, founded in 1567 during the reign of Elizabeth I, is one of the oldest and most famous schools in England. Here in 1823, one of the students, William Webb Ellis, picked up a soccer ball and ran with it. In the process, he created the sport of rugby football. A 50-minute train trip takes you into central London, and a short coach ride takes you to Stratford-Upon-Avon – Shakespeare’s birthplace.

OUR COURSES

  • At all our centres, courses are designed to improve students’ fluency and accuracy in listening to and speaking English.
  • Our courses are among the very few in the country to concentrate on the Trinity College examinations in spoken English. Students at Ascot, Epsom and Leatherhead will have 25 lessons of English per week, whereas at Rugby on our Intensive Trinity course, students will have 30 lessons per week. The examination takes place at the end of each 2, 3, or 4 week course.
  • Each student receives a Trinity Student Book, which has been designed by our team of language experts (who between them have over 50 years’ experience) to support students in preparation for their exam.
  • At Rugby, we offer students a choice of 3 different types of English courses; either the Intensive Trinity English Examination course, Cambridge FCE Examination or IELTS Examination. The FCE and IELTS course runs parallel to the Trinity Course, so that students have the opportunity to join in the afternoon and evening recreation programmes.

STAFFING AND WELFARE

From start to finish, your time with Thames Valley is worry-free……and the key to this is our staff!

  • We have an average of one adult in residence for every five students (3 times the British Council recommendation!)
  • ۸۵% of our staff are usually aged 25 years old and over.
  • Our senior staff typically work in UK boarding schools throughout the year.
  • On average 60% of our staff are returnees.
  • The majority of our students come as individuals and parents trust us to know they are being properly looked after.
  • Each boarding house is supervised by an experienced Housemaster or Housemistress who is responsible for the personal safety and welfare of the students in their care. Teachers and other senior staff also live in the boarding houses and assist in the supervision of students.
  • Teachers are appointed on the basis of one teacher per 13-14 students, maximum 1:15. (On the intensive course at Rugby there is one teacher per 8-9 students on average, maximum 1:10.)

ACTIVITIES AND EXCURSIONS

  • Activities: Students can plan their own afternoon programme from the variety of sports and activities available each day. There are usually 3 sessions each afternoon, with a choice ranging from football, tennis, basketball, swimming, arts & crafts, Zumba, yoga, ICT, cooking and much more!
  • Excursions: There will be one full-day and one half-day excursion each week. Our students visit places such as Oxford, Brighton, Windsor, Bath and Cambridge, as well as various sites in London.

We will also offer additional optional full day excursions, which students pay for if they wish to participate.

SPECIALIST ACADEMIES

We have a wide range of ‘Afternoon Academy’ options available where students can receive specialised tuition in sports (Ascot) and arts, technology and tennis (Epsom & Leatherhead).

ENGLISH SCHOOL FRIENDS

There’ll be one ‘School Friend’ in each class at all of our centres, assisting students in the learning process and to have the opportunity to mix and make friends with English boys and girls of a similar age. They’ll have lunch with the students and join in with the afternoon activities on campus and on some excursions.

It’s an ideal way for students to speak English naturally with English children throughout the day.

TRANSFERS

We offer a scheduled transfer service where students are met at London Heathrow airport by Thames Valley Summer Schools’ staff on published course dates and are taken by private coach to their course centre. At the end of the course, students are taken back to Heathrow, escorted safely through check-in procedure and taken to passport control/security.

Arrival and departure times of TVSS scheduled coaches are detailed below:

An individual taxi service using a private, licensed car is available for transfers at other times or from other airports. We use reputable companies recommended by the schools and ensure all the drivers have DBS clearance.

USEFUL LINKS

  • Please click here to access a copy of our 2019 Dates and Fees, Transfer Charges, Brochure and Academy Insert.

You can also refer to our website for Dates and Fees and our 2019 Brochure.

  • For full details on the schools, courses, activities & excursions, sample menus, bedrooms, weekly residential programmes and welfare, please refer to our Parent Manual.

When you have opened the Parent Manual, press ‘F3’ on your keyboard and in the search box, enter the keyword you are looking for, e.g. ‘Pocket money’. You can also print the documents or save as a pdf.

  • High resolution images and videos can be accessed in the ‘Educational Tour Operator’ section of our website (username: tvss / password: vall3y).
  • We have a video for each of our key selling points: the excellence of facilities at our host schools; the high quality of our teaching and excursion programmes; student welfare and our Housemaster/Housemistress system; and English School Friends. To view please go to https://www.thamesvalleysummer.com/videos.aspx.

 

Mr Mehdi Najefi is not only the Middle East educational consultant for the Thames Valley Summer School (TVSS) but he also has been their Recreation Director for four years and counting at Sevenoaks and Ascot Summer Schools. TVSS has over 40 years of the wealthy experience with 99% pass rate in Trienty London examination. Please visit the website for more information or contact us.

www.thamesvalleysummer.com

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Phone Number: +44 114 360 7172