10-17 year olds, girls and boys (English level: Elementary to Advanced)
Concord College is a highly academic independent international boarding school in England with proud academic success. 81% of Concord’s 2017 leavers are now attending UK Top 10 universities.
Concord College summer English courses provide a fantastic opportunity for international students from all over the world to live and study together on campus, to learn English and experience an inspirational combination of varied social, culture activities and excursions alongside their structured English tuition. The courses are set for two age groups: 10-12 junior students and 13-17 senior students. Each course consists of theoretical, practical and group work with the aim of increasing knowledge, improving confidence and the ability to work with others.
Students are assessed on arrival and are placed in a class of suitable age and English ability. The programme consists of 21 hours of tuition per week, which includes 15 hours of classroom based teaching with qualified English teachers and 6 hours of Active English lessons taught by teachers with specialisations in other subjects. Lessons are timetabled between 09:00 and 15:00, with the exception of Wednesdays when lessons finish at 12:30 for a half-day excursion. Progress tests and tutorials are carried out by teachers at the end of each week to monitor and review each student’s progress and well-being, enabling any necessary class adjustments or further support the following week. The course syllabus consists of three main elements:
- General English: The lessons are aimed at improving grammar and the structure of the language.
- English Skills: The lessons focus on the 4 skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- Active English: Structured lessons to provide opportunities for students to practise their spoken English and learn subject-related vocabulary through activities, such as Sports, Art, Cookery, Drama, Music, Photography, Fashion and Team Problem Solving.
Outside the class, a dedicated recreation team, consisting of Art, Outdoor Education, Performing Arts and Sports staff, will organise a wide range of activities for students to participate in after lessons and at the weekend, both on and off campus, which are suitable for all ages and abilities. All young learners aged under 13 must attend a supervised Cubs’ Club from 15:00-21:00. Students aged 13+ years have a choice of varied activities after lessons finish at 15:00. They can choose from a series of structured masterclasses and workshops that run daily throughout the week 15.30-17.00 (excluding Wednesdays). All students are registered at supper time (18:30 – 19:00) and again at bedtime (21:30/22:30).
The safeguarding and welfare of students lies at the heart of the summer school. An electronic ID registration and extensive CCTV system ensure the whereabouts of students is known regularly throughout the day, and this is checked and monitored by Safeguarding team throughout the day and night. Students live, study and play in an English speaking, safe and secure multinational environment, where they have fun, make new friends from around the globe, and enjoy every opportunity to improve their English ability.
Course essentials:
Concord College English summer course consists of a well-balanced programme of English tuition, activities, sports and excursions. The weekly programme includes:
- 21 hours of English tuition per week
- 1 full-day excursions and 1 half-day trips per week
- Full afternoon and evening activity programme
- End-of-course Assessment & Certificate
- Optional Skills Extra lessons in the afternoon
- Maximum class size of 14 students
- Heathrow airport transfers between 09.30 and 16.30 BST
Skills Extra
A series of structured masterclasses and workshops that provide students learning opportunities on a topic of their interest, and include specialist subject tuition, practical activities and opportunities for social interaction.
Activities:
Outside language tuition, students will improve language skills through a broad range of sporting, cultural and entertaining activities. The Outdoor Education staff lead and supervise outdoor adventurous activities both on campus and off site. Activities on campus are free (inclusive of the course fee), while some optional off-campus activities may incur additional costs. These activities include, such as:
On-campus
Art Rooms
Badminton
Basketball
Climbing Wall
Computers
Dance Studio
Footgolf
Golf
Gym
High Ropes
Music Rooms
Orchestra Room
Pool
Swimming
Table Tennis
Tennis
Theatre
VolleyballOff-campus
Bowling
Canoeing
Caving
Cinema
Hill Walking
Ice Skating
Karting
Laser Quest
Mountain Biking
Paintballing
Rock Climbing
White Water RaftingExcursions:
Excursions are a vital part of the summer experience for international students to gain a cultural understanding of the UK alongside English language study. Every Wednesday afternoon a half-day excursion to the local towns is arranged for sightseeing and shopping. Each weekend there is a full day excursion to towns and cities in the UK. There are also various additional optional trips arranged such as a visit to the university cities of Cambridge or Oxford or William Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon. All students enjoy a full day at a Theme Park on the last day of the course. The choices of excursions include:
- Bath
- Cardiff
- Chester
- Liverpool
- Nottingham
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- Shrewsbury
- Telford
- Stratford-Upon-Avon
- Alton Towers Theme Park
- Drayton Manor Theme Park
- Severn Valley Railway
- Harry Porter Warner Brothers Tour
All excursions are supervised with mandatory supervision for students under 13 with 1:6 teacher student ratio, and, by request by parents/guardians, students over 13. Some optional excursions will incur additional costs. Teachers incorporate information about excursions into lessons, enabling students to take their education beyond the classroom.
The sample timetable below is a typical one-week summer English course programme at Concord College.
Boarding:
Students live on campus in modern, well-furnished, single gender boarding houses. Older students have en suite facilities, and the younger students share bathrooms. All front doors are accessed through an electronic key pad and magnetic locks operate through the night for increased protection and security. Each bedroom has a security safe for personal possessions. Students are responsible for their own keys. House parents reside in each boarding house and they are responsible for the student’s care and welfare whilst they are at summer camp.
Meals:
Well balanced, nutritious cooked meals are provided in the beautiful dining hall. Drinks and biscuits are available in the lesson breaks. Packed lunches are provided for excursions. Special diets are well catered for. Fruit and refreshments are available throughout the day and cakes provided for each student if their birthday occurs during a course.
Facilities:
On-campus facilities include two large sports halls, squash courts, aerobics and weight training room, climbing wall, running track, outdoor chess, indoor heated swimming pool, football pitches, volleyball courts, all weather basketball and tennis courts, high ropes course, art room, computer room and student common room. Performing Arts Centre with music practice rooms and a large theatre where films are shown every evening, and live performances are given at the end of each course. The Wi-Fi is also available throughout the school but is switched off at midnight until 0600 to ensure students have a good night’s sleep.
Laundry: Laundry is done once a week. All bed linen is provided and is laundered once a week. Towels are not provided.
Concord College is a prestigious international boarding school that was established in 1949. Set in 80 acres of beautiful English countryside in the heart of Shropshire, Concord is well known for its high academic standards and the warmth of its community. The ethos of Concord rests on international understanding combined with high standards that enable young people to grow and to flourish.
Concord is a warm, calm and friendly community in which values of trust and decency are shared between staff and students in a mature atmosphere of mutual respect. The school expect all their students to achieve the highest standards and to gain entry to top universities in the UK. They also take care to nurture the individuality of students at Concord to develop their self-confidence. Students are also encouraged to understand the needs of others and to respect the values of the Concord community.
Concord is very proud of the academic success of the students. Academically, the results speak for themselves. Not only do Concord students produce astonishing GCSE and A level performances, but they also go on to attend top universities in the UK and around the world. Concord is annually ranked highly in UK school league tables. ‘The Good Schools Guide’ has described the school as ‘near perfect’, ‘in a league of its own’ and ‘where the next generation of global high flyers is being nurtured’. They have achieved exceptional academic results in 2016/17 –
- 3rd in the independent schools league table based on points per candidate in data provided by the ISC; 6th in The Times school league table (co-educational schools) and 7th in the Telegraph (all schools)
- % A*/A at A Level (97% A*-B grade)
- 21 students into Oxford and Cambridge
- 18 students into LSE, 20 to Imperial, 35 into UCL and 5 to KCL
- 24 students into medical, dental and veterinary schools
- 81% of Concord’s 2017 leavers are now attending UK Top 10 universities
- Superb GCSE results with 60% A* & 82% A*/A
