School of English Studies school review

School review News and views from teachers and students

Another year of English language progress

ses-folkestone.co.uk

We look back on a year of English language success with extracts from articles and comments written by the students and teachers of 2015.

Individual presentations As part of the Spoken Performance Workshop, students were asked to give a presentation on a subject of their choice. Vicente, who studied with us for 6 months, gave us a fascinating presentation on the workings of the eye.

Visit from sister town in France This summer the school was visited by a group from Etaples-sur-Mer, a sister town of Folkestone in France. We enjoyed the meeting, and the opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences between the two towns.

Summer garden party In July we held our annual garden party.

Students, teachers and host families gathered together in our gardens for an evening of delightful conversation and live music. We served a traditional English summer tea of cucumber sandwiches and scones, and enjoyed some Pimms as we celebrated the summer of English language learning. There were even lawn games including croquet. Thank you to everyone who joined us, we had lots of fun and we cannot wait for next year!

Murder mystery evening We held a special murder mystery night in the school. At the beginning of the week students were given their own unique character and facts about their life, which they had to memorise. On the night, we enjoyed a delicious three course dinner before the mystery drama began. Students then had to ask each other a series of questions to discover the identity of the murderer.

Team Project with Edinburgh School of English We teamed up with our sister school in Edinburgh, Edinburgh School of English. We worked together as a school to create a virtual tour of Folkestone, presenting the history and culture of the town, and choosing some of the best attractions to showcase. In return, we got to learn about Scotland’s beautiful capital city of Edinburgh.

Leavers’ ceremony Every Friday we hold a leavers’ ceremony to bid farewell to departing students and reflect on their achievements and time spent with us. After the ceremony, we gather in the student lounge to enjoy some tea and cake. It’s always great to see how much our students have developed, both personally and linguistically.

Cooking class at a teacher’s home

Two of our students headed to teacher Patty’s house for a special cookery lesson. The students learned to cook a pasta dish, risotto and some side dishes, whilst following Patty’s recipes in English. This was a good practical exercise for developing and reinforcing their language skills, and it also gave them some delicious recipes to cook for their family and friends back home.

Team Project - ‘Cubes’ As part of their Team Project, students were given a business task to market surplus materials. One million cubes had been made in a manufacturing error and working together in their teams students were required to come up with a creative idea to make use of these cubes. They then presented their final designs and a business plan to us. This was a great test of students’ collaborative and communication skills and we loved seeing so many imaginative ideas.

School of English Studies, Folkestone 26 Grimston Gardens, Folkestone Kent CT20 2PY, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1303 850007 Email: info@ses-folkestone.co.uk

Thank you to all the students and staff who participated in this review and who gave their permission for us to use their words and photographs. If you would like further copies of this document, please contact us on: info@ses-folkestone.co.uk The photos used in this document are the property of School of English Studies, Folkestone and are for use by School of English Studies, Folkestone only. These photos have no commercial or contractual value.