British Study Centres News
BSC Brighton's 10th Birthday Celebration
Staff, colleagues and friends gathered at British Study Centres, Brighton earlier this month to celebrate the school's 10th birthday with a glass of bubby and some delicious canapés made by the school Chef Martin Richardson.
Simon Cleaver, BSC Chairman, recalled: "When we opened our doors back in 2002, we had just 3 students and now 10 years later it is very gratifying to have a built up a busy, bustling centre with over 150 students studying here."
John Veale, School Director, thanked everyone for their contributions over the last 10 years in making the school such a success. He said that all the staff should feel very proud as the school had made some really impressive achievements. Over the last 10 tears we have welcomed, taught, trained, accommodated, fed, watered and entertained over 7000 students and teachers. In addition BSC has proven its commitment to quality through exceeding the expectations of both the British Council and Independent Schools Inspectorate accreditation schemes. The glowing feedback we regularly get from our students certainly shows that they leave with smiles on their faces!
London Voted the 2nd Best Student City in the World!
London has come second, beaten only by Paris, in a ranking of the world's 50 best cities for students according the QS Best Student Cities study which was also published on the BBC website.
So what makes London such an attractive place to study?
Some would argue that London can be quite an expensive city for students. Yet for many, it is the vast array of world-class educational institutions, the professional as well as social opportunities, and its multicultural feel along with its unique way to mix the historical and the cutting-edge, that makes studying in London worth every penny.
Students appreciate the myriad of cultural activities which the capital has to offer, its concerts, shows, galleries, parks, gardens, museums and not forgetting the very many historic buildings and monuments. London's proximity to continental Europe and its numerous transport links make it an ideal location as a base for international students.
New Superior Student House Next to Camden Town
BSC London has taken on a fantastic new property for our students. It is a new type of accommodation offered by our London school, a superior student house!
The beautiful Victorian house has been renovated from top to bottom and houses 4 twin and 4 double rooms. Each bedroom enjoys it's own, beautiful en-suite bathroom. The house has a fantastic modern kitchen and conservatory at the rear of the house. Here students can enjoy dinner with their house mates or relax with the plasma screen TV. In the summer months when the weather is a little warmer there is a lovely decked patio area for students to enjoy.
The house is situated in Kentish Town. This is in zone 2 of London, just a 5 minute walk from the Underground station and on the borders of the very popular Camden Town. The house is close to an array of shops restaurants and bars and the famous Kentish Town Forum. An excellent venue for gigs in London. The journey time to school should be no longer than 30 minutes.
The house enjoys wireless internet connection and a cleaner visits the property every week to clean the communal areas of the house.
We believe this house offers an outstanding standard of accommodation to our students and will be very popular with everyone. We hope you enjoy your stay!
John Veale Celebrates 10 Years with BSC!
Last Friday was a very special day for our Brighton school – our School Director, John Veale, celebrated 10 years with British Study Centres! A surprise party was arranged for John, involving both the Student Services team and the Academic Team. Special guest appearances were made by the Managing Director, Andrew Roper and the Chairman, Simon Cleaver. John had no idea of the celebration and appeared very moved by the gesture. Champagne, presents and speeches were order of the day!
John has been with the school since it launched ten years ago and has overseen the development of the school from when there were only a few students and two or three teachers, to a school now with 18 classrooms and a teaching team of 25 plus. The school has grown a lot during this time which has required good leadership to help everything go smoothly – where the Student Services management and Academic Management has changed, the School Director has always remained the same. This was just a small thanks for all the hard work he has put in to the school – BSC Brighton wouldn't be the same without him!
British Study Centres - America
British Study Centres is expanding into the US market by acquiring American operator, Access to Language Studies. With 4 established summer schools in the UK, this is our first foray overseas. Summer 2012 will see the group open four centres on both coasts of America (Boston, New York & San Diego). The move into the US market reflects our confidence in the growing junior sector.
Director of the Juniors' Division at British Study Centres, Matt Simmonite, says: 'This is an exciting opportunity for our group, fantastic new centres, in a new country, with a new Head of US Operations, we're absolutely thrilled with the prospect and looking forward to the challenge.'
Managing Director, Andrew Roper, adds: 'The junior market is booming. We launched our UK junior schools in 2009 and we've seen phenomenal growth every summer since. We're delighted to be opening 4 new locations in the States this summer, as well as our new centre in Edinburgh. Our strategy for the next 2-3 years is to continue to grow the junior division and this includes adding new and exciting locations and programmes. We feel that the next 5-10 years will see further rapid growth in the juniors' sector. We're seeing parents investing in their children's futures, their decision making clearly focusing on short intensive courses of study in the summer months and often including an additional element, too. Golf, horse riding, football, water sport and tennis are all options we offer, combined with a course of English.'
We're delighted to be joined by a respected and experienced industry expert, Dilermando Silva, who will head up BSC's new American division and brings with him a wealth of knowledge, experience and understanding of the juniors language travel industry in America.
A Great Success! Chinese Teacher Training Group Loved Their Experience At BSC Oxford
This winter BSC Oxford Teacher Training took great pleasure in welcoming 25 Chinese teachers from Hangzhou Province for a three week teacher development programme.
The lucky 25 were chosen from a large group of high school teachers as part of a professional development project that partnered British Study Centres Oxford and the Hangzhou Xihu District Teacher Professional Development School.
Clare Booth and Andrew Thomas the BSC course tutors for the programme were very positive about the group from China. 'It was a rewarding experience for all concerned' said the tutors 'We were surprised at both their level of English and their understanding of modern EFL teaching methodology'.
As part of their programme the Chinese teachers undertook a number of school visits to primary and secondary schools in Oxford. They were welcomed at Rose Hill Primary School, St. Andrews Primary School, Oxford Academy, Gosford Hill School and St. Ebbes Primary School (where they were invited to see the children perform their nativity play!).
At The Oxford Academy, Principal Mike Reading welcomed the teachers with a detailed presentation of the school and its history. In thanks, Ms. Mingxiang Yuan Deputy Schoolmaster of the Hangzhou Xihu School presented the Principal with a replica of the famous Qingming Scroll which hangs at the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Finally, as they left Oxford, Ms. Meiru Hu Vice-director of the Middle School Education and Research Department said that the teachers were extremely grateful for the kindness and flexibility that the British Study Centres staff had extended to their group. Furthermore they had very much enjoyed the experience of living with British families and had thoroughly enjoyed the many cultural visits they had undertaken in Oxford including trips to the world famous Ashmolean Museum, the beautiful landscape of Blenheim Palace and the first-rate shopping opportunities at Bicester Village (Oxford's designer labels outlet!).
Oxford School Director Niko Phillips was thrilled with the feedback from the group 'It has been a real pleasure to host such an interesting group at our Teacher Training centre. We hope that this is the first of many Chinese Teachers' groups we will welcome to Oxford!'.
Congratulations! Bournemouth Teacher Passes Diploma
Congratulations to Louise Kulaksiz on passing her diploma! All the hard work started earlier this year when Louise decided that she had got to a stage in her TEFL career where she needed to move on. This desire for career progression and developing as a teacher led her to undertake the gruelling task of passing her Diploma exam. This was no mean feat as during the later stages of the course she couldn't work out why she was so exhausted and thought the task was getting the better of her, only to discover she was pregnant! So now with a baby due in late November it seemed all the more important to get the diploma under her belt.
When asked what the best bit of studying for the diploma was Louise smiled and said "2pm on the 1st June when the exam was over!", she added that "it was really hard work but worth it". That hard work paid off as the exam results were released at the end of August, it showed that she had passed with flying colours! Congratulations!
British Study Centres Shortlisted Again!
It's award season for the Language Travel industry and British Study Centres has been shortlisted again for the 'LTM Star English Language School Europe 2011' at the prestigious Language Travel Magazine awards. This is the third successive year British Study Centres has been nominated in this category and after last year's win everyone at British Study Centres has their fingers crossed!
British Study Centres are in the privileged position of securing one of 5 shortlist places out of a thousand schools running for the award. Voted for by language travel agents throughout the world, we are extremely touched that our partner agents think us worthy of being nominated for a third year.
An ecstatic Andrew Roper, Managing Director of British Study Centres said "Everyone at British Study centres is tickled pink to be nominated again! We are acutely aware of how stiff the competition is in this category with over a thousand eligible schools so to be shortlisted for the third year running is a real privilege" after hearing of the nomination.
The winners will be announced in September at a glittering ceremony in London where the great and the good of the industry rub shoulders, do business and exchange ideas. We are proud of all our schools and the service we give, this nomination is a reflection of the hard work everyone at British Study Centres has put in. So with the awards just around the corner, watch this space
BSC Oxford Roof Terrace Now Open
BSC Oxford can proudly announce the latest phase of its fourth floor regeneration at the English school site in Oxford city centre. Now to complement the Student Information Point and Shop, alongside our comfortable self-study centre, we are thrilled to announce the opening of our roof terrace! This newest addition to our school affords a comfortable seating area where students can enjoy al fresco drinks and snacks courtesy of our Organic Deli and coffee shop. Niko Phillips, BSC Oxford's school director, invited students to the roof terrace as an alternative to the popular student lounge. He commented 'this is a wonderful addition to our facilities - see you on the fourth floor at breaktime for an espresso between classes!'. Trevor and Christina, proprietors of the Organic Deli Roof Terrace, extended a warm welcome to all BSC students; English learners, international teachers and teachers-in-training all!
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British Study Centres School of English is a member of British Study Centres Group, which, in addition to the Schools of English, consists of two vocational colleges: West London College and Hove College.
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