Students who attended Claire Timlin’s lecture about the CERN Large Hadron Collider in August will be interested to see Claire talking on the BBC in the following web clip:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7608639.stm

From: 29th August
In a recent inspection of our Academy by an independent assessment body charged with monitoring and maintaining standards in UK education facilities, findings in relation to the 2008 programmes were uniformly very positive.

http://www.the-bac.org/

Students on the New Perspectives programme have been writing poems this week on the theme of “childhood memories“. Here is one of the poems produced by Osnat Katz, who is 12 years old.

Bude

I was eleven when we went.
Sun, sea, sand; the scene was set.
Neither I nor my classmates could contain our excitement.
We were greeted
By the sea, a glittering blue eye
Set in a face of land. That evening we went on a tour
Of Bude; came back late at night.
And thus it started. Raucous, fun-filled days
Bled into treasured sunsets
And animated conversations in our rooms; they often went on
Past midnight.
I never wanted it to end.

I can still recall those godlike days of Bude,
Yet how can my fragmented memories do them justice
As the dates recede yet further from my grasp?
But they are my only, cherished link, and I hold on to
The image of a bleeding sun, the sound of long-forgotten laughter
Ringing in the air.

If you would like to take a course with ORA this summer, you can register online or over the phone for our final intake date, which is Sunday 17th August.

Feel free to email us on admin@oxford-royale.co.uk if you require help with your booking!

Staff Member Review: Bristol and Theatre Trip

On Tuesday 22nd of July, staff and students staying at St. Stephens House boarded the bus and headed off to the historic English city of Bristol. Along with the students, it was my first visit to the city, and we didn’t really know what to expect. However, beautiful sunshine provided the perfect backdrop for our first encounter of this lovely place.

Our day started with a visit to the SS Great Britain. This famous ship was designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1843, and was the first ocean going ship with a fully steel hull. The ship is now docked in Bristol and open to the public. We started the day with a visit to the museum, where we enjoyed learning about Bristol’s rich maritime history, and more specifically the varied and fascinating story of the ship itself, which as well as a long career as a passenger liner also served in both World Wars.

We then went onto the ship, where we had the option of choosing audio tours from the perspective of either a 1st class passenger, third class passenger, or the ship’s cat! These commentaries gave fascinating insights into what life would have been like on board an 8 week passenger voyage. We were amazed by the splendour of the first class dining hall, and shocked by the unbelievably cramped conditions in the cabins. After wandering about on deck and admiring the Bristol waterfront, we dropped below the water level into a specially constructed dry dock chamber. This chamber has been designed to prevent the steel hull of the ship from further corrosion, and has less moisture in the air than the Sahara desert! We didn’t last long before needing to emerge into the sea breeze.

From the waterfront, we headed into Bristol city centre, and enjoyed a summer stroll past Bristol cathedral and town hall to Ask restaurant. We shared a lovely Italian meal in the restaurant, before heading down to the Bristol Hippodrome to watch ‘Evita’. With a quick half-time explanation from counsellor Eve about Argentine history, all the students just about managed to keep up with the political storyline, and thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful singing and dance routines that the show contained. At 10pm, we piled back on the bus, tired and happy after an action-packed day.

Hello! If you are looking at our programmes and wondering when the next available arrival date is, we will be welcoming another batch of students on Sunday 3rd August.

If you are an “adult learner” you should view our adult cultural courses here.
If you are a “teenage learner” you should either view our Broadening Horizons course here, or our New Perspectives course here.
If you are a “young learner” you should view our Young Prodigies course here.

WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH?
If you want to learn English in Oxford this August, we have courses running for juniors, teenagers, and adults throughout the month. Please send us an email or apply online!

The first week’s weather was characteristically British, alas – rain! Despite this, spirits were kept high by a host of activities in which the students took part outside their academic lessons. For example, on Wednesday of 1st week, Professor Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist, gave a challenging talk on science and religion in Oriel College, which provoked many of the students to engage in debate with him. This was a lively, fascinating and intellectually rigorous lecture with an illustrious Oxford don, and which generated much discussion at dinner later that evening.

Later that night, at the other end of the activities spectrum, the students were given the opportunity to visit a nightclub for an international summer school disco event. This proved so popular that a return visit was made on the following Saturday.

In the first week, the students were also given a tour of Oxford’s famous museums; they took part in sporting activities; they attended a lecture in St Hilda’s College on climate change, given by a quite prolific writer and TV broadcaster; and they even went on a ghost tour to discover haunted Oxford!

This week – second week – the sun has come out! The evenings have been warm and balmy, and this has allowed many of the students to sit outside, to work on the lawns and to socialise with their new friends. The weather has enabled the students to take part in a famous Oxford tradition: punting. I believe that many of the student counsellors returned to college rather more wet than when they left….! We have had a karaoke party and disco, which went down a treat, and the students have also been taken on a guided tour of Christchurch College, learning a lot about its history and, of course, about Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter.

Besides these extra-curricular activities, the students have been engaged in their academic programmes. Having spoken to some of the students, it seems that the tutors are keeping the students on their toes!

All in all, everything so far is going smoothly and to plan. We’re looking forward to our first graduation ceremony and party this Friday, and hope that it will be a fun evening which will be fondly remembered by the students whose time in Oxford is, at least for now, coming to an end.

Best wishes,

Rhodri Lathey
Residential Director at St Catherine’s College

We have a few spaces remaining for the Broadening Horizons, Law School Prep, Medical School Prep and SAT Preparation (Princeton Review) programmes. If you would like to join our international student body this weekend, please send an email to admin@oxford-royale.co.uk and one of our staff members will be happy to help.

I just want to update you on the progress of the New Perspectives course which students are currently enjoying at Oriel College. With ten days of the camp completed, we are very pleased with how well the students are settling in and enjoying their time here. For most of their time here the weather has been good (not something that one can take for granted during an English summer!) which has allowed us to enjoy a lot of outdoor activities, including visiting many of the historic sights of Oxford (colleges, museum and libraries) as well as playing outdoor sports. On the academic front, things have generally been going well with most students finding their classes stimulating and challenging. I have been impressed by the students’ enthusiasm for learning and the feedback from their teachers has been generally good. Outside of classes there has also been time for plenty of fun. Last night we took everyone out for a Mongolian meal followed by karaoke which everyone seems to have enjoyed.

For some of our students, their time with us will finish at the end of this week. For them, a graduation ceremony will be held this Friday (July 18th). You should already have received an invitation to join us at this event. After the ceremony we will be holding a party for the students where they can say goodbye to their friends and counsellors. For those students who are staying until the end of July another graduation ceremony will be held on Friday 1 August and will again be followed by a party.

We are working hard to make sure that the New Perspectives course is both educational and enjoyable for all the students and I am confident that they will all come away having learned a lot and having made some good friends in the process.

Best wishes

Tim Elwell-Sutton

–
Residential Director
Oriel College Campus Office