Discovery Summer Radley (Ages 11-17)

 “I have been sending teenage students to Discovery Summer programs since the beginning of my career as educational agent; the company was recommended to me by some parents and children themselves who had been very happy there in previous years. New clients considering these programs can disregard the slick brochures and sales pitches of other schools. The EL Gazette and British Council have said it all about this one—these are among the top-ranked English language programs for children and teenagers in all of the United Kingdom. I’ll explain a bit how this ranking works: every four years, the British Council carries out an inspection of its 500 + member schools in the UK (nearly all reputable language schools in the UK are accredited by the British Council). During the inspection, in which two examiners inspect the school for days, they grade a school in 13 areas like teaching, care of students, accommodation, etc., and in 15 areas if the school also has programs for young learners. For each area, a school can receive a grade of “acceptable,” or it can exceed the expectations of the examiner. When the latter is the case, the school receives what’s called a “strength” in that area. As a result of these inspections, language schools typically receive about 3.5 strengths. On its last inspection, Discovery Summer received 13 out of a possible 15!
There are also many aspects of this program that I like about it as agent. To begin with, the English courses are necessarily intensive, and the workshops offered along with the classic language lessons are intelligent, innovative, and relevant to the world of teens and young adults today. Then, it has a fantastic nationality mix, and most of the students attend it as individuals or in small groups of friends or siblings. As with all of my junior programs, the numbers of single mother-tongue speakers are limited, the importance of which I cannot stress enough in the selection of an effective language course for children and teens. In fact, in representing this program over the years, it was often not possible to book it for my clients as the quota for Italian speakers had long been reached (also for this reason, it is important to book it early in the year). Additionally, the program is one of the few on the market that includes the presence of British children, obligating the students to speak English with them, and allowing them to make friends with them. From an organizational perspective, parents will also appreciate that this program goes from mid-week to mid-week, permitting them to book flights for the high season on weekdays, rather than on weekends, when they cost more and the airports are more crowded. Finally, with mid-week programs, the class “weeks” span a Saturday and Sunday, and the program “weekends” are on Mondays or Tuesdays, for example, when the venues for excursions in England are also much less crowded.”