Overview of Academic English Programme

Our two unique English programmes are designed to complement, extend and
enrichbut not repeatthe humanities curricula taught in schools. The Academic
English Programme offers an intense and challenging pathway to advanced all-round
language capability.

Our academic programmes draw on the uniquely rich traditions of education in

Englands top academic schools and universities.

The underlying principles of our syllabus, and the practices we use to teach it, are
also reflections of the specific educational backgrounds of each group of students
that come to learn with us.

For many years we have worked closely with local teachers, witnessed the changing
landscape of international education, and developed an Academic English
Programme composed equally of tradition and innovation. The Academic English
Programme offers students advanced skills, challenging them to:

Unlock and develop their perspectives on the world

Open new horizons of thought

Attain a deeper consciousness of the way things are

Students will benefit from a close relationship with their teacher in small classes,
typically of up to a dozen students. A wide variety of innovative student-focussed
tasks and activities will engage learners with complex ideas, requiring them to work
at the height of their potentialand beyond.

The skills and knowledge offered by the Academic English Programme stand at the
very centre of academic study in any subject. In this intensive academic course,
students will be immersed in the following key language learning tasks:

Increasing the clarity, accuracy and fluency of spoken presentation

Proposing and defending solid, persuasive arguments

Communicating creatively and appropriately in a variety of social contexts

Developing a keen sensitivity to the richness of words and style

 Expanding the breadth and depth of personal vocabulary

Enhancing sophisticated essay-building skills as well as creative writing

Stimulating consciousness of English as a global language

Producing critical thinking and self-awareness

Building self-confidence and appreciating the responsibilities of peer support

Engaging with the liberal studies of art, literature and politics

Programme Highlights
Study Skills Workshop

Cambridge Style Lectures

Cambridge and Oxford Admissions Advice

Interview Technique Workshop

Choral Evensong

Parliamentary and Social Debating

Academic Presentation

Concert and Formal Dinner

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Visits
Oxford University

London and Cambridge Museums

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Cambridge Shakespeare Festival

Houses of Parliament

London West End Musical

Kings College Chapel

 Punting on the River Cam

Programme Details
The Academic English Programme aims to develop students knowledge, skill and
understanding of the following key areas:

Creating clear and thoughtful written arguments most of our students will go on to
pursue successful university careers. In anticipation, we guide each student in the
conventions of academic written composition, helping them to construct an argument
in clear, simple and grammatically correct English that will help them to attain the
highest qualifications possible in future years.

Delivering incisive spoken presentations whether at university or in the wider

professional world, students will need to perfect the art of the spoken presentation.
By preparing basic group presentations, delivering them to their classmates, and
receiving and offering feedback, students will develop the skill of communicating
information succinctly whilst engaging the interest of an audience.

Debating critically on current world topics students will learn the techniques of
debating from Cambridge-style seminars in small groups led by their teacher and
mentors. By discussing important and often divisive world issues, students will
develop the skills of verbal argument within a respectful atmosphere of goodwill and
partnership.

Reading accurately and efficiently teachers will enable students to tackle a range
of literary and factual texts including newspaper articles, short stories and texts
encountered in everyday life. Students will enjoy a range of task-based activities
which will help them to extract general themes as well as specific information
expressed in a variety of writing styles.

Conversing fluently and respectfully in different social contexts as well as the

academic skills of written and spoken communication, students will develop the
ability to sustain natural dialogues with each other. Whether in the formal contexts of
speaking in real-life situations or amongst friends, students will learn to gauge their
vocabulary and phrasing to match a range of social occasions.

Developing a self-critical awareness key to students ongoing development will be

the cultivation of a capacity to check, correct and refine their language skills. Working
closely with their teachers and mentors, students will be helped towards achieving
the confidence to help themselves and each other along the journey to fluency.

Overview of Junior Programme

Aim
Leaving Primary School to join a senior school can be a daunting experience and
an anxious moment for young students aged 11 or 12. A degree of independence,
a passion for learning and a sense of curiosity are some of the key elements
necessary to succeed.

With over 10 years of experience running our academic summer programme in

Cambridge for teenagers, we have designed a special Junior Programme to help
students leaving Primary School to bridge this important gap. This separate
Programme has been running for many years with great success.

Subsidiary Aims
To Immerse students within a diverse and typically British curriculum

To encourage and develop students' participation and active involvement

To develop students' oral and written English language skills

To develop teamwork, co-operation and creativity through a wide range of

challenging activities

Outline
Students will live and learn for two weeks in Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. They
will be mentored by Cambridge scholars in small groups in the ratio of 1 Mentor to
6 students.

Lessons will be taught formally in the mornings by highly qualified and well-
experienced teachers recruited from amongst the best academic schools in the UK.
Mentors will arrange educational activities and further teach the students in the
afternoons.

The Cambridge Junior Programme includes the following three key components:

English/Drama
 Science

History

Programme Highlights & Visits

Journey of Discovery: 4 themes
Life for Children in Wartime Britain

Scientific Discoveries

Habitats and Adaptations

Philosophy and Debating through the use of English and Drama

Life for Children in Wartime Britain

Activities will allow opportunity for students to analyse and explain the reasons for
social historical events and situations. The context of exploration being: "Children's
lives in wartime Britain". Activities will draw from literature, film and a variety of
historical sources. Drama will be used to investigate the typical experiences of
evacuees, presenting possibilities for creative writing. Scientific investigation of
materials, forces and basic aerodynamic design will support an understanding of the
significance of aviation during World War 2, thus linking specifically with the students'
visit to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, about 10 miles from Cambridge.

Scientific Discoveries
Science activities will focus upon key scientists' scientific theories, discoveries and
inventions associated with or developed at Cambridge University. Students will be
encouraged to hypothesise, to devise experimental questions and to explore
scientific processes. Both structured and open-ended scientific challenges will
support and consolidate student learning at the Natural History Museum in London
and the Wind Turbine at Swaffham. The focal point for activities will be an
"Apprentice-style challenge, requiring students to design and present their ideas for
a specified product.
Habitats and Adaptations
Students will learn about Darwin's theory of evolution, as well as about animal
variation and classification. Additionally, students will examine local habitat variety
and (plant and animal) adaptation. Activities will relate closely to ideas presented
during the students' visit to Whipsnade Zoo. Fieldwork activities will include habitat
observation, use of classification keys, data collection and culminate in a "creature
design" presentation task.

Philosophy and Debating

This theme is designed to develop students' discursive skills, following the great
Cambridge tradition of debating. Relevant philosophical questions, selected by the
students, will provide the focus for debate. Students will prepare a structured
argument as part of a mini-debate as well as also anticipating counter-arguments.
Presentation will be assessed according to use of debating language and courtesy,
as well as effective eye-contact, articulation and emphasis.

Visits:
Swaffham Wind Turbine

Whipsnade Zoo

Duxford Imperial War Museum

Natural History Museum

West End Musical or Theatre in London

Harry Potter Studio

Kings College Chapel

Punting on the River Cam

Junior Programme Details

English and Drama
Speaking, listening and acting: Students will learn to:

Present information and points of view clearly, appropriately and fluently

Structure and organise speech so as to guide the listener

Engage an audience, using a range of vocal techniques

Listen and respond constructively to others, taking different views into account

Take different roles in organising, planning and sustaining talk in groups

Use different dramatic approaches to explore ideas, texts and issues

Explore the ways in which words, actions and sound combine to create
dramatic moments

Reading: Students will learn to:

Extract and interpret information, events, main points and ideas from texts

Select and compare information from different texts

Recognize and discuss different interpretations of texts, justifying views on

what students read and see.

Writing: Students will learn to:

Write imaginatively, creatively and thoughtfully, producing texts that interest

and engage the reader

Structure writing to support the purpose of the task and guide the reader

Use persuasive writing techniques

Science
Students will:

Use a range of scientific methods and techniques to develop and test ideas
and explanations

Plan and carry out practical and investigative activities in groups

Obtain, record and analyse data from a wide range of primary and secondary
sources, and use findings to provide evidence for scientific explanations
 Use appropriate methods to communicate scientific information and contribute
to presentations and discussions about scientific issues.

History
Students will:

Investigate, individually and as part of a team, specific historical questions or

issues

Use a range of historical sources

Evaluate sources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions

Present and organize accounts and explanations about the past that are
coherent, structured and substantiated

Communicate knowledge and understanding of history in a variety of ways,

using historical vocabulary

In Britain, thanks have been given for successful harvests since pagan times. Harvest
festival is traditionally held on the Sunday near or of the Harvest Moon. This is the full
Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox (22 or 23 September). The celebrations on
this day usually include singing hymns, praying, and decorating churches with baskets
of fruit and food in the festival known as Harvest Festival, Harvest Home, Harvest
Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving.
In British and English-Caribbean churches, chapels and schools, and some Canadian
churches, people bring in produce from the garden, the allotment or farm. The food is often
distributed among the poor and senior citizens of the local community, or used to raise
funds for the church, or charity.