Stafford House teachers get together to share expertise

Continuing our commitment to excellent teaching, last week we held our first ever Stafford House Teacher Conference.

More than 50 delegates from our schools in London, Brighton and Canterbury attended the event, held in the brand new teaching block of Stafford House’s sister college CATS College Canterbury.

The conference was organised by Vicky McWilliam, Director of Studies in Canterbury, and different talks were given by a variety of teachers from all three schools.

Vicky said “It was a very inspiring day. It was really rewarding to see so many of our colleagues volunteer to give talks.”

“We wanted the conference to be an opportunity for our teachers to get together, share ideas and be inspired. Everybody, including the visiting speakers, felt it was a very worthwhile way to spend a Saturday!”

Two well-known guest speakers from the world of English Language teaching gave plenary talks. Pete Sharma, author of ‘Blended Learning’, gave an insightful presentation into the use of technology in the classroom.

Jim Scrivener, author of Learning Teaching, gave the closing Plenary which was a provocative questioning of how teachers might review their teaching to see whether they could be even more demanding of their students.

The conference was enjoyed by all who attended and it was unanimously agreed this should become an annual event.

Summer in London!

Despite not really having true summer weather so far this year, London is still in full swing! We have already had the fantastic celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics are just around the corner.

Running alongside the sporting events, London is in the middle of the "Cultural Olympics" which is a programme of performing and visual arts taking place all over the city. There is even  more music, theatre, art, food and fun in London this summer than usual. All very exciting! Check it out here: http://festival.london2012.com/events/index.php

Stafford House London is also celebrating its first summer and we also have an exciting cultural mix. We have students from 29 different countries from 4 continents at the moment! Here is a photo of our students outside the school. They are about to go and enjoy the the Jubilee celebrations on the Thames.

The Beatles Tour

As many fans of the iconic 1960s band The Beatles will know, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all came from Liverpool, Lancashire. However, London is home to many places where the group made their name.



The Beatles on the Abbey Road Crossing



As part of Stafford House London's activity programme, students took a guided The Beatles tour in London. We visited the London Palladium, where the group played on October 13th 1963. This transformed them into a media sensation, leading to the term "beatlemania" being used for the first time. We visited the Apple building at 3 Saville Row, where on 30th January 1969 the group played their final live concert on the roof of the building. Finally no tour would be complete without a photo at the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing. Next to the Abbey Road recording studios, this is where perhaps the most famous image of the group was captured. The zebra crossing, is in fact an ordinary crossing, which meant patiently waiting for cars to pass in order to get our photo! 



Some of our students on the famous Abbey Road crossing



Next month, we will be hosting the school's British Night, where students will get the chance to sample food and learn about the various cultures and traditions that make up Britain today. 

Knowledge of The Beatles may well help in the British music quiz that will follow the food tasting... 



Brighton school opens!

Stafford House School of English Brighton opened to students for the first time on Monday.

The school is located just a few hundred yards from the seafront and a ten minute walk from the city centre and will feature some of the best facilities of any school in the city.

You can see a selection of photos of the school on our Facebook page, with more photos and a video tour coming soon.

For more information on Stafford House School of English in London, Brighton or Canterbury, contact our Admissions team on admissions@staffordhouse.com.

International Night

True to the nature of the city it is located in, Stafford House London hosted a very successful International Night for its very diverse student body. Contributing to the success of the event was a week of ‘classroom-to-classroom’ promotion carried out by our activities leaders and with the help of our teachers, during which the students were asked to try and bring a sample of their national cuisine and prepare a quick presentation of their countries’ customs and famous sights.



Students learning about Kuwait





Enjoying baklava



The night began with informative visual presentations about the students’ homelands which sparked many interesting questions and discussions, as well as showing students how much their various cultures have in common. The fun then proceeded to the canteen where a spread of all national dishes was awaiting the students. Baklava, bocadillo, traditional Kuwaiti coffee and dried fruits were among the many delicious, and unfamiliar to many, treats which the students had prepared in groups according to nationality but gladly shared with their classmates from around the world.

Miguel teaching his fellow students

Miguel, 18, Columbia: “I enjoyed everything because I learnt new, cool things about other countries such as Kuwait and Brazil. The way the students presented their countries was incredible. It was a good project to make you feel more comfortable with other students, learn about their culture and traditions and teach them about yours.”

New Brighton school for Stafford House School of English!

We are proud to announce the opening of our new school - Stafford House School of English Brighton - on 23 April 2012.

The new school, which is just a few hundred metres from Brighton’s beachfront and ten minutes stroll from the city centre, will bring superb teaching, service and facilities to one of the UK's most popular destinations.

This now brings the number of Schools under the Stafford House School of English brand to three – following last year’s opening of our school in central London, in addition to a complete refurbishment of our original school in Canterbury.

Director of Stafford House School of English, Stephan Roussounis, says: “We have been investing heavily in our Adult English Language business for some time, opening a premium quality language school in London and completely refurbishing our original centre in Canterbury.

"Following the hugely positive and valued feedback from our students and partners, we have decided to bring Stafford House to Brighton - the UK’s third most popular English language destination.

"We are confident that we will be offering the best English language experience in Brighton. All of our classrooms will feature Interactive Whiteboard technology and all of our teachers will hold the prestigious DELTA qualification. Our school is located in a chic and convenient location, surrounded by shops, cafés and restaurants, just a stone’s throw from Brighton’s famous seafront."

For more information, visit our website or contact us.

Explore Your English

One of the fantastic things about having a new school in Central London is being able to try new things! Award-winning author and teacher trainer Luke Meddings came to give our staff some training in September and enjoyed the atmosphere of the school so much that he wanted to try out some of his teaching methods at our school.

Getting to know each other



Comparing ideas/ chosing a topic

"Explore Your English" is the name of Luke's weekly class- a free extra class for students and teachers- based on conversation with both students and native speakers. The class does not use text books and draws upon the participants' experiences and personal opinions to focus on the language they need to express their ideas.




Talking about the social programme



This weekly class is an extra hour a week, available to all students at Stafford House. The emphasis on practical English that they might hear or use whilst studying in London has been particularly appreciated by the students. Students have also commented that "it's great to chose what we will talk about" and "it's a relaxing class with real conversation- it's great to meet students from other classes and get to know them".

For our teachers, it has also been great to see the ideas of "teaching unplugged" put into action and to discuss and reflect on the lessons afterwards. We look forward to the continuation of these fantastic classes and a big "thank you" to Luke for choosing Stafford House to do his teaching practice.