And just down the road form the racecourse is the UIC summer school where form mid July to mid August we host around 250 children and teenagers from all around the world. So – there are 2 reasons to visit Ascot this year.

Ascot is a lovely town just 30 mins away from London. Here are some facts about the Town in Berkshire.

1. Ascot is in the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
2. It is home to Ascot racecourse which has been a favourite of the Royal family since 1711. In that year while riding on Ascot Heath, Queen Anne decided it would be a perfect place for a racecourse.
3. In June 2006 the Queen opened a new £185 million grandstand.
4. One of the most expensive houses in Ascot cost £7.25 million and have an indoor pool and tennis court.
5. Ascot is separated from Windsor by the vast green space that is Windsor Great Park which includes Virginia Water, a large lake.
6. Guards Polo Club is near Ascot and is the most exclusive polo club in the world.

Ascot really is a lovely place to spend the summer and an even better place to learn English. We hope you can join us.

Apart from working David likes swimming, and his favourite songs for the summer are” There must be an Angel” by the Eurythmics and “Walking On sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves.

If you’d like to see David in action then come on down to Ascot this summer. If you’d like to know more about the courses then have a looka t our website.

The actual accreditation scheme covers all the aspects of running a language school – the inspections are carried out at least every 4 years and in between inspections schools are expected to provide information and make sure they follow the regulations. There are 3 main areas in the inspection – Management, teaching and Learning, Welfare and Student Services. If you are interested you can look at the BC website and see the detailed inspection criteria.

We think that what is really important about the scheme is that it sets a standard. It is very difficult to compare different schools – for example trying to compare a small school in a country town to a big school in the middle of London is not easy but at least withthe BC Accreditation scheme you can be sure that some things will be guaranteed – for example teachers will have  minimum qualifications, the school is managed in a professional way, the publicity describing the school is fair and accurate, the premises are safe and suitable for the kinds of activities. It also guarantees that if a student or an agent has a problem with the school that there is a mechanism for complaints and for guaranteeing that these are looked at seriously. During the inspection there will be at least 2 inspectors who will watch all the teachers, visit accommodation and talk to all the management and admin staff in the school. UIC has 2 accreditations – one for the main school in London and also a separate one for our summer school for teenagers and children. Even though it is not necessary for our summer school (none of the courses are longer than 3 weeks!) we choose to be a part of the scheme as we feel it gives not only the public a guarantee of quality but helps us to focus on being as good as we can. In addition to the BC, UIC is also a member of English UK which is the association for language schools (both private and public) in the UK and which offers further guarantees to students and support. English UK says ” English UK is the world’s leading language teaching association with more than 400 members – all accredited by the British Council – including private language schools, educational trusts and charities and language centres in further education colleges and universities.”

So, if you are interested in quality you need look no further than the accreditations and memberships that UIC has. We are:

Accredited by the British Council (both centres)

A member of English UK (both centres)

UK Border Agency Sponsor – number FPVW2PXQ3

I speak on behalf of the activity staff when I say that the UIC vacation course is not just great for the students; it is our vacation too, and we enjoy it just as much as they do!  In my opinion the UIC junior vacation courses are the best language courses in the world.  They are a great opportunity to experience a vast variety of cultures from all over the world and create a wide network of lifelong friends.  The work that the activity staff team does is both rewarding and really good fun.  The activity staff plan and carry out a wide selection of games and entertainment for the students when they are not learning the English language.  Not only that, the activity staff have the important job of bringing the camp to life and it is great to see so much energy and enthusiasm in one place.

This is a short blog about who I am and what I do when I am not on UIC vacation.  I have a Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Nottingham and I now work full time in radar design and development.  I look forward to going to work every day; the work is both enjoyable and challenging, and I get to design some really cool and sophisticated inventions!  I am motivated to work hard by the reward of creating a world class piece of modern technology which can do things people only dreamed of about ten years ago.

I am a very outgoing person and like all types of outdoor sports.  My passion is mountaineering and I spend much of my free time walking and climbing in any mountain region I can.  Last year I went to the French Alps to experience some really big mountains.  It was an exciting and inspiring experience; some of the best weeks of my life.  Imagine climbing the highest mountain in Europe, four thousand eight hundred metres straight up, under your own steam!  The feeling when you reach the top is one of euphoria.  I often think about going back when my motivation is waning.  If that fails, the only thing left is to think about the next UIC vacation!

Vince, UIC Vacation Activity Staff Since 2006

• February 26, 2010 -- Meet the staff – summer school teachers 3 (0)
  Veronica has worked with UIC at the summer schools for two years now. I started at UIC in the summer of a gap year between College and University. I had been offered an unconditional at a music col...

Mary

I started at UIC in the summer of a gap year between College and University. I had been offered an unconditional at a music college to train in singing, but I felt I had to gain life experience before I started my degree. UIC was by far the most rewarding aspect of the jobs I had in my GAP year, which is why I found it very easy to return to the school after my first year of a hectic degree. There was a kept promise of fantastic, lovable children and imaginative, enthusiastic staff.  Both would always keep you constantly entertained.

I worked at St Georges School in my second year and it was by all means brilliant. 

With the children, there was nothing that you didn’t enjoy, especially where you as a leader, with no particular interest in football, turn around to loving the sport, when playing with the fantastic young Turkish ladies; or when on a day trip around London, and whilst the students are mesmerised by the historic city, you still have the Georgian boys at the back of the line, helping you keep order because they find your job so exciting. I had to agree with them. The mixture of nationalities and languages helps you realise that you aren’t the only one communicating in a foreign language. As a musician, I was allowed and encouraged, with fellow staff member and legendary pianist Darren Sheridan, to hold music sessions with the students, which was a fantastic opportunity to see how talented these kids were. You were entertained by the members of staff singing and dancing to Blue and Elton John, the Beegees and B*Witched, but the stars of the night were definitely the fantastic quality of the Nigerian students singing Gospel. I was very nervous when I had to get up and sing for everyone when I knew they were straight after me, and I’m used to competition!

This type of quality and excitement in a job is why I will be returning next year.

• March 27, 2010 -- meet the staff – summer school teachers 5 (0)
  It is not just a vacation. It is a UIC vacation. I speak on behalf of the activity staff when I say that the UIC vacation course is not just great for the students; it is our vacation too, and we e...

It’s a good thing we don’t have such a tradition in the UK – we’ve had quite enough of the winter (it’s been the coldest January for 23 years) and we are happy now to be seeing some signs of spring!

Groundhog day is probably better known becasue of the 1993 film in which Bill Murray is forced to live the same day over and over until he can give up his selfishness.

In the UK there are similar traditions concerning the weather – perhaps the most well-known is St Swithuns Day (July 15^th) where it is claimed that if it rains on that day it will rain for the next 40 days! That’s right in the middle of the UIC summer camp so we will have our fingers crossed that day!

UIC is a fantastic organisation to work for; I have had the pleasure of working in the summer camp for UIC for two years now. I have been an activity leader and a team leader both highly rewarding and enjoyable jobs. UIC also sponsored me to go volunteering in Peru in which I went with a group of students from Leeds Metropolitan University, we had to raise a thousand pounds each before we went. I lived in a refuge for 5 weeks in Peru looking after the children, helping them with their school work and teaching them English. I also set up a wide variety of activities such as football, volleyball, cricket, basketball, arts and crafts and outdoor adventures activities to name a few these activities helped keep the children fit and active but more importantly have fun enjoyable experiences. The experience I got from working at Ascot with students from all over the globe helped me with the language barrier in Peru and therefore helped me communicate with the children better. Furthermore while the students were at school, we went to a local shanty town to help build a soup kitchen from scratch, the thousand pounds each we raised went towards building cost and labour. It was very hard work but highly rewarding and the surrounding community will really benefit from it. I’m so grateful for the sponsorship UIC gave me because without it I wouldn’t have been able to help so many people out in Peru, it shows how much UIC is willing to help so many other people and countries enhance their future prospects.