Holiday Classes“It’s been challenging and I’ve learnt a lot of new words – pretentious, ubiquitous, serendipity. I’ll use them in essays.” Harish Goswami, pupil at the Toynbee Hall summer school
2008 summer school outing to Greenwich Royal Observatory Our two week summer schools grow more popular every year. There is a limit to what can be achieved in weekly two or three hour classes and the six week summer holiday is a long time to go without structured academic study, so we run an intensive course of English and maths tuition, supplemented with a programme of cultural activities.
The results of our previous summer schools have been remarkable. The children's reading ages are taken at the beginning of the two week period and then again at the end. At our 2007 summer school reading ages increased by an average of 1 year and 7 months. We've seen similar results in our subsequent summer schools and have high hopes for children attending this year. Afternoons at the Civitas Summer Schools are reserved for exciting enrichment activities. This year, pupils will have the opportunity to partake in a range of the following activities: music and drama classes, craft workshops, sporting events and presentations from the local police service and fire brigade. These activities, designed and taught by professionals, will provide plenty of exciting hands-on experience that will enthuse and benefit each and every pupil. Wednesday afternoons are spent off-site visiting nearby landmarks. In previous years children have enjoyed trips to Greenwich Observatory, the Tower of London, the Museum of Childhood, Hackney City Farm and the Natural Science Museum. Our outing to Greenwich Royal Observatory started with a fascinating planetarium show. One six-year-old was so over-whelmed by the show that when we came out he immediately burst into tears and said he'd never seen anything so amazing! We looked around the astronomy galleries and had a questions and answer session with leading scientists.
Left: Birmingham summer school outing to Blakesely Hall This year we are working in partnership with the SHINE Trust to put together an exciting curriculum and programme of enrichment activities for our sixth summer school taking place in Harlesden at the beginning of August. With familiar teachers and textbooks and a good balance of study and enrichment activities, Civitas Summer Schools provide an environment in which children excel academically and thrive socially. |
The structure of the summer schools is simple but effective. Travelling by coach from a number of locations, children from our London-based Civitas Schools convene at a central site. Children spend the mornings in English and maths lessons similar to those they attend during term time. In English the emphasis is on learning to read fluently, developing vocabularies and revising basic grammar and punctuation work before introducing more complex constructions. In maths, children work through the four basic functions (addition, subtractions, multiplication and division). Once competent in these areas, more advanced material is introduced. Teachers aim to cover a range of related topics over the course of the two weeks. A specialist phonics teacher works through Irina Tyk's Butterfly Book with our youngest pupils. A number of support teachers are on-hand to provide extra help for those who benefit most from one-to-one tuition.
