Get Real Junior Vacation course

Where could it lead?

The course will help students to improve their spoken English for school exams.

About the course

Course: The course will offer English language study plus three days a week outdoor activities as well as a full social programme in a Christian environment.

Group size: Average class size is 11 students, with a maximum of 14.

Venue: East Barnby is an outdoor activity centre, situated a few kilometres north-west of Whitby.

Entry Requirements: There are no entrance requirements. We test every new student when they arrive and put them into a class at a suitable level.

Staff: Teaching and activities are led by Functional English staff. Outdoor activities are led by experienced and qualified instructors from the centre.

Outdoor activities: including canoeing, abseiling, climbing, orienteering and walking.

Evening activities: Treasure hunt and trail, barbecue, team games, quiz night, fashion show, song contest, international food evening, karaoke, barn dancing, end of course disco party.

Sports: football, volleyball, rounders, cricket, unihoc, swimming, boating, horse riding, ten-pin bowling, and adventure activities like abseiling and canoeing.

Excursions: York , Flamingoland Adventure Park , Scarborough Sea Life Centre, Cinema visit, coastal villages, countryside walks.

Crafts and practical lessons: T-Shirt printing, tie dyeing, fabric painting, guitar, art, photography and many more.

A Typical Day

The day starts, after breakfast, with 20 minutes of morning worship. Lessons are from 9.25 am to 12.50 pm with time for breaks and refreshments. On the first Monday of the course, you will be tested to find your level of English and then put into the class appropriate to that level. Each week of the course has a different theme, including "All about me" and "The world around us", and lessons are based around topics related to that theme.

Lessons will involve using the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing but also include a range of interesting and enjoyable activities such as language games, role playing, mime and drama, making posters, a magazine, a video and so on. Lessons will include grammar, but are not based on teaching grammar. The emphasis is on making the lessons relevant and interesting while teaching language skills. Time is set aside after lunch for you to read books from the course library as part of your lessons and there are also homework tasks to complete.

Residential: Accommodation is in single sex, mixed nationality dormitories with young people of similar age groups sharing rooms together. Staff live in the centre during the course.

We will pick-up students from Manchester Airport , York Railway Station or Hull Port , and return them to the same place at the end of the course. This costs around an extra £70 return or £35 one-way.

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Meals are prepared by staff of the centre and eaten in the school dining room. Vegetarian food will be available and the catering staff will do their best for any students with special or medical diets.

Christian activities

The course includes a variety of Christian activities including prayer, worship and Bible study.

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