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Teacher Sue’s trip to Russia, January 2019

Recently one of our teachers, Sue, was invited to teach a small group of teenagers in St Petersburg, Russia, on a trip organised by Perspective Language School. Here is Sue’s account of her trip, with some great photos.

Hi everyone, my name’s Sue and I am one of the teachers at Hilderstone College. I have been working here for nearly five years and I love it!

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to go to St Petersburg in Russia for the college to teach English to a group of teenage students from the Orenburg area in the South of Russia. It was a special project arranged by their school for them to combine learning English with a winter holiday including the period from New Year to the Russian Orthodox religious celebration of Christmas Day on the 7 January. Due to that I had a second Christmas with the students and we enjoyed all the lit up Christmas trees and beautiful sparkling lights in the city and after lessons on Christmas Day, exchanged Christmas presents, played games and compared Christmas traditions in our different countries.

The students were lovely and worked hard in the morning before daily excursions to historical sights, museums and palaces like the Hermitage in Palace Square. Everyday we met our super guide Viktoria, who is Russian and lives in the city… but she spoke in English all the time, which the students had requested so they could practise their English all day.

Of course, we also found time for shopping in Nevsky prospect, which is like Oxford Street in London, and at the Christmas Markets. We did a lot of walking in the snow and the lowest temperature was -16, and we went on the metro every day especially Admiralteyskaya, which is one of the deepest metro stations in the world at 86 metres below ground. We timed it and it took 5 minutes to reach the platform!!

All in all, it was an amazing trip to a beautiful and cosmopolitan city and I am looking forward to meeting some of the students again when they come to Hilderstone in the Spring for some more English lessons!

http://www.hilderstone.ac.uk/teenageschoolgroups/index.html

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Lisa-Marie from Germany

Who ever believes that Broadstairs is a contemplative sleepy seaside town is far from correct. Especially in the summer months, students from all over the world bustle up and down the streets of Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday destination – in the morning half-asleep on the way to college, during the break at lunchtime in a hurry to the food-to-go shelves in the supermarket or to the picturesque beach, and after a substantial dinner with their host-families they go straight to “The Dolphin” or another quaint English pub. One of the most well-regarded language schools is Hilderstone College – centrally located, just follow your nose from the beach – which is, in my eyes, mainly based on its outstanding teachers. Probably the most charming part is the inner garden, but even more important is the spiritual content of this school. I experienced Hilderstone as an intellectual place where stunning ideas arise, teachers appear to have a never-ending passion for their job, students behave open-mindedly and share each other’s ingenious ideas while having enriching conversations. Teaching thrives on variety, constant encouragement and motivation by the teacher, continuous gain in knowledge, self-confidence and language skills. In addition, recreational activities are also offered in the afternoon such as challenging sports afternoons, amusing folk dance lessons, trips to vibrant and historic cities and places like London and Dover. To top it off, accommodation is provided by caring, responsible and welcoming  host families who make you comfortable during your enjoyable and instructive journey.

 

September 2018

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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Tessa Woodward

We are delighted to announce the news of a special award presented to Tessa Woodward, who many of our readers will remember as a key member of the teacher training team at Hilderstone for many years.  Tessa retired from Hilderstone in 2016 but has remained active in the profession, editing the Teacher Trainer and maintaining her connections with professionals from all over the world.

 

Tessa attended a ceremony in London on 18th June and was presented with the British Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018.  This is recognition of Tessa’s huge contribution to the profession through her teaching, training of teachers and teacher trainers, writing and publishing activities.  At Hilderstone we are especially grateful to her for the years of service that she gave to the College and the work she did with hundreds of course participants.  Many will also remember the support she gave to dozens of work colleagues in her capacity as the College’s professional development co-coordinator.  All at Hilderstone congratulate her on her fantastic achievement.

 

For a video of the ceremony, further tributes to Tessa and her acceptance speech, please click here.

 

Ian Johnson

Principal