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

Chiara’s update: week 6

Hi! I am Chiara. This is my sixth week here and I am having a great experience.

With Hilderstone College I have been on some excursions, and I really enjoyed those. Two weeks ago I went to Leeds Castle, a beautiful building with a big and lovely garden. Here there is a wide variety of birds, like ducks and swans. Valentina and I went to the maze of the Castle and we also saw the  falconry display.

Last week Valentina and I went to Canterbury, where we went shopping and visited the beautiful and historic city. There we saw Canterbury Cathedral, which is the most important cathedral in Britain. We visited also St Augustine’s Abbey and Eastbridge Hospital (medieval pilgrim’s hospital)

I spend a lot of time with the host family: I play a lot with the kids, we watch movies together (e. g. Harry Potter) and we cook together. With my host family I can also improve my English.  

Recently there have been two festivals in Broadstairs: the Water Gala and Folk Week. Every Wednesday night there were also fireworks and they were very beautiful. There were a lot of people in Broadstairs and there were markets, music and dancers in the streets.

LOUISE CAMBRAY and ANGELA SILK, Accommodation Officers

Louise and Angela  are the Accommodation Officers for Hilderstone College.  Louise has been in the role of Accommodation and Welfare Officer for just over a year, coming from a background in education and safeguarding roles.  Angela is the Deputy Accommodation and Student Support Officer and has been in the role for 2.5 years, previously working with the homeless and for a local University. This is what they have to say about their work here:

‘Our job is to place our students with families in the Broadstairs community.  We ensure students are suitably matched to families in respect of dietary needs and any special requests as far as possible!  We work very closely with our homestay hosts and they become part of the team.  This includes visiting them in their homes, resolving any issues that may arise (usually due to communication!) with their students and supporting them in the very important role they play for Hilderstone students.  We have families that have been hosting for as long as 40 years and we work with new hosts all the time.  Hosting students proves to be a very rewarding experience and you really do get to meet some very interesting people from all over the world and some longstanding friendships are made.

We also ensure the students are happy and well cared for, including safeguarding our students, particularly those under the age of 18.  We work very closely with all of the departments in Hilderstone including marketing, who get the students here in the first place and the teaching staff.  Hilderstone College staff really do work as a team!

We both enjoy the role as it enables us to meet lots of people in our community and from all over the world and it is very satisfying when students go home having had the best experience and our hosts have enjoyed having them to stay!

If you would like to join us as a homestay host for Hilderstone and live in Broadstairs, then please do get in touch:-

By email – homestay@hilderstone.net                              By phone – 01843 869171