LAL News

After many hours' hard work by permanent staff in Torbay and our seasonal workers, our summer schools have been declared Centres of Excellence.
Who has given us this prestigious title? The EL Gazette, the trade paper for EFL teaching, along with only three other summer school providers  in the UK, of which there are many, has awarded this in their April edition.

How is this judged? Well, the British Council monitors and  seeks to improve standards of management, teaching, resources and welfare in  all organisations teaching English as a foreign language in the UK.  This includes year-round schools, such as LAL Torbay, and seasonal centres, usually for Young Learners. They do this through regular inspections including unannounced spot checks  and each inspection leads to a report on the organisation's services and facilities.  

On the basis of this report, they make a decision as to whether the organisation should be accredited,  ensuring  organisations provide quality provision, especially appropriately qualified teachers, teaching standards, accommodation standards, supervision, safe premises, with properly-equipped classrooms and recreation areas, publicity materials and proper emergency procedures.

LAL Summer Schools have been running summer school centres for young learners since 2001, and Mark Cook, the current Summer Schools General Manager, based in our London school, has been responsible for them since 2005.  We have four centres  in the south of England stretching from Kelly College in Tavistock, Devon, to St Mary's University College in Twickenham, London, also incorporating Taunton School,  Taunton, Somerset  and St Swithun's School  in Winchester, Hampshire.

We are extremely pleased to have been awarded 17 points of excellence in five different aspects of our programme: general management, premises, academic management, pastoral care and leisure programme when inspected by the British Council for accreditation in 2008 and spot checked in 2009, and the EL Gazette has quantified this for their readers. They decided that summer schools with these criteria only would be nominated.

We are not going to be complacent about this, as every year we seek to make improvements in all aspects of the programme, but to have this recognised by a noteworthy publication can only be good for the summer schools and LAL as a professional language organisation.