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Stafford House College has already begun to enrol students who wish to study on a variety of courses which commence in January 2004.

Many of the courses offered at Stafford House College, such as the University Foundation or Pre-Masters courses, are designed to take place across a nine month period. These qualifications enable students who enrol in January 2004 to progress to a high calibre UK university in the following September.

In addition, students who prefer to spread their studies over a longer period of time can undertake the GCSE or A-level programmes that the college offers.

For more details you can visit our website at www.staffordhouse.com.

More than a million pounds has been invested in expanding education provision at Stafford House in Canterbury over the last year. The extra funds signify further state-of-the-art equipment and improvements in teaching facilities in each of our sites.

The building and renovation work has already resulted in four new ICT (Information Communication Technology) classrooms, a professional art room, two lecture theatres and a drama studio. Another thirty classrooms, four science laboratories and three common-room areas have also been completely refurbished.

“Stafford House has been through a dramatic transformation over the last twelve months,” says Allan Barnes, Managing Director. “We spent a long time consulting with staff, students and our partner agents to assess their needs and we’ve responded to their comments. We are using the latest technology to support classroom learning and boost teaching resources. This major refurbishment raises the status of Stafford House and helps maintain our position as one of the leading education providers in the UK.”

Every classroom now boasts sophisticated audio-visual and IT technology which is now being delivered via a high-speed network, thus offering the next generation of teaching and learning aids.

Refurbishment has also been carried out at our New Dover Road Hall of Residence. All the rooms have been fitted with en-suite shower and toilet facilities. In every study bedroom, students can use a communication socket to plug their personal computers direct to the Internet.

Stafford House operates at five sites across Canterbury, including the Head Office, the School of English, Stafford House College, and Stafford House Residence.

The School of English was delighted to welcome eight teachers from Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. During their one month stay, the teachers attended general English lessons in the morning and worked in seminar groups in the afternoon.

The uniquely professional teacher - student class dynamics enabled the class to share their ideas and experiences with each other whilst their School of English teacher introduced them to a number of methods and techniques used in the EFL classroom. The Chinese visitors also learnt about aspects of British culture, history, literature and visited local universities and places of historical interest.

(Click here to see the photographs).

Stafford House Study Holidays is proud to announce the success of its 10th year of organizing and running international summer school programmes. This year saw record numbers of students attending programmes in more than fifteen centres across the UK, including London, Scotland, Wales, The West Country and the South East.

SHSH Director Ruth Fenton said: “2003 has been a great success (despite all the problems in the world) and in 2004 we will be running additional new centres at Eastbourne (Moira House School) and Imperial College London. We pride ourselves on offering a full learning experience that does not only centre around effective lessons and lots of fun , but on Britain's attractions, lifestyles and culture. In Eastbourne our new centre is just ten minutes walk from the beach and also close to the local golf club, where we can offer 'English plus Golf options’. In London, Imperial College is just a short walk from Harrods and Hyde Park and on the doorstep of London's museum district of Kensington.

Study Holidays arrange short-term intensive English language programmes throughout the UK in some of the country’s most prestigious settings.

You can see pictures taken by both staff and students on our summer programmes in Canterbury by clicking here.

More than twenty staff at Stafford House have received First Aid training this year, boosting the total number of qualified staff to thirty five. Each course takes one day to complete and is aimed specifically at office-workers, teachers and residence staff and covers a variety of typical and hypothetical situations.

The qualification lasts for three years and covers basic life-saving and first aid.

Another three staff attended a more advanced four day course in Maidstone. This extra first aid training will enable staff to respond to more serious emergencies.

Thirty students from Nigeria and Kenya came to study in the summer on a specially designed summer school programme which was run in collaboration with the UK Centre for International Study.

The classes included academic subjects ranging from Genetics to World History and from Astronomy to Politics, information on Life in Britain, photography and an introduction to British university level studies. As part of the programme the students were also taken to Holland where they spent a few days in Amsterdam visiting art galleries, museums and places of historic interest. This was the second year that the Summer School has ran such a programme and last year the students were taken on a study visit to Paris.

(Click here to see the photographs).

There is neither a student nor teacher in the last twenty-seven years who has not heard the immortal words… ‘Chicken, pasta, chippies?’ But although thousands of people visit Stafford House every year, Lubisa Niksic, who is more fondly known throughout the world as ‘Chef’, is the one memory they never forget.

Popularity is a hard thing to measure but it is clear that Chef’s ever-increasing collection of photographs, post cards, Christmas and birthday cards, together with the plethora of certificates from students and their parents endorsing his ‘Chicken, pasta and chippies’ catchphrase, safely secure his place in the International Chef Hall of Fame.

When not cooking for up to seven hundred people, Croatian born Chef enjoys listening to country music and collecting stamps and coins.

In a busy kitchen environment where he manages four staff and spends around eight hours each day preparing and cooking food he says, ‘My favourite part of the job has always been serving the students, as it gives me the chance to chat to them and see how they are doing’.

Stafford House School of English would like to congratulate the class of highly motivated students from Colombia, Switzerland, Russia and Japan who achieved a one hundred percent pass rate in their Cambridge First Certificate.

The class prepared for the exam for twelve weeks and it is a great example of how hard work, enthusiasm, teamwork and humour are the essential ingredients in gaining great results.

Pat O'Donoghue, School Principal said: 'We are very proud of both our staff and students. In September, another class started preparing for the FCE and will take the exam in December. We hope they will have the same success!

‘Britannia’s Daughter’, a poem by Derek Sellen, Head of English at Stafford House College, featured in the final shortlist for the recent BBC Essential Poetry Competition.

The poem was one of four published in The Sunday Times of 28th September. The competition, which asked for entrants to write a poem about ‘the state of the nation’, attracted over 5,000 entries. Derek has had his work widely-published, appearing in British Council and Arts Council anthologies and he has previously won prizes in the National Poetry Competition, Rhyme International and many other competitions over the years.

Derek Sellen also writes plays and course books for international students studying English, such as Grammar World, published by CIDEB, Italy.

In September the annual Cambridge Education Group (CEG) Conference and Dinner was held at Stafford House in Canterbury. The annual event is organised by Stafford House and CEG to highlight the facilities and courses on offer for prospective agents.

More than one hundred clients from around the world converged on Stafford House in August for a thank-you dinner and tour of the newly refurbished facilities. Those joining the guest list were agents from as far a field as Japan and Columbia who were specially invited to view the renovated campus in Canterbury.

The conference concluded with a dinner at Leeds Castle in the heart of the Kent countryside.

(Click here to see the photographs).

In recent research conducted with all school leavers the School of English found that the overwhelming majority of students were extremely happy with their morning General English classes, but were finding the last hour of the afternoon to be less productive as there was not enough focus to the lesson.

As a result of consultation with students, using a questionnaire, the School of English has launched a new second option class in the afternoon.

The first (1.45 -3.15) continues to concentrate on more 'serious' topics like IELTS, FCE, PET, business, study skills, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and listening. While the new, second option, which is only an hour long, focuses on a wide range of topics which engage the students' interests, while at the same time improving their language skills.

Nicky Hollis, Assistant Director of Studies, said: 'The new system has been very successful; the students seem much more motivated and miraculously less tired in the last lesson of the day!' She added: 'So far we have successfully run options on such diverse topics as music, drama, literature, history, idiomatic English, British culture, current affairs, survival English, role-play, geography and culture, art and design, further education preparation, media studies, creative writing, school magazine, project work.. and more!'

In August, Japanese students and several members of staff at Stafford House College (the only student group to receive an invitation to the occasion) were invited to a ceremony and service of remembrance and reconciliation at Canterbury Cathedral, on the first Sunday after the anniversary of the end of hostilities.

The service was conducted by The Very Reverend Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury, in the presence of the Japanese Ambassador, His Excellency Masaki Orita, his wife and a number of Japanese diplomats who travelled from London to mark the occasion.

During the special Evensong service, wreaths were laid on the High Altar by ex-servicemen representing the former enemies, and two pre-school Japanese children representing our hopes for the future. A very moving address by the Dean of Canterbury was followed by a procession out to the Compass Rose in the nave of the Cathedral, where an act of reconciliation took place within the heart of the mother church of the Christian faith in England.

After the service the group from Stafford House College were invited to tea at the Cathedral Chapter House, where the students and staff mingled freely and talked to the Ambassador and other dignitaries.

The Ambassador said: 'It is my great honour to have attended the service here with you in the home of the Church of England. All of you here today, including some who once fought against each other, care passionately about peace and harmony and I sincerely share this sentiment with you'.

Canterbury is renowned worldwide for its delightful mixture of architecture, history, arts and culture, museums, shops, visitor attractions and good restaurants and pubs. England's most famous cathedral city sits in one of the most attractive corners of rural Kent and has been welcoming visitors for over 2000 years.

Over recent years, visitors to Canterbury will have noticed the city centre going through a remarkable period of change. The city has received significant investment from international retailers and developers and is in the process of a redevelopment scheme known as the Whitefriars Project.

The project represents the largest single investment ever made in the District at over £100 million and also the largest area of the City centre ever to be developed in one phase. The scheme comprises the creation of two new streets, an informal public square, twenty-three houses, three new large stores, thirty-six new shops and a car park with over five hundred spaces. A new library will feature in a building facing onto the public square, as well as a new arts complex.

The architectural design of the scheme encompasses a series of individually designed buildings which both honour Canterbury's architectural past and celebrate contemporary attention to detail. In this way, the scheme will be perceived as a 21st Century development. The six year project is due to be completed in April 2005.

Over one hundred students packed into the seminar room at Stafford House College for this year’s Fresher Fair where students get involved in a host of extra curricular clubs and societies.

This year students were able to choose from ten staff led activities including; Horse Riding Club, Programming Club, Strangeside, Scottish Dancing, Art Club, Photography Club, Cinema Club, Creative Writing, Sport, the Debating Society and The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

The Charity Club is also returning after last year’s students successfully raised £5,000 for the local children’s charity Demelza House.

Stafford House		The College		The School of English		Study Holidays
£1 Million Investment Twenty more staff receive First-Aid training The most memorable chef in the world? Cambridge Education Group - Annual Conference A Canterbury Tale		Enrol in January - Study at University in September! Teacher's Poem in the British press Students attend service of remembrance with the Japanese Ambassador Fresher's Fair		Chinese teacher-training at School of English Students in Amsterdam 100% Pass Rate! New Afternoon Options New Study & Work Programmes		Ten years of Study Holidays