About XUK summer camps
XUK Summer Holidays Camps has been operating summer camps since 2000, when is was created through the merger of three already existing summer camps: Mini Minors, CrossKeys and ExperienceUK. It was rated as “outstanding” by the British Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) multiple times. It offers the choice between 4 different camp programs, some more based around activities, others more around English lessons and improving English skills. Each program is located on a separate camp.
XUK English
XUK English is a program which is focused around improving English skills. This is the camp I attended for two weeks. The camp is located on Belstead Road, Ipswich (Suffolk), approximately 1 hour away from London, on the grounds of St-Joseph’s College, an independent catholic school established in 1937. The campus, which is 60 acres big (approximately 24 hectares), includes large grass fields, a sports hall, various sport pitches (volleyball, football, tennis court, etc.), two dormitory buildings and diverse school buildings.
There were approximately 15 staff members and a dozen teachers on the camp, supervising roughly 110 children between 9 and 17. The camp is very international and many nationalities were represented on camp (I met campers coming from Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Egypt, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Tunisia and even China or Japan). This was great because it forced us to speak English to understand each other.
< Location of Ipswich in the UK
The camp >
My timetable on camp
Each day on camp followed the same routine: after waking up at 8 o’clock and having breakfast, we went to the college’s library, which had been converted into a room where campers could play board games and card games together, or just relax. Lessons started at 9:30am: each class was composed of 12 campers depending on age and English level, which had been assessed through a test on the first day. During classes, we had debates about some controversial topics, and made small presentations in groups of three or four. We also studied a few grammar points, and played some games. At 11am, we had a 30 min break in the library, and from 11:30am to 1:00pm we had another English lesson, with the same class but another teacher. Lunch was between 1:00pm and 2:00pm. After lunch, we had another English lesson, this time in groups of four pupils, until 3:30pm. During those lessons, we were more talking about each other and discovering each other while playing games involving language and vocabulary such as Scrabble or Time’s Up for instance. After this, we had an activity until 5:00pm. Activities that could be chosen were often sports like football, basketball and volleyball, or other occupations such as Cooking, Art, Drama and Dancing. Then we had free time (during which we could play sport like football or volleyball mostly, or relax in the common rooms), until dinner at 6:00pm. After dinner, we had free time and then an evening activity, often involving completing challenges as groups, such as finding staff members hidden all around the camp. After this we went back to our dormitories for the night.
There were also a few trips: on both Tuesdays, we had study trips to local villages (Bury-St-Edmunds, Flinton-on-Sea), where we walked around the city while filling in a questionnaire. On both Thursdays, we had bigger trips to London and Cambridge. We could discover the city in small groups, which was very interesting.
The city of Cambridge ->
Conclusion
I really enjoyed this stay at XUK English. It was fun, and I definitely improved my English, both in terms of vocabulary and accent, without feeling overloaded with lessons or getting bored. I also appreciated the fact that the camp was very international, with many cultures all at once. The activities were very funny, and both staff members and campers were very nice and open. I enjoyed the trips too, especially the one to Cambridge because it made me discover a very beautiful city.
In conclusion, I would recommend this summer camp for people who want to improve their English whilst also having a good time.