5 min read
June 18, 2024
These programmes help to bridge the summer learning gap, and encourages children to explore new fields and embrace novel challenges. This exploration fosters the development of crucial soft skills such as collaboration, leadership, and independent thinking - highly sought-after qualities that provide students with a significant advantage when applying for university and future career opportunities.
It's an enjoyable and relaxing experience for children of all ages. Spending time with like-minded peers in a stimulating environment with access to various facilities and activities is an ideal way to unwind and rejuvenate.
In this article, our Education Consultant, Fiona McKenzie, shares the top 10 benefits of Summer Schools:
1. It’s an Adventure!
The combination of activities that a summer camp can offer will take you out of your comfort zone by challenging you to try new things. Students come back from camps saying they have had the time of their lives and can’t wait to go back again next year!
2. Meet new friends
Being surrounded by lots of people your own age and sharing similar interests encourages instant bonds to form. Many students comment on the deep friendships they make. There is nothing like learning to sail with a stranger or doing a high ropes course to form an unbreakable connection.
3. Builds resilience
With so much on offer it is possible to try out lots of new things: some of them you will excel in and others you will struggle with. As you practice and get better with the support of the expert team, you will grow in confidence and realise that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.
4. Discover a new skill
There are summer camps to cater for all hobbies, and it’s also an opportunity to develop new ones. As the camp manager for Champittet Summer Leadership course says, “Students develop a variety of skills: communication, time management, goal setting, etiquette, presentation techniques, learning from industry experts.” Sometimes you will acquire a new skill from scratch, like a language, but you may also discover a hidden talent that you didn’t know existed.
5. Independence
For some students it can be the first experience of being away from home. Having dreamt of living in a Hogwarts environment free of ‘interfering’ adults’, they suddenly have a chance to make their own decisions and organise their own time – a great learning experience and it also makes them much more appreciative of home and Mum and Dad when they get back!
6. Safe environment
With the highly experienced staff that run the camps, parents can rest assured that their children will be well looked after. Professional experts will be on hand to supervise the new skills and challenges and there is often a team of young mentors who are around to encourage everyone to take part and be a friendly face.
7. Improve a language
This is often one of the key reasons parents enrol the children in a camp so that they can acquire or perfect another language – courses vary in the amount of hours they offer but however long is spent in the classroom there is always more time spent on other activities so you are learning the language in an immersive environment.
8. Cultural experience
Not only do you have an opportunity to spend some time living in another country with a different culture, right down to the language and the food, but you will also have an opportunity to visit some of the famous sights and take advantage of the galleries, museums, theatres and other excitements that are unique to that location.
9. Multinational environment
Students come from all over the world to be part of summer camps. This means you get to find out all about other cultures and languages when you all work together to achieve a common goal, whether that is cracking a code, learning to be spy master or taking a Law course in an Oxford College.
10. Confidence builder
When your child returns from a successful summer camp, they will feel like they can conquer the world. They have acquired new skills, tackled challenging tasks, made new friends and learnt some independent living skills. This newly built confidence will carry them into the new school year so they start on a high, confident in their ability to achieve.
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