Pre-Sessional Writing Tip 4 - Using Hedging Language

The fourth in our series from the fabulous Pre-sessional team - this time focussing on using hedging language.

Two New Posts:1. Head of Admissions and IELTS Exam Centre 2.Admissions Officer and Middle Eastern Marketing and Liason.

                      

HEAD OF ADMISSIONS AND IELTS EXAM CENTRE

LSI Portsmouth is a large, highly-regarded and high quality year-round EFL school and the largest year-round language school in Portsmouth, offering a wide range of courses to foreign students (18+), including Cambridge and IELTS exam courses, Executive Training and University Pre-Sessional Courses.

We are looking to recruit a full-time Head of Admissions, who will also jointly oversee management of our IELTS test centre. Our mission is to be the best English language school we can be and we believe in giving all our students and our overseas and UK partners the best customer service possible – we are looking for someone who will fit into our ethos and has the drive to help us improve further.

Essential:

-       High level working knowledge of Tier4 and UKVI policies

-       Excellent administration and IT skills

-       Knowledge of EFL (or HE/FE) bookings and admissions practices

-       Excellent customer service, teamwork and interpersonal skills

-       Line management experience

-       Cultural awareness and sensitivity in dealing with international partners, ETOs, Embassies (particularly from the Middle East) and students

The ideal candidate will be:

-       lively, enthusiastic, hard-working, energetic, positive, sociable, open and approachable to students

-       caring and sensitive to the welfare, needs and culture of a wide variety of multi-national students and overseas partners

-       well organised and good at planning and time management

-       a native or near-native English speaker

They will also ideally have:

-       The ability to manage a busy workload, prioritise work and meet tight deadlines

-       Strong problem-solving, written and oral communication skills

-       Excellent attention to detail

-       A positive can-do attitude, ‘go the extra mile’ approach, flexibility and calmness

-       Willingness to take on a multi-functional role and grow within the organisation

-       Experience of school inspections and policies required

-       A university degree or equivalent

IELTS test centre experience is useful, but full training will be given as this will be co-managed.

An interest in or experience of international EFL marketing would be a bonus.

A senior salary will be offered and is dependent upon experience and qualifications

Applicants should send a CV and covering email explaining why you are interested and suitable for the role to the Principal, Andrew Edwards: Andrew@lsi-portsmouth.co.uk by 26th February 2016. Interviews will be held in the following week(s) and the role will ideally commence as soon as possible thereafter.

ADMISSIONS OFFICER AND MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETING AND LIAISON

LSI Portsmouth is a large, highly-regarded and high quality year-round EFL school and the largest year-round language school in Portsmouth, offering a wide range of courses to foreign students (18+), including Cambridge and IELTS exam courses, Executive Training and University Pre-Sessional Courses.

We are recruiting a full-time Admissions Officer, who will also take care of marketing and liaison with students, military and overseas partners and Middle Eastern Embassies. Our mission is to be the best English language school we can be and we believe in giving all our students and overseas and UK partners the best customer service possible – we are seeking someone who will fit into our ethos.

ADMISSIONS – KEY RESPONSIBILITIES MAY INCLUDE:

• Processing, sending out and inputting bookings and issuing required documentation

·         Summer accommodation bookings in the University residence and University liaison

·         Dealing with enquiries swiftly and efficiently and trying to convert enquiries into bookings

• Coordinating government sponsorship administration with students and aiding visa renewal
• Bookings Administration: particular focus on UKBA, Tier 4, issuance of CASs and SMS software work and PSE courses and dealing with the University and ICP/Navitas
• Handling phone, email and walk-in enquiries with excellent customer service skills
• Covering reception and for the Head of Admissions when necessary

MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETING AND LIAISON – KEY RESPONSIBILITIES MAY INCLUDE:

·         Marketing – Building and developing key contacts, especially Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait

·         May include occasional marketing trips to the Middle East

·         Liaison Manager for Omani Officers - taking care of all aspects of Officer liaison, particularly student support

·         Sensitive handling of inter-cultural and interpersonal issues is paramount.

·         Welcoming marketing representatives or partners from the Middle Eastern markets and conducting school and city tours, lunch welcome and other PR duties

·         Helping find accommodation for Middle Eastern students, including private landlords

·         Welfare of all Middle Eastern students

Essential:

-       Excellent administration and IT skills, attention to detail and written and oral communciation

-       Excellent customer service, teamwork and interpersonal skills

-       Cultural awareness and sensitivity in dealing with international partners, ETOs, Embassies (particularly from the Middle East) and students

The ideal candidate will be:

-       lively, enthusiastic, hard-working, energetic, positive, sociable, open and approachable to students

-       caring and sensitive to the welfare, needs and culture of international students and partners

-       well organised and good at planning, prioritisation and time management

-       a native or near-native English speaker

-       positive and have a can-do attitude, ‘go the extra mile’ approach, flexibility and calmness

-       educated to university degree or equivalent

An interest in or experience of international EFL marketing would be a bonus, as would Tier 4 knowledge.

Salary dependent upon experience and qualifications.

Applicants should send a CV and covering email explaining why you are interested and suitable for the role to the Principal, Andrew Edwards: Andrew@lsi-portsmouth.co.uk by Friday 26th February, 2016. Interviews will be held the following week and the role will ideally commence as soon as possible thereafter.

The Leaving Do

Some photos from a very sad Thursday evening.

Really Sad to Say Goodbye To Simon.

We are seriously sorry to say goodbye to Simon, who works in the administration team. 

Simon has helped our students with their course applications and queries from our overseas partners. Simon is a man with one of the driest sense of humours you can find.  We are really indebted to him for all he has done. We thank him for his hard work and commitment.

You will be sorely missed Simon

xxx

Bye Bye Amelia

More Exam Writing Tips - from the LSI Pre-sessional Team

The third in our fabulous series of exam writing tips from the pre-sessional team - this week features the lovely Ed!

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We are looking for an Intern!

More help with English Writing - Video 2

The second in our series of Pre-sessional writing tips to help with writing in English.

Pre-Sessional Writing Tips from the LSI Team

For the last few years our Pre-sessional courses have become incredibly popular, with hundreds and hundreds of students studying here in preparation for their university courses. One of the most challenging areas for our students generally is academic writing skills.

Our amazing, fantastic, wonderful, superb, dedicated, hardworking pre-sessional team of teachers ;-) recently got together to come up with a range of writing tips to help the students. 
These have been made into a series of quick videos in which Robyn and Ed explain the most effective ways to improve academic writing.  The first of these is published today to coincide with the new Pre-sessional courses starting this month.  We will be publishing one new video each week for the next 6 weeks.  So you can find them easily, there will be a dedicated page on this blog (tabs above) where they will all be available together once they have all been published.

Enjoy!