Our New Social Programme Organiser Has Arrived.

We are delighted to welcome the lovely teacher Catherine Barker to her new position as LSI Portsmouth's Social Programme Organiser.  She has taken over from Belle who has changed positions in the company.  LSI Portsmouth has a fantastic social programme for our students, visiting many different places on the south coast, and as you can see in the photos below, the students certainly have fun!
We know that Catherine will do a fantastic job, as we can already see the evidence in the photos, and wish her all the very best.

Our Brand New Social Hub - the Place to be!

Welcome to our new Social Hub!

Until very recently Belle, our Social Programme Organiser, had her office on the third floor next to the Study Centre. It was good for our students, but we couldn’t help feeling that she might be better in the Student Lounge.

The Student Lounge is the busiest and liveliest area of the school. You can find a pool table, tennis table, piano, television and dining area. Most of our students spend their coffee breaks and lunch time there, talking to each other, enjoying a coffee or lunch and signing up to social activities.

We thought that Belle should be there too, so she can always be available for the students. In her new office you can come and pay for weekend trips, get help booking your own excursions or just come in for a friendly chat and a cup of tea. We call this area ‘The Social Hub’!

In the new Social Hub you can also find Nati and Diane, who are available to help the students with accommodation issues and anything to do with their homestay. It’s a very useful space and is always busy! There is also a small meeting area, if students need to discuss plans or itineraries with Belle and the office is too crowded. It’s a really nice area to relax with a cup of tea and listen to some music!

All the students have commented on how great the new social space is! We think it’s fantastic too, and we know that Belle, Diane and Nati are extremely happy in their new home!! 

We think the new Social Hub makes it easy for students to ask questions, sign up for more activities, and feel more relaxed and comfortable, what do you think?

Belle

Cheerleading, Venezuela and Portsmouth Student Union!

A while back we had the loveliest student at LSI Portsmouth from Caracas in Venezuela. Carlos was initially studying General English before moving on to complete his Cambridge Proficiency Exam. Now he is studying for a masters in Scotland! Carlos was an extremely well-loved and caring student, and made friends with everyone. He agreed to make a short video with us to explain the benefits of joining a club at the University of Portsmouth Student Union, and how it greatly improved the sixth months he spent in Portsmouth.

For more information click here.
If you want to see the activites you can join click here.

Having Fun at LSI Portsmouth

 

Mug Painting

Our Social Programme is often full of exciting, fun and loud activities! From singing loudly at karaoke, to listening to live music at local venues or enjoying food from local restaurants, there’s always so much to do. But we also like to do relaxing activities which offer the students’ time to relax and unwind after a hard week of studying!

One of the most popular activities is mug painting. Recently a group of students (and staff) got together to get creative, and design and paint their very own mug. We listened to music, drank tea and spent hours designing and painting!

All of the students agreed it was very relaxing and fun, and the perfect way to spend the afternoon. After everyone was finished, Belle, our Social Programme Organiser, took the mugs home to bake them in the oven. This ensures the paint doesn’t chip or scratch, and the finished mugs stay in perfect condition even after 100 cups of tea!! As fun as the activity was, all the students now have their own personal souvenir to remind them of their time spent at LSI. It’s a unique and personal experience for all of our students. 

A Bizarre and Scary Way to Spend Your Evening?

At LSI, we are very proud of our full and varied Social programme, particularly our weekly ‘Nights Out’. From dance parties to fundraisers, usually held on a Thursday, our Nights Out are some of the best activities on the social calendar, and a great chance for our students to unwind, meet new friends, and have a good time! However, there is one activity that proves to be a real hit with all our students, and that is our karaoke parties!

Our karaoke parties were originally started by Hugo, an English teacher and DJ, who sadly left us at the end of last year. He was a HUGE fan of karaoke, and could never resist the urge to get up on stage and rap for the students! After he left, his legacy was continued by Belle, our Social Programme Organiser, and the karaoke parties now happen on a fortnightly basis. The parties also attract ex-LSI students who are still living in Portsmouth, as well as loads of our teachers and staff members.

Some of you may have your reservations about karaoke, you might think singing in front of a large crowd of strangers as a bizarre and scary way to spend your evening! But believe it or not, karaoke is fun. Serious fun. Apart from the friendly staff serving delicious drinks, a HUGE repertoire of songs to choose from, and a great overall atmosphere, the DJ also plays international songs and chart hits, which always gets everyone partying together on the dance floor. And of course, singing is optional; most people just come along for the fun.

Check out some of the photos from our karaoke parties, and if you are a student currently studying at LSI, make sure you’re at the next one!!! They really are a highlight for many of our students!

BDH.

The Social Programme at Portsmouth

Early summer last year saw the lovely Belle join us to become the new Social Programme Organiser for the General English side of the school.  Well ... the social programme has been transformed!  The students now have something to do every day, and that includes Saturdays as well. Lots and lots of new exciting events and parties have been organised; sporty, cultural and fun, something for everyone.  Belle is pretty much like the Duracell Bunny.

We recently did a rooftop interview with Belle, to show what kind of events are on offer to the students. Do watch as Belle explains the different types of event, the most popular events and why students should join in. 

If you would like to know more about Belle, here is a post from when she joined the school.
Welcoming Belle to the Party

Welcoming Belle to the Party!

Belle Dowber joined us this month as our new full time Social events organiser. We have wanted to make our social programme even more lively and diverse and we think Belle is just the lady for the job.  She popped in to answer a few questions for us so we could get to know her a little better.

My name is Belle, I was born and raised here in Portsmouth, and consider myself a bit of a ‘Pompey girl’. Aside from moving to Brighton for three years to complete my degree, I’ve always been based in Portsmouth.  For three years, I lived in Brighton, where I graduated from the University of Sussex with a first class degree in linguistics. Either side of my studies I’ve been off gallivanting around the globe. I’ve just recently returned from a four month trip, the majority of which I spent travelling around India and Sri Lanka.

On her travels

Being the new Social Organiser? This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, so it was a bit daunting on my first day. However, everyone has been so friendly and welcoming; it’s made starting here much easier. I’m really excited about this job, and I’m looking forward to taking the Social Programme to the next level.

I’ve only ever worked in England, but would love the opportunity to work abroad, further along the line. Having said that, does making cocktails on the beach in exchange for free accommodation count as working abroad? In that case, I’ve worked in Indonesia too.

on her travels

on her travels

on her travels

I love cycling my old rusty bike, she’s my trusted companion. I also play the ukulele, even though my repertoire consists of 8 songs. My main passion is travelling, and even when I don’t have the time to take long trips away, I try and squeeze in short weekend trips so I can see as much of this lovely planet as possible.

I love living by the sea, and feel very lucky to be able to enjoy all the perks of living in a seaside city. The area around Clarence Pier, with its arcades and funfair and candyfloss, makes me feel nostalgic, and the tranquility of Eastney beach is always the perfect place to watch the sunset. Right now, I love the buzz around Southsea common, spending long sunny days eating lots of barbecued meat, and playing football or Frisbee with friends.

On the Isle of Wight

What else can I tell you? I nearly began a career as a professional ballerina, and completed all my examinations with distinction, as well as dancing with the English Youth Ballet. At the age of seventeen, I decided that I wanted to follow a more academic route, a decision which I’m very happy I made. Even though I miss ballet tremendously, I’m sure you’ll see my twirling down the corridors, or standing on my ‘demi-pointes’- these things never leave you!

Thank you Belle - we can't wait to see what you have planned!

Art club at LSI - How to paint a landscape

Recently we started an Art Club at LSI Portsmouth on Friday afternoons.  The results from the students were so fantastic that we filmed a class to show our other students what they could achieve.  We are very lucky to have an incredibly talented and skilled bunch of teachers at LSI Portsmouth.  One of our teachers, Alan Daysh, has been a landscape artist for the last 30 years, mostly painting land and seascapes of the Isle of Wight, although he paints a variety of other subjects beautifully as well..

There will be another art class this Friday afternoon - Alan will be demonstrating painting a still life.

How Will We Manage?

So it’s a very sweet and sour day here at LSI as one of our really lovely, much loved people is leaving us!  Nati Ruiperez is leaving to have a baby after ten years of working with us at LSI. 

Getting ready to leave

“So Nati how do you feel about leaving?”
“This is my 35th week, and I’ll be going on maternity leave for a year.  I’m a bit nervous, I know things are gonna be fine and everything, I’m just not sure how I’m going to  cope, I have never had so much time not working, though I know Christian (is the name of my baby), will give me a lot to do.”

with students at the Christmas party

“Let’s go back to the beginning, how did you come to work at LSI?”
“Well, I spent the last year of University in Galway in Ireland, on an Erasmus programme, then after I went back to Spain, but I wanted to work abroad again.  So, I applied and was taken on here for work experience for five months.  After the five months was finished I went back to Spain and was on holiday.  Suddenly out of the blue I received a call from Allan (the Marketing Director) who asked me if I wanted to come back to LSI.  Then after some years I met my husband and now I’ve been here ten years!”

with Bill at the leaving ceremony

“Over these ten years what have been the biggest changes?”
“Oh I think the biggest change for me was when Peter and Najat left (the founder of the school and his wife), that was such a big change, and then of course Andrew (the new Principal) coming.
A couple of years after I started here Rosalia started (another Spanish employee) and that was really nice working with another Spanish person, she left three years ago, but we do keep in touch a lot.  I think it can be hard to be in another country if you are not in a couple, you can feel very lonely, without your family or a big group of friends. But I have my lovely husband!
How did I meet my husband? It’s a funny story.  The husband of one of my friends knew my (now) husband and tried to set us up on a date.  So we went out as a group and had a lovely time.  I kind of played hard to get for about five or six weeks, and let him to do the running.  He used to come with me to the Salsa lessons that we had with the students every Wednesday.  After about 6 weeks he asked for a proper date.  I said if he wanted a date he had to ask permission from my parents, I was just joking you know. I had a wedding back in Spain at the weekend and I said if he wanted to ask them he could come to my cousin’s wedding and ask them there!  I never thought in a million years he would take me seriously. So that was on the Wednesday. I had to fly to Spain on the Friday. Can you imagine? On Friday he was knocking on the door with a taxi to take me to the airport!  So he came to the wedding with all my family, cousins and parents but he got on well with everyone and it was really nice. And that was also our first kiss, in front of 150 people!  In Spanish weddings it’s typical to say ‘the mother in law kisses the father in law’ and then they kiss with everyone clapping. They did that to us ‘Nati kisses Richard’ and that was our first kiss, in front of all those people!”

with students at the nightclub

“What do you do here and what will you miss the most?”
“I take care of reception and the social events for the General students, I used to look after the self access for the General students as well. I also look after the General student welfare.  What is the best thing about working here and what will I miss? It has to be the people, the students and my colleagues.  You know after a long time a job is a job but the people here are special and I think I’ll miss the staff the most.”

We'll miss you Nati!

Nati, we will miss you and your lovely smile and all the help you have given us so much, we wish you and Richard and Christian all the love and luck in the world!

If you know Nati - leave a message for her below

After a hard year of studying...

The general students have a varied social programme but at the end of the year there is only one venue and one thing on the student’s mind (other than improving their English of course) - The LSI Christmas Party.

As before we went to Tiger Tiger at Gunwharf, and this time was no different! As you can see great fun was had by all who attended.