Dragon Boat Festival 2012

The Dragon Boats

Some of the stalls

LSI has a plethora of talent among the staff and teachers, and recently some of the ‘crafty’ types joined forces to create 'The Craft Committee' and set up at the 2012 Dragon Boat Festival to raise money for charity.  The Dragon Boat festival is run by the Rotary Club who raise funds and work towards helping those less fortunate.  Their motto is 'Service above Self'.

The 2012 festival was held over a slightly overcast weekend in the middle of May. Luckily for everyone though, the Saturday was blessed with sporadic sun which made things more bearable, particularly for the dragon boat contestants who had to be on the water anyway.

Dragon boat racing is an ancient Chinese tradition and races are still held in the Far East on a regular basis, always exciting the watching audience with the noise and fun. Each forty-foot boat is paddled by up to sixteen people with a drummer at the helm keeping the rhythm for rowers.   You can see in the photo how close the race can get!

The Craft Committee was held in a beer tent (thank you very much) and was the idea of Caroline (Gwatkin), Rotarian and teacher (among other roles).  Joining Caroline were Ceri Tipler, Claire Greenway, Cristina Purcell, Alan Daysh, Sue Hodgson and ex teachers Abbi Headon (wife of Jeremy Catlin), Margaret Ferguson and Diana Collins.

As you can see by the photos, a lot of fun was had by both the contestants and the stall holders and hopefully all the visitors.

The Committee members (a few are missing!)

IELTS - new candidate identity verification system

On the 26^th May, LSI introduced the new verification system for the IELTS test.

IELTS is committed to ensuring the highest quality to their testing system and the care they give their customers.  They have therefore introduced new measures to protect the integrity of the testing.  For more information about the new verification system please see:

http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/book-your-test/terms-and-conditions/ielts-candidate-identity-verification

Workshop in Turkey

Angela in Turkey

Our Marketing agent for Turkey, Italy and Switzerland; Angela Evans, recently attended the ALPHE 2012 workshop in Istanbul, where educators have the chance to meet and get to know student advisors from all over, but in particular from Turkey and Russia.  Angela says “It was great to meet everyone and I also had the opportunity of introducing our new self-catering student house, which was very well received, as well as letting everyone know about the forthcoming Cambridge course option which we are launching in September 2012. This was only the second time I have been over to Istanbul but I had an excellent trip and was looked after so well by everyone I met.”  She goes on to say “Portsmouth is one of the lesser known student destinations in this region, and I really enjoyed introducing our city and showing off what it has to offer!”

The Travel Bug has Bitten

Two of our lovely teachers set off last month to do what TEFL teachers love doing most – Travelling!

Sun, sea, sand and adventure are on the horizon for Elly Easey, 27, and John Hicks, 33, both of whom have been at LSI for the last few years and are now travelling around South East Asia, last heard of in Vietnam.

Elly’s brother Tom, who also works at LSI, has given us these photos to show what a great time they are having - probably just to make us jealous!

Being so popular among the teachers and the students for their love of life and wicked senses of humour, they will be missed and we are very much hoping they will come back here once the money has run out.

Introducing Bill Phillips

In our occasional series of ‘get to know the staff’ today we are meeting Bill Phillips. 

Bill is on the right!

Bill is almost part of the fabric of the school - teaching at LSI since 1994, always with a smile on his face. He is known (and loved) as much for his trademark bow ties as his catch phrases for example ‘You are like a mother to me’! Originally Bill worked in the Immigration Service, but decided to teach English because of his love of language.  You can often find Bill, along with a few other ‘grammarians’ in the staff room, discussing / disagreeing (usually disagreeing) about the correct usage of a piece of language. 

Bill has a special place in his heart for Italy, having lived and studied there when he was younger and can often be heard singing Italian songs as he walks up the stairs. 
Having taught for such a long time, we asked Bill what guidance he would give to someone thinking about going into teaching  “Don’t even think of doing this job unless you like people” he said, which from someone who ‘loves communicating with a smile’ seems like a very salient piece of advice.

The rest of the teachers in the staff room are always grateful for Bill’s little ‘giveaways’ which are often found left on the side for them in the mornings - plants and seedlings he has grown or little treats and snacks he brings in.

Bill loves walking, when he’s not in the school he’s generally on a rambling holiday somewhere in the UK.

Scoop:  Bill was a Catholic monk for 9 years, in England and Italy, until the age of 28 “When I was not yet bald!”

The Uncountables at the Edge of the Wedge

The musical talent at LSI is quite astounding, with at the last count, no less than four different bands made up from teachers and staff in the school.  Recently The Uncountables played one of their gigs at the Edge of the Wedge in Southsea.  The band members Lewis Richards (Bass), Alan Daysh (keyboards and vocals) Tom Easey (Drums) and our lovely ex teacher Luc Owen (guitar and vocals) played a very lively set with audience participation at an all time high – particularly from our lovely Kurdish students.

UKBA requirements change

Over the last few years the UK Borders Agency has gradually brought in changes to the requirements students need to meet in order to enter the United Kingdom to study. 

The regulations are frequently being amended so if you would like further information on this complex area have a look at:

For general details:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/general-info/

or for studying information:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/studying/

There is also a downloadable pdf you can find here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/summary-student-policy.pdf

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.