Day One at a New School - Letter from a Newbie

Teachers reading this will know the feeling the day you start at a new school: Will I understand the systems? Will they be friendly? What resources will they have? Will I fit in? ...
We asked a new teacher who came to the school last year, to give us their views on what it was like to join LSI.    

"When starting to work at a new school, I always face the same teething problems. It take stime to adjust to the new timetable, administrative system, resources and in some cases teaching style. Thankfully, starting at LSI was a painless experience.

The timetable allows sufficient time for preparation, and the resources are abundant and well-organised. All of the staff have been welcoming, and have offered up suggestions and recommendations for lesson content and resources.

My previous job was at a school on London's Oxford Street, near the building site for Crossrail. The working environment at LSI couldn't be more different. It's nice to have sea views from classrooms rather than the constant sound of drilling!

Finally, it's nice to be a part of a team that is constantly developing. The school offers a lot of opportunities to teach various types of class, and supports teacher development. 

Overall, my first few months at the school have gone very smoothly and settling in has been pain-free."

Hopefully this will help any new teachers thinking of joining LSI in the future to feel a little more comfortable about starting.

Thank you new teacher (who preferred not to have his name published ;-)

The 15 Best Things About Portsmouth

Those of us who live in Portsmouth know very well that it is a city unlike any other, a crowded island city on the South coast, with easy access to London or France. It is very easy to find tourist guides telling you what is great about the city but we decided to ask our teachers what they thought the best things about living in Portsmouth were. In no particular order, the results are below - we thought it made fun reading.

1. There are 3 railway stations (4 if you count Hilsea); Fratton, Portsmouth and Southsea, Portsmouth Harbour!
2. It has a low cost of living compared to other cities in the South.
3. It has great links to the Continent.
4. It has a fabulous cosmopolitan feel to it.
5. Portsmouth is very flat - perfect for cycling (which with the number of cars is a very sensible thing to do).
6. Within very easy reach of London.
7. The fantastic selection of restaurant - particularly down Albert road. Almost any type of food can be found in Portsmouth.
8. The 10th hole cakes (A tea room). These have to be seen to be believed, the quality is stupendous, the variety extraordinary and always mouthwatering!
9. It's a smaller city, so easier to get around.
10. You can jog by the sea.
11. The Pubs!
12. The Historic Dockyard museum - "one of the best I've ever been to!"
13. No: 6 Cinema - an art cinema which shows a huge variety of films you never get to see in the multiplex.
14. Pie and Vinyl. A fabulous shop where you can buy a massive variety of records or have one of their delicious lip licking pies, with mash and mushy peas.
15. Gunwharf shopping centre and nightlife.

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. 

How to Improve your Academic Writing Tip - No. 5

Here's another great tip from Robyn, our Pre-sessional Director of Studies, explaining why punctuation is so important when writing for academic purposes.

Didn't They Do Well! DELTM, English UK and Cardiff.

We couldn't be more delighted to be able to congratulate Lea Brophy - The Vice Principal, Lewis Richards - Director of Studies (Exams) and Sue Hodgson - Assistant Director of Studies and Social Media Manager on passing their DELTM (Diploma in English Language Teaching Management) Qualification after nearly 18 months of studying.

They have been studying for this qualification since September 2014, completing five assignments, a project and ten monthly face to face sessions in London.  The course effectively ended when they handed in their final projects in November 2015 with their results being given in the first week of March.  The assignments and projects were then moderated by Trinity College, and the certificates were finally presented at the English UK Management conference held in Cardiff 10th and 11th March.

The conference was really informative, with many superb speakers giving talks.  One that had almost every person spell bound was from Geoff Burch, author, business expert and TV personality. His talk was inspiring, thought provoking and hugely entertaining.

Also, our own Lewis Richards gave a talk on observations which was very well received.

All in all, it was a great success and enjoyed by all who attended.

How to Choose a Pre-Sessional Course - the 10 Important Points to Look For

In this video Robyn, our Pre-sessional Course Director explains the 10 important things you need to check for when deciding where to study English before you go to university.

The 10 Best Reasons to Come and Study at LSI Portsmouth.

We have spoken to students, and we have spoken to teachers, but this week we are talking to the Directors about what makes LSI Portsmouth such a special place to study.

Why should someone come and study at LSI Portsmouth? Why should someone come and study in Portsmouth? It's very clear, LSI Portsmouth really is one of the best schools around, with over 30 years experience, top quality teachers, fantastic accreditation, a large school but small classes, but overall, its a fun place to be - right in the centre of the Portsmouth the Island City!

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!

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, to make sure you don't miss any of the great tips coming. Click Here to subscribe

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!

100% Pass Rate on Cambridge Proficiency Exam! - Not bad eh!

Many congratulations to our students who took the CPE exam at LSI in December – everyone passed!  Congratulations to Sarah, Noemi, Felizia, Claire, Pippa and Judith.  CPE is the highest level English qualification there is, so it’s an amazing achievement.  Well done everyone!

We started teaching CPE courses at LSI three years ago, and since then we have had an 

amazing 100% pass rate. 

 A big thank you to all our CPE teachers, especially our CPE expert, Alan, who has taught every CPE class we’ve had, and is famous for his amazing phrasal verb and idioms series of lessons!

From left: Judith, Noemi, Felizia, Claire, Pippa, Sarah.

Burns night - What is it?

What is Burns Night?

Burns Night is celebrated every year on January 25, which this year falls on a Monday. Burns night is mostly celebrated in Scotland, but is also celebrated across parts of the United Kingdom, as well as other places around the world. Burns Night is a Scottish tradition which marks the life of Scottish bard (poet) Robert Burns. His most well-known and popular poem is ‘Auld Lang Syne’, which is traditionally sung at midnight during New Year’s Eve celebrations.

One of the most important things about Burns Night is the food that is eaten during the celebration. There will be lots of traditional Scottish dishes cooked. The most important part of the meal is usually the haggis, a traditional type of sausage consisting of minced meat, mixed with oatmeal, animal fat, and seasoning, and boiled in a bag. The bag is traditionally made from the animal’s stomach.

Other dishes which are served include neeps and tatties, which are mashed turnips, swedes and potatoes, and the meal is often served with Scotch whiskey. Burns Night celebrations will also include a lot of laughter and fun, with the sound of bagpipes playing in the background. Bagpipes are a musical instrument with reed pipes, and they are considered Scotland’s national instrument.

Burns Night started shortly after the poet’s death in 1796. His friends in Ayrshire, Scotland wanted to celebrate his life and poetry, and the first Burns supper was held on the anniversary of his death on July 21^st 1801.  However, Burns Night was moved to the day of Robert Burns’ birthday, and Burns Night has been celebrated ever since.

Happy Burns Night to All our Scottish teachers and friends who will be celebrating today ;-)

10 terrific things to look forward to in Portsmouth in 2016

At Wow 24/7 there is a brilliant post on what is happening in Portsmouth in 2016

Click Here

The Two Best Events This Weekend

Although the nights are dark and the holidays are finished January has some great events happening.  

The first is local and is in Southsea at the Kings Theatre.
This Saturday the 16th January sees a day of tours, activities and workshops all for just £5. Don't miss the opportunity to visit this beautiful old building and see what most people never get to experience.

For more details click the link here.

The second is in London, so get out of the house, put a warm coat on and visit the capital to see Lumiere London.  You can see from the short little video below that it makes no difference if it rains or is fine it is a truly spectacular treat not to miss.

It is on from the 14th to the 17th January from 6.30pm to 10.30pm each night.  For more details click the link here

If you get to see either of these events, do let u sknow what it was like, photos would be even better ;-)

LSI Portsmouth is now a BULATS Testing Centre!

LSI are delighted to announce that from January 2016, we are now an official BULATS (Business Language Testing Service) testing centre.

There are so many good reasons why BULATS could be useful for you:

• A flexible and fast way of getting certification for your language level: you only need to give us 7 days notice to book the test

• Validation of your English courses for employers. For example, in France, you can use your CPF (Compte Personnel de Formation) to come and study with us – but only if the course is  validated ; and  BULATS is one of the approved tests.

•  Impress new and potential employers with BULATS on your CV: It’s an exam specifically focused on business or professional English

• Worldwide recognition as a University of Cambridge exam

The addition of BULATS to the existinging exam options of IELTS, Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE really does cement our reputation as THE school to prepare for and take an English language exam in the UK.

For more information click cross (far right) below picture for full screen or get in touch with us.

We're Back and Raring to Go!

Happy New Year

Looking Back Over 2015

2015

What a fantastic year we have had this year. Happy, sad, funny and interesting. Here is a round up of all the fabulous things we have been involved in this year.

January:

We started off the year discovering how many languages in total our teachers speak, with a great little info graphic. Then came the sad part where we said goodbye to our lovely Bill Phillips, a hugely popular teacher who has been with the school for 20 years. He decided it was time to stop, but he is now a host family. We also had some of our staff start on a management course. Probably one of the most fun things to happen in the school this month was some of our teachers started learning Arabic with Arif.  See stories here

February:

In February, we welcomed back an old friend, a student who attended the school over 25 years ago. And we said a temporary goodbye to Hannah who started her maternity leave to have her and Adam’s baby. We were delighted to hear that Allan Gray’s (who used to be the marketing director here) G Boutique hotel had won yet another award.  See stories here

March:

We launched our first quiz, ‘What type of student are you?’ which proved very popular, and we finally launched our new study centre, with Becky telling us on video what was available. We also had another rooftop interview this time with Belle telling us about the LSI Social Programme. As always, the generous side came out for Comic Relief day and there was a charity cake bake. See stories here

April:

In April we had a celebrity visit us in the executive centre and gave us a lovely interview. Paul Rosenmöller is a well know TV face in Holland, dealing with hot political topics. There was also a great little story about LSI’s involvement with Karaoke.  See stories here

May:

Once again the LSI team were out supporting charity, this time with a fun run in Oxford along with a lot of other language school’s teachers and students. However mostly May was dominated by the General Election. One of our teachers Jeremy made a lovely presentation which explained how are elections are carried out in the UK.  See stories here

June:

In June we finally revealed the long awaited reveal of LSI’s fantastic facelift. For months we lived in a building covered by netting and scaffolding, but it was most definitely worth it to finally see the fantastic new face. Once again we focussed back on the many language skills our teachers have by showing an interview with two of our bilingual teachers.  See stories here

July:

Quite a few events of note happened this month. Firstly our sweet little Ellis I Bear arrived at the school, hoping to go travelling with as many people as he can. Lovely Hannah (teacher and marketing lady) had her baby, and then the incredible Americas Cup race event happened in Portsmouth.See stories here

August:

Yet another charity event happened in August, this time football. A wonderful video interview with Amelia and two lovely Arabic students and another big event in Portsmouth; Victorious Festival.  See stories here

September:

England was agog with Rugby mania but closer to home was a milestone in LSI’s history. This year we reached the grand old age of 30 years! We decided to celebrate it this year with two parties and a video showing the journey from where we started to where we are today.  See stories here

October:

The Halloween theme seemed to dominate most things in October. So to continue with the fun theme we made a quiz for people to find out how well they knew Portsmouth. This proved incredibly popular and was taken a few thousand times. Amelia interviewed two wonderful Chinese students and our Vice Principal and his band headlined a refugee charity gig.  See stories here

November:

Joel rounded up a very successful year for him by being promoted to GE/Exam ADOS. One of our teachers had a surprise (to us) wedding. We had not one but two charity events, one was a bake off in aid of the most wonderful charity in this area – the Rowans Hospice, the other was the Great South Run which not only included teacher Jenni (running for DEBRA), but also two Swiss students, who talked with Jenni in an interview about their experience. Finally, being November, it couldn’t pass without a visit to the traditional fireworks display held every year in Cosham.  See stories here

Class Charity Week!

Recently a class of students did an amazing thing, here they explain what they did.

"Two weeks ago our class organised a charity week for collecting some money for the Rowans Hospice in Portsmouth.  Over a whole week long we offered to other students some activities.  On the first day there was an amazing auction, where we purchased a lot of lovely things.  The day after we made a quiz for all the students who were interested in it, and for all sport fans we prepared a table tennis tournament and a pool tournament, each activity cost £1.

On Friday finally there was the ceremony of all winners of the activities during the week and we declared how much money we collected. With this charity week over £200! To organise these activities and to practise them was always a lot of fun and we all had a good experience."

Luis
Victor
Omar
Lama
Valeria
Veronika
Eva

The Great South Run with Jenni, Lara and Annabelle.

At the end of October, thousands and thousands of people joined together to run ten miles for fun and for charity. The seafront was filled with runners, supporters, charities and volunteers. 

One of our teachers Jenni trained hard for months before to run for a charity very close to her heart DEBRA and with such determination managed to raise over £750 for her cause. Her passion for the event persuaded two students in her class to also join in on the run.  Here is their story:

To see more details about the run click here to go to the official website

What a Fantastic Year So Far - Joel

2015 has proven to be a pretty good year so far for Joel.

He has just been promoted to be the GE / Exams Assistant Director of Studies.

Joel joined LSI back in 2007, since then he has taught General English as well as IELTS and the Cambridge exams. He has taught in Mexico, Spain and here in Portsmouth, and so has a really broad experience of cultures.

With his new position Joel is excited to be part of helping others develop and make the best of their teaching, and also keen to develop his own skills as much as possible.

This year he studied for the Delta (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), passing it in the summer.  Not only that but he is also studying for an MA in Philosophy, and... earlier in the year moved into a new house that "needs loads of work". This is one industrious individual!

As well as all the other things Joel has achieved recently, he is also a very keen musician who plays the guitar and sings.  For some reason (;-) this has been put on hold for a little while but he is now restarting and ready to go.  On top of all that Joel is a keen outdoors man who enjoys cycling, running and swimming.

Congratulations Andy!