Downe House Summer School for Girls, Berkshire

The morning programme is taught by Downe House teachers through workshops, experiments and team activities. Girls take three 60-minute sessions a day on four days of each week. English Language sessions are grouped by ability so that each girl works at her own pace; the English Literature session introduces Shakespeare and is offered to girls at C1 and above; STEM covers science and technology through practical projects; and Global Solutions asks the group to work on climate change, sustainability, innovation and equality, and to propose answers of their own.

The programme is residential and all-inclusive for the two weeks. Tuition, the full activity and evening programme, all excursions and experiences, accommodation on campus, all meals with some snacks and a traditional British high tea, sports equipment, bedding and a laundry service are covered, as is a medical on-call facility with pastoral care around the clock. Return transfers from London Heathrow and London Gatwick are included at the designated times on the arrival and departure days. Flights and visas are arranged by the family; the school issues a visa invitation letter at no charge.

Girls stay in the school's own modern boarding houses. Bedrooms hold two, three or four girls of a similar age, with bathrooms shared between rooms on each floor and plenty of them. The houses have large common areas for the evenings and outdoor space for games, and friends can ask to share a room when they book.

Three meals a day — breakfast, lunch and supper — are prepared each day in the school's own kitchens by its catering staff, from a varied menu of international cuisines. Lunch and supper are usually hot meals, and a packed lunch or supper goes with the group on trip days. Snacks are available, and dietary requirements are catered for when the school is told in advance.

Afternoons and evenings balance the academic morning. Sport includes swimming in the school's 25-metre heated indoor pool, tennis, football, basketball, badminton, table tennis, pickleball, yoga and an introduction to British sports such as lacrosse and hockey. Drama and the creative arts use the school theatre and art rooms, and there is cookery, orienteering, arts and crafts and team games. Evenings run a changing programme of films, board games, crafts and outdoor activities in the boarding houses.

The campus sits in the Royal County of Berkshire, close to Oxford, London and the UK airports. Girls use the school's 25-metre heated indoor swimming pool, its sports centre and outdoor pitches, its theatre and art rooms, and the Murray Centre with the library. Wi-Fi is available and details are given at the induction session. A medical on-call facility and 24/7 pastoral care cover the whole stay.

This is an exclusive course for girls run and taught by Downe House staff, and it is as much about boarding school life as about lessons. A 'Best of British' package of experiences takes the group sightseeing in London, to Oxford University for a symposium on global solutions, to a theme park, into a skills workshop with the British Army, on a shopping trip to the local market town and to a British high tea. Girls arrive from around the world, share a house, and leave with English they have had to use and friends in other countries.