Xenion Summer Fun Club in Paralimni

Learning at the Summer Fun Club is experiential. The operator writes that the start of summer signals the end of academic learning, so instead of formal teaching the day carries interactive educational games that let children use all their senses and learn without realising it. Children are encouraged to experiment through carefully monitored play and independent discovery, and the programme sets out to develop all intelligences, including kinesthetic, spatial and emotional. English runs through the week in the same way, with interactive stories and exercises rather than classroom drill. IT sessions use the two computer suites on site.

A morning day club: children are dropped off in the morning, take a complete breakfast at 9:00 a.m., and are picked up again at noon. The summer is organised as nine themed weeks, and the operator announces the full theme list shortly before the first day. There are set times and places for drop-off and pick-up, and the school asks parents to call ahead if they will be early or late.

This is a day club with no overnight accommodation. Children attend in the morning and go home at noon.

A complete breakfast is served at 9:00 a.m. every day, with a choice of ham, halloumi or cheese sandwiches on sliced or traditional village bread, jam or honey sandwiches, rice pudding, cake, boiled eggs or omelette, plus fruit. Children are supervised on their way to and from the Xenion Cafeteria during the breakfast and lunch breaks.

Dance gives children opportunities for self-expression and communication and teaches the values and skills of creativity. Art generates a love of learning and an openness to new ideas, developing imagination and allowing freedom of expression. Games and sports run daily: the premises have a futsal pitch and volleyball and basketball courts, and children take part in team games and learn to work as part of a team. Board games and storytelling are a set part of the weekly programme and reinforce thinking skills and imagination. Each group has a swimming session with a teacher and a lifeguard at the Xenion Boarding House pool. The school theatre is used on Wednesdays, either to watch films or for music, dance or theatre activities.

The Summer Fun Club occupies its own wing of the Xenion High School building, with its own access and its own space for parents to drop children off and collect them. It has its own yard for break-times, and all classrooms open directly onto the yard, which is at a safe distance from the road. Classes are equipped with air-conditioning, Interactive White Boards and internet access. The school has a full-sized theatre, volleyball and basketball courts, a five-a-side pitch, a dance space above the amphitheatre and two computer suites, and there is a reception area where parents can meet teachers. Swimming takes place at the Xenion Boarding House pool.

The club has been running for the children of the Famagusta area since 2000. Its stated aims are to help children behave responsibly, be fair and understanding, be tolerant and broad-minded, be inspired and motivated, and have a joyful, carefree summer. The school states that the safety of children is non-negotiable: under normal circumstances nobody enters the school without an appointment, and all visitors report to the receptionist.