LINES Summer School in Paris

The camp teaches General French in the morning and runs LINES workshops in the afternoon, twenty-four hours of tuition in total each week, split evenly between the two. Groups are formed by age and by language level: Juniors from ten to fourteen and Seniors from fifteen to eighteen, with an average of seven learners per class and a maximum of ten. Lessons work on speaking fluency, accuracy and pronunciation, on listening, reading and writing, and on grammar and vocabulary, with a written language test at the end of each week. Workshops cover drama, French repertoire, cooking, DELF exam preparation, film production, business French, academic French and writing. Complete beginners are accepted alongside advanced speakers, and the Director of Studies can move a student to a different class if the level turns out to be wrong.

The programme fee covers tuition, accommodation in a single en-suite room, meals, the daily activity programme and two excursions a week, one midweek and one on a Saturday. Airport transfers to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle or Paris Orly are charged separately per one-way journey, as is the airline unaccompanied minor service. Optional excursions - a freefall simulator, Disneyland Paris, windsurfing and Parc Asterix - are booked in addition and are offered on Thursdays and Sundays; the operator recommends booking them at enrolment, as on-site places depend on availability. A refundable damage deposit is collected on arrival and returned at the end of the stay. The operator suggests parents allow some pocket money each week for souvenirs and snacks.

Every student sleeps in their own individual en-suite bedroom on the campus of the Olympic training centre, which the operator chose for privacy, comfort and a controlled, secure site. Friends are not placed in the same room, but the team can put them in neighbouring rooms. Accommodation is supervised throughout the stay, with a staff-to-student ratio of one to four, and first aid-trained staff are on site at all times. A refundable damage deposit is taken on arrival to cover any breakages and returned when nothing is damaged. House rules cover curfew, smoking, alcohol, bullying and damage to property, and the operator applies graded consequences when they are broken.

Meals are provided on site and are included in the programme fee. The kitchen caters for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets and for allergies, provided the requirement is given in advance of arrival, and the operator asks parents to flag any medical or dietary need at the time of booking. Students are asked to bring some pocket money for snacks and treats outside meal times, and any regular medication should travel with the student and be handed to the team.

An activity programme runs every day, and students choose a different activity rather than following a fixed rota. The lakeside setting inside an Olympic training centre gives access to water activities - rafting, big paddle, sailing and kayaking - all supervised by certified instructors. On land there are baseball, football, tennis and field games, and the creative and social programme covers arts and crafts, drama and team challenges, quiz and games nights and the camp's own Olympics. Two excursions a week take students into Paris and its surroundings, including Versailles and the Latin Quarter and Notre-Dame, so that the language is used outside the classroom as well as in it.

The camp is hosted inside an Olympic training centre beside a lake at Vaires-sur-Marne, roughly thirty minutes from central Paris and twenty-five minutes from both Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports. The site is enclosed and private, and it combines residential accommodation in single en-suite rooms with sports facilities on land and on the water. Outdoor pitches and courts host baseball, football, tennis and field games, the lake is used for the supervised water programme, and free wireless internet is available so that students can stay in touch with home.

Students arrive from a range of countries for a full-immersion stay in which French is used in class, in workshops, at meals and during activities. The staff-to-student ratio of one to four means each child is known by name, and the small class sizes are the operator's main argument for how quickly beginners start speaking. Days move between morning lessons, afternoon workshops, sport or water activities and evening social events, with excursions twice a week. At the end of the stay every student receives a certificate of completion recognising the work done, and the operator's team takes responsibility for each student's welfare from arrival to departure.