Staff at Embassy

Recent news from our Embassy schools

Here is a round-up of news from our various schools around the world. As you can see, there is a lot going on!

• A major project is currently underway to refurbish the library at Embassy Cambridge, and also revitalise some of the classrooms.
• After a year of testing and development, Smart Express classes started last week in New York, Boston, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Cambridge. Will you be on the next Smart Express course? 
• We have lots of special offers on Embassy courses and accommodation at the moment - you can get a bargain if you can be flexible on dates! 
• At Boston Merrimack, students participated in the College's Global Village - an annual event in which students showcase their country’s culture, traditions, clothing, music, and food. We had 12 countries including: Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, China, Japan, France, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, El Salvador..., & Brazil. Students took great pride in presenting their countries to the campus community.
• Recently, in Seattle, students headed to the trendy Queen Anne Neighborhood for an “Amazing Race” competition. Working in groups of three, students were given a list of tasks to perform and questions to answer in a period of two hours. They had a great time learning and exploring Seattle alongside their classmates!
• 10 new interactive whiteboards have been installed at Embassy Melbourne, meaning every classroom in that school now has access to this fab technology.
• Embassy Brisbane has a new student residence:  it's just seven minutes from school by bus; has inclusive broadband internet and utilities; and best of all there's a great social community.
• Meanwhile, Brisbane students have enjoyed trips to farmers markets, a table tennis tournament, a pizza & board games day & a sausage sizzle. OK, who knows what a sausage sizzle is? ;)
  
• Embassy Perth has a new Director of Studies - Andrew Foster. Andrew joins us after working for over 10 years with GEOS, and more recently as Senior Director of Studies for GEOS Oceania, where he was responsible for the academic management of 11 schools. He has worked as an English Language Teacher, a Teacher Traine...r and as Director of Studies in Australia, Japan, England and New Zealand.
• On Sunday 14 March, 12 teachers and staff from the Auckland campus took part in the annual Round the Bays fun run in aid of the Study Group ‘Plan Haiti Appeal’. Students and staff managed to raise $624.90 for the Plan Haiti Appeal. This amount will be matched by Study Group, so Auckland will be contributing almost $1,250!
• Embassy Sydney now offers 3-day trips for activities such as surfing camps, snowboarding weekends and tours to Melbourne and Canberra.
  

Videos on site

Videos really help you to see what student life is like - and even more so when our students themselves get to speak.

That's why we've been busy adding videos across the Embassy website in recent days. Here you can view just a few of them. Enjoy!

An introduction to Embassy Sydney:

EM_Sydney_360p_ProRes

See also:
An introduction to Embassy Melbourne
An introduction to Embassy Perth
An introduction to Embassy Gold Coast
An introduction to Embassy Brisbane
An introduction to Embassy Auckland

An introduction to Embassy Boston Downtown:

SGUS-B-Intro-081209

See our other Boston Downtown videos:
Boston Downtown students and staff
Boston Downtown local information (foot of page)
Boston Downtown activities
Boston Downtown facilities (foot of page)

An introduction to Embassy New York:

SGUS-NY-Intro-081209

See our other New York videos:
New York local information (foot of page)
New York accommodation
New York activities
New York facilities(foot of page)

News from Embassy Oxford

Peter Madams, ICT teacher at Embassy Oxford, provides a few updates of recent school activities:

Traffic lights!

Accomodation Officer at Oxford, Agnieska Kaleka, (perhaps our most active fund-raiser, pictured in yellow) would like to say a big 'thank you' to all of you who took part in the last Traffic Light Day at Embassy Oxford. The idea is simple - wear red, green or orange/yellow clothes for a day around college, and try to collect donations for the charity.

As usual we took some funny pictures and raised £42.83 which will be doubled by Study Group so the final amount is: £85.66. Congratulations everyone!!! This money will go our chosen charity 'Building Futures'.

Games Night

Embassy Oxford is now open late on Tuesdays for a games night in the common room. Fabio, our social activities organiser, will be running the evening. Students can stay in the building until 8.30pm and play chess, Texas Poker, dominoes, or other board games.

The first night was a great success - lots of people came. It's a great way to relax, meet new people, and learn new games after a hard days studying.

Translation of our website

It's a great day here at Embassy head office - we have finally published the last of 11 translations to our website. You can now read up-to-date information on our schools in (deep breath):

Russian, French, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian and Traditional Chinese!

It has been a long process, involving 11 translators working in all corners of the globe, but we remain committed to communicating to as many people as we can, across the world.

If you find any mistakes, please feel free to tell us in the comments below... but gently, eh? We're still celebrating.

Read the site in your own language by visiting www.embassyces.com, and clicking on the language bar at the top of the page. Then let us know what you think!

A new way of learning English

Embassy is buzzing with excitement at the new and exciting ways of learning that have come into our classrooms!

Over the last few months, all Embassy schools have installed an amazing piece of technology.

An old-fashioned piece of classroom equipment - the whiteboard - has become an incredible interactive computer screen. Teachers and students can now use the internet, video clips, sound, and immersive exercises, all at the touch of a mouse.

The best way to understand the potential of the interactive whiteboards is by seeing them in action - and you can do just that right now. Just click 'play':

75% of our classes worldwide now use interactive whiteboards, and by 2010 we are aiming for 100%.

This is all part of our exciting mission to bring the power of modern technology to your English learning. Watch this space for news on our Online Learning Environment, our use of blogs and podcasts, and other innovations that will speed up your learning and make it more fun at the same time.

Read more about interactive whiteboards on the Embassy website news page.

Oxford throws a Host Families party

Embassy Oxford recently held a party to give thanks to the families who host students in their homes.

Students at Embassy have options to live in a student residence, to find their own accommodation, or to choose 'Homestay' where they live with a local family who also provide food. The benefit of living with a host family is that you get to practice your English and see another aspect of life during your stay in the UK.

At the party, delicious food and entertainment were provided, along with musical offerings from Peter and Steve on guitar and piano (our very own lounge crooners). The highlight of the event was definitely 'Magic Martin' (pictured) who did his magic show for the children aided by his white rabbit.

 

You can find out more about studying English in Oxford on the Embassy website. Visit our Oxford accommodation page for more detail on both residential and Homestay options.

Embassy LA Long Beach Grand Opening

On February 9, 2009 Embassy Los Angeles Long Beach school opened its doors to an array of local businesses, university partners, international agents, staff and students to celebrate its official launch.

It was an opportunity for the school to show off its bright modern facilities. When in the spacious classrooms the students benefit from state-of-the-art interactive whiteboards, digital course materials and instant access to the internet. When out of class students can enjoy using the facilities of the computer centre, and large student lounge with table tennis, football and cable television to entertain students.

Three students were chosen to officially open the centre by unveiling a founding plaque (pictured below). Their names (Hyun Seung Lee from South Korea; Bilge Karakas from Turkey; Fanta Boukar from the Republic of Niger) are displayed on the plaque to comemorate the event. Each of the students told their stories of academic achievement and aspirations to the assembled crowd.

 

Afterwards, the guests were invited to take a tour of the facilities, to meet staff from the Embassy school, and to enjoy the music and food!

All staff and students relocated to the new school at the end of December, which is situated in the world trade centre of the lively coastal town of Long Beach, just 10 miles from downtown LA. The new school now benefits from a large outside courtyard, a rooftop terrace, and shops and cafes on the doorstep.

Visit the official Embassy website to find out more about studying English in Long Beach, Los Angeles.

Harlem Globetrotters in Kent, WA

Excitement was in the air of the ShoWare Center as the Harlem Globetrotters took the floor and demonstrated their amazing tricks and skills!

 

 

Casino Party at San Francisco

Greetings from San Francisco!  This is Sarah Partos, Student Services Manager here in SF.

One of the things I love the most about our school is the sense of family that we have here.  Every member of the staff is always open to questions or comments about the school.  We want to hear what you have to say!  Never be shy about approaching any of us, especially with ideas for activities.

In San Francisco, the students and staff love to participate in activities together.  In January we had a Casino Night Party where everybody had a great time!  Students got casino chips when they arrived, which they were able to use at our Blackjack, Roulette, and Poker tables.  Our teachers and administrative staff (including me) worked as dealers at these tables.   The four biggest winners of the night received gift cards as prizes.

Everyone had such a great time that we continued the party at a nearby cafe!

 
 
 

We hope you'll join us for our next school party in March.

 Be sure to check out the Facebook page for Embassy in the USA!

Teachers' conference

Peter Madams, from Embassy Oxford, writes: Teachers from UK Study Group (the parent company of Embassy) schools and affiliated institutions gathered in Brighton recently for a teachers conference.

The conference is a chance for teachers to exchange ideas and learn about new topics relevant to their subject. Short lectures included: Powerpoint and Interactive Whiteboards, Wikis, digital cameras in teaching and Visual Dictogloss. If you don't understand these terms, don't worry, but rest assured you may benefit from them in the classroom.

I'm glad to report that Oxford won the Learning Awards Scheme for 2008 which involved staff learning to develop a response to the rise in number of Middle Eastern students present in Oxford.
 
We all had a great time in Brighton - it was nice to combine meeting our colleagues from around the country and learn something new to help us become better in our jobs.