Yesterday saw a studious start to proceedings at Yarnton, with everyone keen to get off to their morning lessons and enthusiastic about all that their programmes have to offer them. As usual, breakfast was relished, and although there were a few sleepy eyes, a trip to the campus coffee machine did wonders to the group’s energy levels in the morning.

Currently staying at the manor are our students aged 16 – 18, all of whom are dedicated to making the most out of the academic opportunities available to them during their stay. Our programmes for this age range are focused around providing students with detailed, dynamic and different approaches to their chosen area of interest. Having had the chance to tour the fantastic sights of Oxford has inspired as least some of the students to pursue a university career in the UK at some point in the near future.

Students on our Computer Science programme have the chance to focus on the exploitation of computer systems, looking specifically at how to calculate, analyse and present data. During lessons, the whole cohort seemed eager to get stuck into this lucrative class and it was great to see everyone’s level of engagement.

Our Business and Enterprise programme has also been popular this year with our students aged 16 – 18. During their lessons, students have started to learn some of the crucial elements of working in finance and economics – as well as developing more practical skills with some leadership training. Students on this programme have just been given their major project for the two weeks – developing their own product and attempting to market it! Everyone in class seemed eager to get creative as they worked together as small teams to think up cutting edge ideas.

After a few days of being together as a whole group, the students are beginning to settle into their routine here at Yarnton. It is fantastic to see that so many students have already made close friendship circles, however a lot of the group are still in the process of opening up to one another which is incredibly important for making the most of being amongst such an international community. It was great to see everyone enjoying their free time in the manor grounds together.