The students staying at St Mary’s Ascot have just completed their first day of lessons. The young students certainly lack neither enthusiasm nor energy and are eager to demonstrate their academic capabilities in the classroom. Teachers have been frequently reporting back all day with stories of the incredible effort students have been putting in.

Students undertaking the ‘Academic Discovery’ (8-10 years) and the ‘Academic Discovery Plus’ (10-12 years) programmes allow students to trial numerous subjects in the hope of sparking a particular interest in a topic, or hopefully finding something students are truly passionate about. The ‘Junior English Programme’ enables students to gain critical language skills and greatly improve their grammar, punctuation and writing skills. Students will also be doing large amounts of reading, to build broader vocabularies and a more comprehensive understanding of the English language.

After a positive first day of lessons, and a very well received Chinese dinner in the Dining Hall, students gathered in the St Mary’s Sports Hall to take part in the ORA quiz night. Students attempted to answer questions on British History, World Geography and English Language. The victorious team secured first place on the rides on Wednesday at Chessington World of Adventure as a prize for their efforts.

Tomorrow the students are due to spend another day in the classroom, before observing some exciting science experiments in the evening. More updates to follow.