Social programme and facilities
When you study English at International House Bristol you want to get the maximum value out of your time in England. Our programme of social activities, cultural events and day trips gives you the chance to practise your English outside the classroom. This will make your stay with us even more enjoyable and gives you a better understanding of British culture. For this reason, we believe that the social programme is a vital component of the learning opportunities that we offer. That's why we take fun very seriously.
- Different kinds of events - adult programme: over 120 possible events to choose from
- Our junior social programme - afternoon activities, evening events and whole-day excursions
- How we plan the event schedule - making the programme flexible and publicising it
- Our social programme organiser - who is responsible for the social programme at International House Bristol?
- School facilities - Study room, Students' room and Computer room
Different kinds of events – adult programme
During the year, we choose social events and trips from a menu of over 120 possibilities. Each week during the summer season and each month during the winter, we provide a balanced mix of physical activities / sports, music, entertainment, informative visits, excursions to local attractions or other UK cities and various different parties.
The following are examples of some of our most popular events:
- barbecue and karaoke evenings
- boat trips around Bristol harbour
- pancake parties
- ten-pin bowling
- ice-cream making
- guided tours of local historical sites
- international food parties
- sports afternoons
- pub visits
- day trips to London
Our junior social programme
During our summer season, we run a separate programme of events for teenagers and pre-teenagers. On weekdays, students can enjoy afternoon activities and participate in evening events both at the Wesley College residential centre and in other locations. For the Clifton College junior social programme see this page on the Language Network site.
The following are examples of some of our most popular junior events:
- biscuit-making
- fortnightly discos
- ten-pin bowling
- visiting a local coal mine
- talent show
- circus skills lessons
- treasure hunts around a park or town streets
- sports with a professional coach
- visiting Weston Super Mare beach
- African drumming
How we plan the event schedule
At the start of the winter and summer seasons, we plan out our social programme to include a good balance of different kinds of events. However, with new students joining the school all the time, we expect to make changes to fit in with their interests and lifestyles. We do regular surveys of all students in the school and where possible, change our planned events to offer the best possible programme to suit our current group of students.
To make sure that students always know what is happening on the social programme, we keep them up to date with weekly newsletters during the summer season and monthly newsletters in the low season. There is also a notice board where all social events for the next two weeks can be viewed. Finally, there is also a social event calendar page on this website where you can view all the events that we currently have planned
Our social programme organiser
Hi, I'm Charlie. Since June 2009, I've been the social programme organiser at International House Bristol. It's my job to plan all the different events that we have at the school, to listen to requests from students and try to make sure that everybody has a great time.
In my job, I aim to offer social activities that as many students as possible will want to take an active part in. If any student in the school has a suggestion or request for a social event, I am always interested to listen.
I also take an active role in running a lot of the events especially the ones where food and music are involved. If you come to one of our karaoke parties, you will almost certainly hear me singing one of my favourite Frank Sinatra songs.
School facilities
In our main school building at Oakfield Road, we have a great Study Room, a downstairs Students' Room with coffee and drinks machines a Computer Room with six modern computers and an additional 3 student computers in the Students' Room so you can email your friends and family while you are on your break.
Study Room
When you don't have lessons, you can make the most of your learning by using our Study Room. It is packed with ideas and activities to help you work on the areas you want to improve.
Some examples of the hundreds of hours of material available to you are: exam practice worksheets; authentic listening cassettes with worksheets, graded readers, grammar practice activities, and much more.
There is usually a teacher available in the Study Room to help you, so you can really make a difference to your English in your spare time.
In the study room you'll find...
- Hundreds of hours of listening practice recordings at your level
- Practice exam papers for Cambridge / IELTS exams
- Books in easy English for you to read and borrow
- Examples of good student writing
- Lists of typical mistakes for different nationalities
- Listening stations with headphones
- Advice about study techniques
- Magazines for browsing on our magazine rack
- A selection of videos to borrow or watch in the school
- A variety of English songs to listen to
- Worksheets to accompany the songs
- Dictionary activities for you to try
- Lots of vocabulary activities to build your knowledge
- Challenging grammar exercises to test your skills
- All the phrases of day from the past year
- A wide selection of interesting authentic texts with accompanying activities
- And of course a teacher to assist you in your studies