Stover School

Stover School is a 25-minute drive from the city of Torquay in the south of England, next to the sea in a beautiful area in the city of Devon in the south-west of England. The school is just a few miles from the coast and covers an area of ​​26 hectares.

Stover School was founded in 1920. The school has 427 students. Stover School has earned its reputation for achievements in music, drama and the visual arts.

Stover School is relatively small in size, which allows you to create a very friendly and family atmosphere in the school. All teachers and students know each other by name, which is especially important for foreign students who have just started studying and living away from home.

DIRECTOR (stand 2023)

Richard Notman, Education - University of Birmingham (Birmingham University), University of Manchester (University of Manchester), Master of Science.

EQUIPMENT

On a large territory there are six all-weather tennis courts with lighting, an athletics track, football, rugby, netball, hockey and cricket fields, a golf course, a gym. The school has an Art and Technology Centre, an art studio, a concert hall, a theatre studio, a multimedia centre, photo studios, research laboratories, and a sports hall.

KEY FACTORS

• Small and sincere school. Children look very happy at school.
• The school curriculum aims to ensure high quality education in accordance with Christian principles, which allows students to acquire the qualifications, self-confidence and skills necessary to achieve their goals.
• In a class of 15 or 20 students, therefore, the school can recognize each student personally and spends enough time with them to find the key to their success. Each child learns at his own pace and, in any case, excellent teachers are able to support everyone to help the child develop his potential.
• Another advantage of such a small school is that the school can adjust its courses (electives) in accordance with the preferences of each group. The curriculum schedule is very flexible, and students can choose the subjects they want to study.
• The school psychologist provides professional, independent help for students of all ages. There is a nurse who works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Stover School is very proud of its home economics lesson, in which both boys and girls learn to cook. In the school photo album, you see cakes baked by students.
• Students excel in knowledge and the GCSE and A-level final exam results are evidence of their success. Graduates of the school go to serious universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.
• We can provide the contact details of parents whose children study or studied at this school.

PROGRAM

GCSE

The program for obtaining a certificate of general secondary education. Required to study 7 subjects and 4 subjects of choice.

A-level

A two-year university preparatory program. Pupils choose 4 or 5 subjects.

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

Boarding houses are a safe place for children where they can communicate with each other. Kids live by 5-6 people, older by 1-2. The host manager lives on campus. She has her own house. The British themselves, whose parents live nearby, also live in a guesthouse, which indicates a homely and cosy atmosphere for study.

The doors of the school never close during school hours and, thus, students have access to all resources, even outside school hours. This is especially important for students who choose subjects such as music, art, household and various sports subjects.

School information would not be complete without mentioning food! Very good food. The school has a fantastic team of catering, which prepare tasty and healthy food in the school's bright and spacious dining room, including vegetarian dishes. They can also consider your preferences (for example, diet).

SPORT

As part of the health and well-being of each student, physical education is a key component of school life in Stover. Students know that staying fit is vital. The following sports are available at the school: rugby, football, hockey, netball, cricket, athletics, tennis, cross-country running, gymnastics, dancing. All children learn horse riding, using the stables located nearby, as well as playing golf.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

School is very strong in music. Princess Anna, the Queen’s eldest daughter, organized an event in Torquay and requested the school choir to sing at its opening.

Music is an integral part of life in Stover. Over the years, many very talented musicians have been educated here and their legacy lives on through school activities throughout the school year. The school encourages all students to develop their musical abilities and become confident performers.

Individual music lessons are offered for all orchestral instruments, including flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, brass instruments, all string instruments, drums, piano, keyboards and guitar. The school provides an opportunity to learn to play 200 musical instruments.

COST, 2023-2024

£9,190 - £11,500 per semester (depending on age).
There are 3 semesters in the school year.

Extra paid

• Registration fee - £100
• Deposit - £1,500
• Flights
• Transfers to / from the airport
• Visa
• Services of the company "Paradise"
• Guardianship (as required by British law)

SERVICES OF THE EDUCATIONAL COMPANY INCLUDE

• Selection of 5-6 schools that best meet the individual characteristics of the child, further goals, talents, with the desired environment. Help in the correct interpretation of school ratings, an explanation of why the school occupies one place or another. Help in obtaining reliable information about schools that are not included in the ratings, with an explanation of the reasons for non-participation in it.
• Admission to 1-3 schools, selected from the proposed. Which includes the preparation of the necessary documents, school reports, characteristics, recommendations. Selection and submission of tests to prepare the student for exam testing, assistance in preparing essays. Preparation for an interview with the teacher / principal, registration for the exam. The necessary list of recommendations when attending school for passing entrance examinations. Correspondence with the school (far from all schools enter into correspondence with foreign parents, they are cautious, trust only a trusted agent).
• Assistance in paying registration fees, deposits, bills. Clarification of school rules, including disciplinary and legal aspects.
• Filling out the required medical forms.
• Selection of guardians required by UK law.

Student supervision during the first month of training is provided as a gift: assistance in resolving issues related to resettlement, billing, informing parents about the child’s health status, assistance with understanding of academic programs, organization of ext. classes for the child in a particular subject, help in choosing the program most suitable for the child, transfer to another class, etc. etc.

Impressions from a school visit

Natasha Strein
Founder of ‘’Paradise’’

SCHOOL OF HAPPINESS = APPLE FACTORY
Our steam engine flies forward along the blue sea. Multi-coloured boats roll from side to side, tied at the shore, like dogs. Doll houses sweep past the iron strip of the rail, and I envy the inhabitants: bliss, having opened the curtains in the morning, to find the sea almost at the threshold. It is November and huge pansies in the flower beds at the stop and hit the eyes with their bright colours. And we thought winter was coming ... But no! At Stover School, where we will be in a few minutes, they will tell us that flies and bees are a huge problem, and now is the season ...

Stover is located in the south of England near the blue sea, so children, as you already understood, live in a warm and healthy environment. We go into the spacious hall with a large fireplace. The secretary shines with smiles, and now employees and schoolchildren circle around us like bees. The sensation as if he had arrived at a provincial landowner's house, and the reception was cordial.

A boy from Kazakhstan tells us that he has been studying here for the third year, and the school has become for him a truly home away from home. The rooms are modest but comfortable. And they are nice and warm. The atmosphere is something that you can’t read on the Internet, you don’t know first-hand. Stover is our lifesaver. More than 50 children of our clients visited here, studied for different periods - someone came for 1 semester for immersion, someone has been studying for the third year, someone graduated and went to college. In some magical way, Stover’s employees, like fairies, are able to awaken in any child the desire to learn and discover unknown talents in themselves, or to develop already known to the maximum. Harness your full potential. And they awaken kindness in them: adults treat children kindly, and children treat each other. This is a prerequisite for staying here.

We have lunch with the guys. The food is delicious and plentiful. Schoolchildren are cheerful and rosy-cheeked (and this is not surprising, because they are in the fresh air for several hours a day! And there they can be worn as much as you like, the benefit of dressing outside is not required). They talk loudly and laugh, no one pulls them, because lunch is a legitimate time for rest and communication. A boy from China speaks to me in an awkward English, reports that he plans to enter Imperial College London - one of the universities of the Golden Triangle. And after all, with their Chinese perseverance and pressure! And also, with the help of Stover: the school accepts children even with a low level of knowledge of the language and uses a special system for the gradual introduction of the child into the educational process. The newcomer is already stressed, having arrived in a new place far away from home, and then there is a flurry of academic English ... Stover is worried about the inner comfort of the students. Each newcomer is allocated a buddy - a friend who has long been at school and will be able to help him get comfortable at first. At school, they understand that you cannot get along with buddy characters, so they assign two buddies, or even three!

Our client Sofia from Moscow came to Stover for 2 study weeks to finally decide whether she would study here. Her eyes burn when she talks about art classes. He says that the lessons here were a revelation, they give you freedom of creativity, and you can drop into the studio at any free moment, be there at least all the weekend away! “Do you like everything else?” I ask warily, thinking about Sofia’s strong disposition and strict housemistress (a teacher who lives with girls on the floor). I get a firm answer without hesitation: “Absolutely everything suits! I’ll study here.”

The school has only 200 people, so the staff - and the director himself - knows everyone by name. Initiative children are very quickly involved in school life: upon arrival, they choose something from a huge number of clubs and clubs, and be sure to visit them before lunch every day, and also after every dinner. If someone has not come, they follow him. Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten. You can engage in fencing, cooking (it is very strong in Stover), music (more than 200 instruments to choose from), golf, horse riding - the list is long.
And here is the director. A tall, slender, blond man holds out his hand. This is a handshake! Strong as a vice. And immediately there is a feeling of honesty, sincerity, dedication. “I always tell my employees: we are an apple factory. The output should be shiny, even, bulk apples. These are our graduates. What does an apple consist of? Core and flesh. The core is exam results. But a core without flesh is a stub! What do we do with a stub? Throw away! The core is nothing without pulp. And the flesh is the comprehensive development of a young man. Creativity, fortitude, ability to act in a team, lack of fear of failure and the ability to cope with defeat, not to fall into despair. Kindness and modesty, self-confidence and politeness. These are our apple children.”

You can’t say better! And it's true, the global trend has changed, and crampons are no longer allowed into Oxford. A good education is no longer a knowledge of formulas and dates, but a comprehensive development.

We leave Stover reluctantly. The atmosphere of heat is like happiness. Either there or not. Stover Apple Factory is a factory of happiness.