Review of Ellesmere College School

Our acquaintance with England began, one might say, strangely, because the priority for us was not improving knowledge of the English language, but that our child would play rugby during the summer holidays in a country where this sport is the first place. After visiting England in the summer for two years, the Paradise consultant suggested that we think about getting an education in this country.

At first, the first impulse was, of course, “no,” because the mentality of a Russian parent does not accept the child being somewhere on his own for a long time. But after persistent proposals, after weighing all the pros and cons, it was decided to send Dima to study in England. Since there are a lot of schools there and we weren’t quite up to speed yet, we were given two schools to choose from, of which we unanimously chose one. One of the conditions when choosing a school, we asked to take into account that the child continues playing sports to which he has devoted 8 years.

It turned out to be Ellesmere College, located near Manchester, one of the oldest schools in England, with its own traditions and customs. The school itself is like an ancient castle from the Harry Potter film. The school territory takes up a lot of space; in addition to the school buildings, there are many sports grounds for practicing various sports. 

The first week we called each other on the phone to find out how he was doing got a job, because there was a lot to do: buy school and sports uniforms, find out the daily routine and rules of the school. They settled Dima with a boy from France, which he is now happy about, he says that living together is more fun. The room is quite large, each person has their own wardrobe and desk for studying. But I experienced the first shock when Dima, on the second day of his stay at school, wrote that he had physics, and it was all in English and he liked it!!!

Then our conversations became less frequent, but how nice it is to see your child on Skype, dressed in a jacket and tie, which he learned to tie himself. On campus, children are helped with everyday issues by house mothers and house masters. Children collect their own clothes and put them in the wash. Guardians meet and accompany you. As a mother, I am satisfied with the control over children that exists at school; children are not left unattended, the whole day is scheduled literally minute by minute and there is practically no free time, only on weekends. At a certain time you have to sit down and do your homework, otherwise points will be deducted from the house where you live. And since Dima was accepted into the college rugby team, he still has training every day, and on Saturdays they have competitions with rugby players from other colleges. Therefore, according to Dima, time flies very quickly and interestingly.

Dima has made many friends from different countries and the children do not have problems communicating with each other, but on the contrary – replenish their vocabulary with words in another language. Children learn to be independent, to be responsible for themselves and their actions. In the middle of the semester, before a short holiday, Dima went camping in Wales. The students were given the task of walking 16 km in a certain time and meeting at a specified place; they had to set up tents and cook their own food. 

At school they always ask who gets what interesting and who wants to do what. Naturally, now it’s still a little difficult, because we have to study subjects in another language, but Dima tries, comes up and asks if something is not clear, and we hope that it will be easier in the future.