Wycliffe: Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, UK

Wycliffe in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire is a thriving day and boarding school for boys and girls aged from 2 to 18, set within the heart of the Cotswolds. The school has excellent links to London both by road and rail and is close to the amenities offered in Cheltenham, Bristol and Bath.

At Wycliffe, our aims for all of our pupils are that they will have a highly developed social and environmental conscience and become generous of spirit and tolerant of others. By welcoming international pupils into our community, we encourage all pupils and staff to develop these skills and become part of a larger community, whilst providing opportunities for cultural links. Our Foundation Programme is open to pupils in English school years 4 to 8 who have a positive attitude to their learning, and a minimum level of English that enables them to thrive in the boarding environment. We offer ESOL support to enable pupils to develop their spoken and written English skills before becoming fully immersed in the whole academic curriculum. As a mainstream school rather than a Language College, we aim to integrate our international pupils fully as soon as possible. All pupils who join us attend some classes with their peers from the start of their time with us – potentially Sport, Drama, Art, Music, DT, ICT – but will focus on developing their English speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. In addition, they experience ESOL Humanities, Science and Mathematics lessons which focus on the language they will need to succeed in these subjects when they move to our full English curriculum. Over time, as they become more competent in their use of the English language, the pupils will integrate further with their peer group in attending a fuller and broader English curriculum. Typically, international pupils find themselves in the lower sets because of their limited language skills. Prior to joining Wycliffe, the Admissions Process requires the pupil’s parents or agents to provide their most recent school report (translated into English), sit a CAT test, and complete Wycliffe’s Pastoral Report as fully as possible, to enable the School to judge the level of the pupil’s English and determine whether we can meet their language, social and emotional needs. Once the Deputy Head has reviewed the tests and is satisfied with the level presented, a pupil will be offered a place by the Headmaster via the school’s registrar. Pupils who demonstrate a level of English below that required but who are potentially valuable students will be invited to visit the school or to conduct a Skype interview with the Deputy Head so that we have an additional opportunity to assess the level of their spoken language skills.