Monthly Archives: April 2020

The (re)union

FREE invitation to students to (re)connect

Dear Parents,
Class of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 + future students

Most importantly, we hope that you and all of your family are well. Whether ‘juggling’ working from home and looking after your children and teenagers or bravely going out to work every day as a ‘key worker’, we know that all of our parents are facing big challenges as we all navigate our way through this pandemic. 

This is a time when everyone in the world, in their own way, in their own situation, is facing the same problem. Coronavirus affects us all. 

For the whole family, being locked in the house is a challenge. For children and teenagers, not going to school is a challenge. Living with coronavirus can be isolating and lonely for all of us. 

“A problem shared is a problem halved.”

In response, we are organising a project to connect new More Than English students and reconnect old More Than English students from around the world to share their experiences of living through this global crisis. We are very proud of all the work we’ve done since 2015 to bring teenagers from every corner of the world together to share ideas, find new perspectives and develop new skills. Now that the world is facing a global problem that requires a global solution, more than ever, we need to strengthen connections between young people around the world. 

We would like students to join us in an informal online Zoom discussion and share their personal experiences of the pandemic. It does not matter when you studied at More Than English: we want to hear from you! Maybe you are at university now or have started your first job. We want to hear from you! Equally, we want to hear from students who studied at More Than English more recently in 2017, 2018 and 2019! Also we want to hear from students who are booked to study at More Than English in 2020!

Register

The meetings are free of charge £00.00

Please register your child for our online discussion at this link:

<REGISTER>

We will send you a link to a Zoom meeting.

Meeting times: 

Class of 2015, 2016, 2017: 1600 UK time Monday 4th May

Class of 2018, 2019, 2020: 1600 UK time Tuesday 5th May

What will we discuss in the first meeting?

We want to know about your personal experience of the crisis. 

– Your town > how is it coping?
– Your education > impact?
– People > how are they reacting?
– ‘Lockdown‘ > your experience?

What will we discuss in future meetings? 

If you enjoy the first meeting, we will organise future panel discussions, projects and interviews to include more challenging topics connected to the pandemic:
– Virology > the basics
– Governments > the role of 
–  Communication > from social scientists to conspiracy theorists 
– Lessons of History > Pandemic of 1919
– Education – impact on
– A warning from nature? > do we want life to return to how it was before?

Other articles you may be interested in:

How we are responding to Coronavirus

Coronavirus policy

Memories of summer school 2019?

Summer 2019 revisited

Coronavirus

Our response (April 14th 2020)

In a few short months the Covid-19 virus has changed our world. The purpose of this message is to help parents and students by giving full information about how More Than English summer school is responding.

Even though we continue preparing summer school; even though the summer school booking system is still open, the reality is that right now, the future is difficult to predict and that is why we are taking a flexible approach and we are listening to you, our parents and students.

New bookings

If you would like to book a place on summer school you can using our online booking form. As a temporary measure resulting from the uncertainty created by coronavirus, from April 2020, new customers can now make a booking without paying a deposit. Please note that our standard Terms and Conditions still apply with 31st May as the deadline for full payment.

Existing bookings

If you have already booked and paid a deposit we are presenting 3 options to you:

Postpone your booking until 2021.

> If you choose this option, we will offer this year’s prices and give your family and a limited number of your children’s friends, a 5% discount for life.

If you wish to postpone your booking, please contact us using the form on this page (?) any time on or before 21st May 2020.

Request a full refund of your deposit.

> We understand that for many people the crisis is creating financial problems and general uncertainty. If you wish to cancel your booking and receive a full refund of your deposit, please contact us by using the form on this page (?) any time on or before 21st May 2020.

‘Watch and wait’.

> If you choose this option, you can wait and watch to see if the situation improves. You can still request a return of your deposit any time on or before 21st May 2020. You can still also request to postpone your booking until 2021 by using the form on this page (?) any time on or before 21st May 2020. 

Our offer to refund deposits up to and including 21st May is a temporary change in response to Covid-19. Please note, however, that our Terms and Conditions still apply.

What are other parents choosing to do?

Most parents are choosing to ‘watch and wait’. At the time of writing, only two families have contacted More Than English to request a cancellation.

Safety: our first priority

The protection, safety and wellbeing of all children in our care will always be our top priority. At the moment we are monitoring very carefully the advice from the UK government and English UK, which is a representative body for English language training institutions in the UK. However, if we think there is a risk to our pupils, we will not wait for the government to act. As per our Terms and Conditions, More Than English reserves the right to cancel summer school if we think that the safety of our students would be at risk.

Thank you ?

Finally, may we take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’. Thank you to all the brave people around the world, including shop assistants, hospital cleaners, medical experts and delivery drivers who support the rest of us by continuing to go to work every day during the peak of this pandemic.

Thank you also to you our parents and students for your patience at this time. Please stay safe and well. If you would like to contact us about Covid-19 and summer school, please use this form: