British Council Accreditation

I remember our first inspection for accreditation in 1993...the process was not so professional and the standards were not so high.

The inspection is now every 4 years and covers everything!

I am pleased to say that we have passed our most recent British Council inspection, which took place in October. The report, which we have just received, shows that we meet the required standards but also have "points of excellence". These are the areas where we are better than the standard!

The categories in which we received points of excellence are:

• Structure, staffing and employee administration
• Academic management and administration
• Course design
• Classroom observation
• Leisure opportunities

This is great news and shows what we believe... this school is constantly improving and we are moving in the right direction.

A new year... a new promise...

Every new year we make "resolutions", which are promises to ourselves and are usually things that we think will make our lives better.

Typical resolutions are to give up smoking or to get fit. Well, I gave up smoking a few years ago and I don't think I'll ever get fit (even if I pay a fortune each year to the gym to be a member).

My promise for 2007 is to learn Spanish! For so many years I have been encouraging our students to learn English but now it is my turn.

I'm happy to take any advice from you about how to be a good language learner.

Goodbye....

It may seem strange that the first blog is called "Goodbye" but it's December and a lot of our students are about to finish their courses and return home to wherever they are from. Italians, French, Spanish, Germans, Swiss, Colombians, Brazilians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese... for many years I have witnessed them saying goodbye - exchanging email addresses and taking photos. But how many of them really keep in touch? How many will visit each other in the years to come?

Well, the amazing thing is that many students see their time spent in London as one of their best"life-changing" experiences. Almost every week someone comes into the school looking nervous saying "I don't know if you remember me but I was here in 198...".

I don't remember everyone but in the 14 years I have been at this school there have been 100s of students whose faces, names and stories are part of the rich history of this small school.

So... the first blog is called "goodbye" but it's really "hello". So, if you are an old student of Camden College of English in London then post a message with your name, year at the school, teacher's name and list any students you remember.

Goodbye, hello and see you soon!