Xplore Awards Scholarship!

Student Sohrab Ayan from Hamburg has been chosen for a full scholarship to the value of around € 14.000 for a one-year exchange programme in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Out of the 200 applications received, the young German student with strong Afghan roots impressed Xplore and the NSISP - Nova Scotia International School programme with his personality and the very moving story of his family.

During a ceremony following the official conference of the Canadian Association of Public Schools in the Le Meridian Hotel in Hamburg the prize was officially handed over.

But not only the scholarship has been awarded, Ayan also received information on his host family and his new school. Sohrab will leave at the end of August towards Canada, and will be staying in Sherbrooke, around 20 km from the Atlantic Coast.

The selection and award was organised by the Xplore Foundation, also based in Hamburg. www.xplorefoundation.de

Xplore goes rugby mad with Johne Murphy and PSA Academies

In honour of introducing an exciting new rugby training camp in association with our sister company, PSA Academies, headed up by the former French international and national coach Philippe Saint Andre; we sat down with Johne Murphy, ex-Ireland A, Munster and Leicester Tigers player; who is also facilitating the camp as well as joining the camp’s world-class international coaching line up.

Based at the stunning Alpine resort of Tignes; Philippe, Johne and the team are inviting promising young players aged between 10 and 18 for a week of intensive rugby coaching focusing on a wide range of core skills, such as game management, positional play, speed, agility and flexibility.

“My personal belief is that sometimes there’s not enough value given to the core skills,” says Murphy. “Summer training camps improve core skills, as well as being a chance to get away and get to know your teammates, building friendships and bonds while you are away together.”

For Johne, playing rugby began aged 7 at his local club, Cill Dara and having attended sports camps during his youth, Johne believes there are key benefits to attending a training camp such as this in the journey to becoming a professional rugby player, especially as part of player development and pre-season preparation.

“Pre-season training is all about improvements in both your physical development and also your skill development it gives you to chance to concentrate on your core skills and fitness because during the session it is all about match preparation.”

It’s not just the player development and season preparation elements, which make the camp so alluring to young players looking to take their rugby further. Being scouted by Leicester Tigers aged 20; Johne references the potential for players even younger being spotted for talent at camp.

“Being able to play in front of international-level coaches and to pass on our knowledge to young players is massive for me. Giving talented young players a platform to showcase not only their skills on and off the pitch but also their ability to develop is a great opportunity”

The PSA Academies rugby training camp is available at two levels; intermediate for ages 10 to 15 and advanced for 16 to 18 year olds. Available during July for 3 weeks, both individual players and groups can book, with players from all over the world coming together.

For more information, please visit www.psaacademies.com

Johne’s top tips for becoming a professional rugby player:

• Love what you do, because you’ll work harder to achieve your goals
• Listen and take in as much information as possible
• Build your core skills and never stop working on them
• Never be afraid to enjoy the journey, enjoy the hard work because it makes it even nicer when you see the rewards 

PSA Academies Resort, Tignes

Top 10 benefits of going to camp!

If you’ve ever been to camp, you’ll know that having a go at new adventure activities such as archery, quad biking, climbing and kayaking is not only super fun and exciting, but did you ever consider the other, longer lasting benefits that being at camp can offer a child. Here is our list of the top ten benefits for spending even just a day at camp:

1. Developing emotional and social skills

At camp, children learn to be away from familiar environments such as home or school, meeting new people and have the opportunity to make their own decisions in regards to the activities they want to participate in during the day.

2. Unplug from technology

It’s really difficult to navigate a climbing wall with an iPhone in hand, so at camp, there is usually a ‘leave it at home’ mantra. Being away from technology allows children to rediscover the great outdoors, be creative and get lots of fresh air!

3. Trying new things

Activity camps offer just that, lots of activities – from archery to climbing and bush craft to kayaking, these may be unknown but by trying something new, children can find hobbies and interests outside of the norm!

4. Friendship building and resilience

Being at camp means that children have the opportunity to make friends with others that they wouldn’t meet otherwise. Not only that, by participating in different activities throughout the day, these friendships are bonded through shared experiences.

5. Mental stimulation and physical activity

Many activities at camp have a problem solving or team-building element to them, so not only are the children physically active in an outside environment, they are also cognitively active!

6. Independence and empowerment

Children given the opportunity to do something on their own, gives them great empowerment. Daily passports used to record their camp experience are very often used for school show and tells, which gives each child great ownership of their experience.

7. Confidence reinforced through success

Achieving something new at camp makes children feel good, reinforced by awards for effort and achievement allow a child’s confidence to develop.

 

8. Creativity, free of judgement

Outside of activity sessions are periods of unstructured free time for children to play under supervision. This is really important for allowing children to explore their creativity and unleash their imaginations.

9. Sense of community

After bonding through a series of adrenaline inducing activities, it is quite often that children request to come back year after year to join their camp friends. Some even progress on to stay residentially!

10. Happy parents

Children sleep well after a day at camp, what’s more, camps fit around a parent’s working day perfectly, with the ability to drop off early and pick up late with lunch included; spending the day at camp takes the stress off!

So what are you waiting for...activity day camps are running at Finborough Hall, Suffolk this Easter from Tuesday 29th March until Friday 8th April and then nationwide during the Summer! 

Xplore Swim Challenge 2.0

Bridge to Bridge

Following last year's Lake Windermere epic swimming challenge; two members of our Head Office team, Gemma and Neil have again decided to dip their toes into the world of open water swimming by entering The Thames Marathon 2016.

Training for the pair has already begun, with a gruelling regime planned to prepare them for the 14km endurance that will take the swimmers from Henley-on-Thames to Marlow on 7th August.

You can find out more about the 'Bridge to Bridge' Thames Marathon here

A Summer of Fun: Part 2

The second instalment in our recruitment series, our member staff describes her experience of  the next stage of applying for a job with Xplore...The Selection Day and Training Week.

"A few days after my application, I received an email from Xplore, thanking me for my submission and asking if I could come to the UK for their selection day. I was planning to visit some friends in London anyway so that worked out perfectly!

A few weeks later, I flew into London Stansted and started my journey to Walnutree Manor; the manor house where selection days take place. Walnutree Manor is a beautiful manor house and is actually a listed building! I could almost still see the school children running around on the property 100 years ago just because it all looks so authentic.

The selection day was great fun and very interesting. We did different team building and group activities to see how we interact with others in terms of social, leadership and personal skills. I found that I learnt a lot about myself, for example, when we were set tasks, to begin with, I wait a little, listening to the ideas of others first but after a while I got really involved and help to successfully finish the assignment. 

I really enjoyed selection day and was excited to meet so many people from all over the world. Furthermore, it was very nice to meet staff from the Xplore Head Office. It made me feel comfortable to see how they work and strengthened my wish to be employed by Xplore.

A few days after I returned home, I got the notification that I was successful and had been  asked to work as a Camp Leader for the summer season. I could not believe my luck. I would actually work in a summer camp in England in one of the nicest boarding schools in the country for six weeks. I don’t think that I have ever been as happy to start a job but with summer still a few weeks away, I had to wait until I could begin.

In the run up to training week, I had complied several questions concerning topics such as insurance and payments. Everyone from Head Office was very friendly and happy to answer all my questions. No one was annoyed or too busy to be concerned with me which was something I had experienced in other companies before.

Our training week started on June 26^th running until the beginning of summer on July 4^th and took place at Worksop College, one of the biggest centres Xplore operates. I was very impressed by the centre, it is a beautiful old building and very much gives you the “Harry Potter feeling”. I was waiting to run into one of the wizards or witches in one of the endless corridors – unfortunately, it didn’t happen!

Training week in itself was worth the experience. It felt a little bit like a summer camp for adults because all staff members were doing the same activities the students would be doing during the summer. The first night was Friday night. Everyone arrived (around 200 new staff members, just like me) and we had a general introduction from Head Office. We were allocated our rooms and given an itinerary for the week as well as health & safety instructions. Everything was very well organised and all staff members super friendly and helpful.

The next day started with a typical English breakfast in the amazing dining hall (...just like in Harry Potter). Afterwards, we were divided into our groups for the week. There were groups for 'Camp Leaders', one for 'Teachers' and many different groups for the 'Activity Instructors'. All my Camp Leader colleagues were super nice and at the end of the week, I felt we were very good friends. 

After a couple of initial days, two German staff members from Head Office joined training week as well. They are very experienced and the ones we would work the closest with. Our Camp Leader training consisted of different areas. One major topic was planning and organising airport pick ups and drop offs as well as student room allocations. Besides organising, our main job as a Camp Leader was to take care of the children and to make sure that they would have the summer of their life. We talked about different scenarios, for example what we would do if a student is homesick or doesn’t find any friends. The Camp Leader training us had been a Camp Leader before for the past few years and told us many funny stories, giving us very helpful tips on how to handle different situations. I really noticed that most of my fellow Camp Leaders were studying subjects that were related to children or youth work and held a good qualification and had experience working with children. 

Our intense but fun week was over very soon, prepared for the challenge ahead, everyone left to go to their centre....our home for the summer"

So far so good, in the next and final blog post, we find out how Summer 2015 went and what it is really like to to work at a summer camp...

China Camp 2015

We are really excited about our China Camp for summer 2016.  After the success of last year we know it is going to offer another incredible 3 weeks of language, culture and amazing experiences. Watch out for further information on www.xplorelanguage.com

Here is some feedback from last year...

'I really enjoyed my time in China. I got to know so many new people and tried the Chinese food (that is quite different from what I normally eat) and did some really cool activities. On the first few days everything felt quite surreal and it took me a few days to get used to speaking English but then it felt almost normal. The whole trip was a big adventure. I made friends from all over the world and I really hope meeting them again soon. Looking back on three incredible weeks the only thing I can say is: I want to go back.' Luisa aged 15
 

'On the whole the trip it was not only a great opportunity for some first class sight seeing and a chance to practice and improve my Mandarin but also helped open my eyes to the world outside of my sheltered life in Suffolk. I shall always cherish the memories I have made there and highly recommend the trip to anyone wishing to have the best three weeks of their life!' Katja aged 15

Our group of language students were also joined by a group of English school students who were in China to represent England in a RoboCup competition. 'Team Beccles' came second in the international RoboCup competition and we were all very proud of their achievements. 

Beccles Free School 
RoboCup Team!

'Thank you so much for the Jinan Xplore camp experience and for hosting us so brilliantly. Many new friends were made and we all learnt so much about Chinese food and culture. Your tireless efforts and fun activities were a real credit to your welcoming and exuberant team and Xplore. The house building, Mandarin lessons and football were particular favourites. They will have had such an experience this past 10 days and most of that is down to you and Xplore for giving them such a wonderful cultural opportunity.'  

http://www.becclesfreeschool.org.uk/beccles-students-amongst-the-best-in-the-world/

A Summer of Fun: Part 1

Thinking of working abroad this year? In this blog article, the first in a series, a member of our summer team describes her experience of applying for a job with Xplore...

'It was always my dream to work with children probably also the reason why I want to become a teacher. When I was looking for a summer job I had the amazing idea to work in a different country. The company Xplore just kept coming up with good evaluations on different job websites so I had a closer look on their website. I was amazed on how many different products they offer such as Day Camps, Language Camps, Activity Camps, and High School Programmes. Furthermore, Xplore does not only operate in the UK but also has offices in Germany, China and the USA. It just seemed that they offered something interesting for everyone. After studying their general website I followed the link to their recruitment page. Everything was very nicely structured and I got all the information that I needed to decide that I wanted to apply for a job with Xplore. I just had to decide for what kind of job I wanted to apply now. Maybe an Activity Instructor delivering fun activity sessions such as archery or quad biking. Or a Camp Leader, being the main contact for the international and English residential campers and helping them with their daily routine. Besides the wide range of products and different jobs I also liked that I could work in the summer camps for 6 weeks and not 3 months many other companies in the youth travel and activity industry offer.

After some thought about the different jobs I decided that I wanted to become a Camp Leader for Xplore during the summer. Even though I liked the idea of doing fun activity sessions with children I felt that I was better in organising and supervising children. I wanted to be the person who would be picking up the children from the airport, integrating everyone into the camp, creating an incredible atmosphere everyone would remember and finally saying goodbye again when bringing the children back to the airport.

The application process was easy and very well structured. I just needed to click on “currently recruiting”, chose the job I wanted to apply for and get started. First, Xplore wanted to have some general information about me such as name, address, and phone continuing with my covering letter and my CV. Then I had to describe what I hoped to gain through employment with Xplore, what I could bring into the role as a Camp Leader and what was setting me apart. One of the trickiest questions was to use the analogy of a bus as a working team and to decide which part of the bus I would be. I decided that I would be the TV in the front overlooking everything but also entertaining the children and creating a fun and good atmosphere.

After I clicked the “send” button I was a little nervous but also very excited and hopeful to spend my summer with Xplore.'

Next up... the summer and how it met the expectations of our Camp Leader!