The Summer Programme

The Summer Programme is an academic enrichment course for bright, ambitious students aged 11-17 with a strong level of English.

The academic aspect of the course includes four modules: Critical Thinking, Social Leadership, Creativity and Digital Skills. Each module is a ten-hour course and the variety on offer gives students a taste of what academic life is like at Sevenoaks School. Classes are separated by age and parents receive a detailed report from their child’s teachers at the end of the programme.

Critical Thinking

It has never been more important for students to possess the critical skills they need to create clear, well-reasoned and empathetic judgements based on effective analysis of information. This includes determining facts from propaganda and being able to balance different perspectives with their own views.

This module is designed to teach students a range of real world political and cultural issues, and to develop the skills of critical interrogation. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, bias, fallacies and ‘Fake News’, while each two-day course ends with a fiery debate.

Social Leadership

This module enables students to appreciate the role of social leaders in creating social change.

On the first day of the course, we aim to deepen students’ understanding of the world around them through the close examination of different social problems and to reflect upon their impact on particular communities. We examine different paths towards effective social change, assessing and advancing students’ own entrepreneurial skills in the process.

On the second day, students have the opportunity to work on a practical challenge; they apply their leadership abilities to a current social issue they care about and create innovative solutions. Students leave with the leadership tools that allow them to make a positive impact on the lives of others, and to create the world they wish to see.

“The Critical Thinking module was perhaps the best and most interesting education I’ve ever had.”
Felix - Sweden

“It taught us how to address real world issues from a business standpoint. The module made me feel that I can actually help to make a world a better place.”
Maya - US

“It made me more confident in sharing my ideas with the people around me and inspired me to be more creative.”
Stephanie - UK

“I want to be an engineer so it was great to be able to build a robot.”
Luc - France/Cambodia

Creativity

Keeping a young person’s passion for creation and self-expression burning is a key responsibility of a progressive education and is one that Sevenoaks School takes extremely seriously.

This module encourages students to think about what is meant by ‘creativity’ and delves into its various forms including creative writing, drama, theatrical technology and film.

It is a crucial message to learn that a creative approach across the board will be perhaps the most important characteristic to set the next generation of graduates apart from their peers.

Digital Skills

The ongoing digital revolution has brought us deep and powerful tools and resources to push human knowledge and understanding forwards. The digital revolution has also brought challenging and disruptive elements which threaten to distract and subvert our assumptions about education and society.

Soft skills such as team-work, problem-solving and patience are cultured in this challenging module which utilises the world-class technology we have access to at Sevenoaks School.

This module involves coding, design and robotics while equipping students with the skills they need to develop as independent learners in an ever-changing world.