Ethos – Enthusiasm and Enjoyment in Learning and Life

The Haut-Lac International Centre provides the ideal environment for progress in your language studies.

Set in a beautiful park in the typical Swiss village of Les Sciernes our Centre provides a stunning backdrop and an inspirational setting for study.

Our fully inclusive programmes allow you to forget the everyday tasks and worries (accommodation, transport, food, money, cleaning etc) and enable you to concentrate fully on your studies in order to achieve success.

Our experienced and highly motivated staff will provide you with the framework and skills you need to succeed not just for your studies and your exam but skills that will stay with you as you progress through life. Each day when your work is done our staff will be there to help you relax and unwind with a programme of sports, activities and excursions to make sure that you get to experience the best of Switzerland and recharge yourself for the work to come.

At Haut-Lac we aim to ;

• Provide a high quality programme at a reasonable price
• Design a programme suited to the needs of the individual student
• Provide a safe and friendly environment encouraging all students to participate in a productive manner
• Ensure that all students experience the interaction with different cultures and ways of life
• Lead students to the enjoyment of the benefits of learning linked to a healthy lifestyle
• Provide not just a language programme but a positive life experience for all students

Our language programmes are designed to help address individual needs. Students can choose to study English or French and depending on their language skills we will help them decide on the appropriate examination to sit.

Our language programmes are pertinent and efficient because

• An entrance test and an ELP self assessment checklist before arrival at the Centre helps teachers to gauge the level of the students and place them in appropriate classes.
• A further evaluation period on the first day of the programme to assess the difference between students’ written and spoken language makes sure that students have been placed in the appropriate level or raises doubts and necessary changes are made.
• Class sizes vary from three or four to ten. The small size of the groups ensures that students feel more comfortable, get more individual attention, progress more quickly and gain confidence in all aspects of their work
• Students have 40 classes per week and an immersion in the language that will help them progress rapidly

Classes

The academic programme at the Haut-Lac Centre offers a range of three languages ; French, English and German. All of these courses insist on attention in class, study, completion of homework, and serious preparation for tests.Mornings are reserved for classes and there is also an oral and written test each week. Students are required to attend all classes unless officially excused for health or other major reasons. Being late to class is disruptive to the class in progress and will therefore be dealt with as a disciplinary matter. Students are encouraged to speak their chosen study language as much as possible outside of the classroom situation.

From Monday to Friday there are 5 classes each morning and 3 classes each afternoon of 40 minutes. On Friday afternoon there is a written and oral presentation/test to gauage the progress made throughout the week.

Our classes will cover all aspects of language learning and uses the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) — an internationally recognised benchmark of language ability. The framework uses six levels to describe language ability from A1 to C2 and these levels are used as the foundation for our lesson structure.

Our teachers are encouraged to innovate and find new ways to motivate students to participate and develop a passion for the language.

Assessment

At Haut Lac we use a continuous assessment structure to evaluate work covered by the students during their stay with us. This is complemented by a formal weekly testing period.

The weekly report contains information on the specific programme of work that students have completed, a report from their teacher on their progress, a breakdown of their language ability across the key components - speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and pronounciation and of course,the grades achieved during the testing periods.

Students also fill out an ELP self assessment sheet in order to reflect on progress made during their stay at Haut-Lac and set themselves goals for the next step.

Teaching staff

We consider the class teacher to be the most important element of the classroom situation and are very selective in our choice of teachers. Not only must they have the experience and qualifications for their post but also a passion for their language and an ability to innovate and capture the imagination of their students.

Our teachers are also involved in activities with our students outside of the classroom situation and we feel that this helps develop a bond between the staff and students and creates a caring and friendly atmosphere that helps put students at ease and enables them to concentrate on their studies without worries or stress.

We encourage staff to give well prepared, intensive but interesting and lively lessons in order to stimulate students into taking an active part in the learning process. We encourage our staff to show the students how the language works outside of the classroom environment and to use all available mediums – video, internet, games, role play, music, theatre etc. to develop enthusiasm and participation in the lessons.

Teaching Materials

All study materials are provided, text books, CD Roms, DVD’s, paper, files and mock exams. Students need to bring only writing materials and a good bilingual dictionary.