Page 14 - StudyTravel Magazine July 2014 Issue

neWS round uP By MattHeW Knott
language secondary
New junior programmes China rivals Hong Kong at uK
independent schools
for Meridian CHINA LooKS set to soon overtake Hong Kong as the

largest recruitment market for British independent
secondary schools, following further increases recorded
uK-BASED MERIDIAN SCHooL of English Jennifer Harrison, Marketing in the latest annual survey from the Independent
www.meridianenglish.com, part of the Co-ordinator, said the programme Schools Council www.isc.co.uk, completed by its 1,257
Tellus Group, has launched two new junior will include film nights, member schools.
programmes in Plymouth and Portsmouth. excursions, quizzes and recreations For the first time, the ISC has made a distinction
of famous scenes. “They [students] between international students based on whether their
will have the chance to take a parents reside in the UK or overseas. In the 2014 census,
trip on a stream train through there were 24,391 non-British students with parents
the Devonshire countryside as living overseas, and 11,329 non-British students with
well as learning all about the parents living in the UK. Non-British students with
author [Arthur Conan Doyle] and parents overseas constituted 4.8 per cent of all students at
Sherlock Holmes as a character.” ISC member schools.
The Junior Silver and Bronze In the 2013 census, there were 24,391 international
Cultural Programme, meanwhile, students recorded. However, year-on-year comparisons
incudes 15 hours of classroom should be treated with caution, as some students with
English per week, combined with parents in the UK may have previously been recorded as
fun activities, sports, culture, overseas students.
shopping and a full-day excursion Among the international students with parents
per week. overseas, Hong Kong was the largest source country,
Neil Pick, Chief Executive of accounting for 4,704 students and 19.3 per cent of the
the Plymouth offices of tellus group
the Tellus Group, said, “With new total, with an additional 87 Hong Kong students with
English for Young Learners is a year- innovative learning opportunities parents based in the UK. The 2013 census recorded 5,732
round course centred on a functional English to capture the imagination of students from Hong Kong.
syllabus. Afternoon activities are based on the young people aged from 11-to-17, There was growth from: China, which increased
UK’s heritage and iconic literary characters, we are now offering a three-week from 3,891 in the 2013 survey to 4,381 this year, with
with themed activities concentrating on Harry roll-on-roll-off course based on a an additional 372 students with parents in the UK; and
Potter and Sherlock Holmes. functional English syllabus.” the number of Russian students rose from 2,150 last year
to 2,536 in the 2014 census, making it the third largest
source country.
Travel update 

This summer, Abu Dhabi interna- summer 2015. there will be five new airline will also being operating flights tive vice-President and Chief Com-
tional Airport, UAE, is introducing six routes from Birmingham airport: agadir, between dubai and Moscow, russia, on mercial officer at air Canada, said,
new destinations and 71 extra flights Morocco; Chania, greece; djerba, tu- September 23 this year, bringing the total “the service will complement our
per week. the six new non-stop routes nisia; Sal, Cape verde; and Porto Santo, number of new destinations flydubai have toronto to São Paulo route, meaning
are: los angeles, uSa; zurich, Switzer- Portugal. Four new destinations from announced so far in 2014 up to nine. air Canada will now offer two destina-
land; Belgrade, Serbia; Perth, australia; Bristol: Santorini, greece; Pula, Croatia; tions in Brazil, one of the largest and
jaipur, india; and yerevan, armenia. Marrakech, Morocco; and dubrovnik, in other flydubai news, the airline will most vibrant economies in the world,
More flights will also go out to destina- Croatia. another four routes from Man- launch a twice-weekly service to and strengthens our position as the
tions in the gulf region, including Saudi chester airport are: alghero, italy; djerba, Kandahar, Afghanistan, on july 25 only carrier flying non-stop between
arabia and Qatar, and cities in Pakistan, tunisia; Split, Croatia; and la Palma, and a thrice-weekly service to Aden, Canada and South america.”
including lahore, islamabad and Pesha- Canary islands. other routes have been yemen, on august 1 this year. one of the
war. there will be increased services added from edinburgh, Cardiff and Hum- three flights to aden will be via djibouti, A non-stop service between new
to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore berside airports. increasing the weekly total flights to the york, USA, and Zurich, Switzer-
in india, with 14 extra flights per week, african country to six. ghaith al ghaith, land, has been launched by Delta
and also to some european cities, includ- low-cost airline, flydubai, has an- Chief executive officer, said of the new Airlines. the year-round daily service
ing: rome, italy; Munich, germany; and nounced more flights from its hub flights, “these additions to our network from jFK airport comes at the same
dublin, ireland. Chief operations officer in Dubai, UAE, to india, and will also will create greater opportunity for travel time as delta expands its current ser-
of abu dhabi airports, eng. ahmad al add Kazakhstan to its network. india and trade between these two countries vice to rome, italy. “as the primary
Haddabi, said, “the summer schedule will now become flydubai’s third most and the united arab emirates.” business market on the trans-atlantic,
will be the largest flying programme abu frequently serviced country, with ad- demand continues to increase for more
dhabi has ever operated. the growth ditional flights to delhi, Kochi and thiru- Air Canada will commence a non- non-stop flights from new york to euro-
compared to last year is a testament to vananthapuram. Flights will launch to stop service to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pean destinations,” said gail grimmett,
the eyes of the world looking more and almaty and Shymkent in Kazakhstan later from December 11 this year. the flight delta’s Senior vice President – new
more at the uae’s capital.” this year. Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior vice will depart from toronto on tuesday, york. “zurich ranks fourth in terms of
President Commercial (gCC, Subconti- thursday and Saturday and will be the business traffic from new york, and our
Thomson and First Choice have an- nent, africa) for flydubai said, “We are second route to Brazil after air Canada’s additional service will build on the com-
nounced 29 new routes from UK re- delighted to be given the opportunity service to São Paolo. Speaking of the mercial, tourism and community links
gional airports due to commence in to better serve the indian market.” the new rio route, Benjamin Smith, execu- between these two cities.”
1 x US$ = currency* Czech Koruny 20.076 Malaysian ringgit 3.210 Swedish Kronor 6.568
danish Kroner 5.456 Mexican Peso 12.915 Swiss Franc 0.892
argentinian Pesos 8.059 egyptian Pound 7.126 new zealand dollar 1.166 taiwanese nt dollar 30.130
australian dollar 1.080 eu euro 0.731 norwegian Kroner 5.937 thai Baht 32.383
Brazilian real 2.208 Hong Kong dollar 7.753 Pakistan rupees 98.768 turkish new lira 2.093
British Pound 0.592 Hungarian Forint 221.94 Polish zloty 3.051 uae dirhams 3.673
Bulgarian leva 1.429 icelandic Kronur 112.70 russian rubles 34.323 venezuelan Bol. Fuertes 6.288
Canadian dollar 1.090 indonesian rupiah 11,510.50 Singaporean dollar 1.251
Chilean Pesos 552.23 israeli new Shekels 3.487 South african rand 10.386 * rates are subject to change and should be used
Chinese (Pr) yuan rMB 6.234 japanese yen 101.60 South Korean Won 1,024.27 as indications only. 22/05/2014.

12 | Study travel Magazine | july 2014