Page 14 - StudyTravel Magazine July 2014 Issue
P. 14

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.


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