About Us

As soon as students arrive they can see a family taking care of them. This immediately makes students feel easy.

Our family presence creates a friendly and reassuring atmosphere that comforts students that may be away from home for the first time.

With our warm family presence and the safe location of Hurst College, parents are assured that their children are well looked after and will thoroughly benefit from their stay with Manor Courses.

The Directors are:

• Parents with babies and children at school
• Criminal Records Bureau checked for police records
• Emergency First Aid trained

Jon (Course Director), Nick (Managing Director), Jacky (Director)

The directors

Manor Courses Ltd, established in 1970, organises Residential English Summer Schools for young foreign students and has been a family business for 3 generations.

- Jacky is the current Director of the organisation and is the daughter of the founder Mrs. Smith. Jacky has two sons and a daughter; Nick (pictured centre), Jon (pictured left) and Su. While the family lived overseas they spent summers at their Grandmother's summer school. Growing up with different nationalities in the sympathetic and caring environment with young foreign students has given them a wealth of experience in this field.

- Nick is the Managing Director and responsible for sales and marketing. Nick ensures we have a great mix of nationalities coming from all over the world and works closely with the management at Hurst College.

- Jon has been the Course Director for 5 years now, graduating with a Diploma in TESOL when he started teaching in Brighton. Before that he spent 5 years as an English teacher in Japan and Taiwan. He is a member of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), QuiTE (Quality in TESOL Education) and the Sussex DOS Association.

- Helen is acting Course Director for 2008-9. She has a number of ELT related qualifications including a Diploma TESOL & Diploma in ELT Management. She has been working with MC for 3 years now and is in charge of recruiting & Academic Management this year. Helen taught EFL in South Korea and is currently helping students prepare for Cambridge Examinations in the UK.

- Su qualified with a BA in Hospitality Management making her the perfect Hospitality & Education Consultant. She started as an English teacher in Spain, then Belgium, then Paris and then took a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. She currently works as a Primary School teacher in London and assists us during the summer course.

During the summer the Directors live at the summer school. This provides the genuine warm family atmosphere and assists the experience and expertise of the staff team.

Welfare and social programme management (correct in 2009)

- All of the Directors and 4 other members of management are 'Appointed First Aid Persons'. We also have a qualified full-time Nurse - Niki who can be found in the office whenever a student feels ill, and is ready to rush to any accidents/injuries.

- Our long-term Welfare Manager, Shirley has worked with us for more than 10 years in a number of roles, including teaching. Her invaluable experience in psychotherapy and education make her a perfect member of the management team. Students and staff suffering any problems will find her in the office ready to help.

- Tracy, a key Welfare and Domestic Consultant, started as the Junior Course Manager in 1990. Many years before that she was play-group leader to all three of Jacky's children. She works closely with the Directors during the summer.

- Our Junior Course Manager, Naomi, has worked for us since 2007 and ensures the entire Junior Course team do a great job of taking care of the youngest children.

- Lee, our Activities Programme Manager (and health and fitness expert), makes sure every student gets the chance to do a wide variety of activities every session.

- He is supported by 2 Head Sports Leaders, Nadine & Craig. Nadine has worked with us for a number of years as Sports Leader and Craig has extensive experience of working in residential summer camps for children in America. Both are Sport & Physical Education graduates from Chichester University and will ensure the sports programme runs smoothly.

The Academic Team (correct in 2009)

- The Director of Studies (DOS), Jude, has worked as an English Teacher in Indonesia & England. She has a Diploma TESOL and also a PGCE in Further Education so is well qualified to manage young learner programmes.

- She is assisted by 3 Assistant Directors of Studies (ADOS), one of whom specialises in the Junior Course. All our ADOSs have been working with us for a number of years and understand the needs of the students and teachers very well.

- Jane has worked for us since 2006 and has an excellent career in working with children with a wide variety of needs, in both UK, Czech Republic & New Zealand. She has previously worked with publishers in the education industry and holds a qualification in teaching Young Learners too.

- Alex has worked with us since 2008 and has a background in International Relations. Alongside teaching in Canada and the UK, Alex has also spent many years working closely with UNESCO, United Nations & TASO in education related roles.

- Steve has been making the Junior course a success since 2005, and comes back year after year to run the programme. He has worked in Poland & Brazil as an EFL teacher and has recently finished a PGCE course at Durham University.