Earlscliffe

There is something for everyone on the schedule at Earlscliffe as it offers a balance of sports, cultural events, arts & crafts, enjoyable games, walks, and competitions. After the lessons for the day are over, all of these activities are planned and overseen by our staff.
On-site, students participate in table tennis, billiards, badminton, volleyball, and basketball. Karaoke nights, football, softball, “Earlscliffe’s Got Talent,” swimming, house contests, themed disco nights, “Minute To Win It,” tennis, “Scavenger Hunt,” rounders, “Jeux sans Frontières,” “Bake Off,” and quiz nights are just a few of the supervised daytime and evening activities we provide.

Frequent beach excursions during the day and in the evening are a well-liked feature of the week’s events.

We are lucky to be close to the beach, the creative Creative Quarter, and Folkestone’s town centre with all of its shops.

Earlscliffe students will enjoy full-day trips on Wednesdays and Sundays, as well as evening trips to bowling, laser tag or the cinema.

On Sundays students may visit: the world-famous cathedral city of Canterbury, take a river boat tour; go ice-skating, visit Bluewater shopping centre; a theme park, Margate and Dreamland.

Every wednesday, students will also be able to travel on the high-speed, direct train to London accompanied by our staff. During the summer we have previously visited some of the capital’s most famous landmarks and museums, including the London Eye; the Tower of London; the British Museum; the London Dungeons; and the Natural History Museum. Each year excursions are reviewed in order to provide the best and enriching opportunities available.

During excursions, students will also benefit from some supervised free time in small groups.

At Earlscliffe, our student experience goes beyond the classroom, with a social programme led by a dynamic and imaginative team. We are confident that our activities and excursions will help form strong personal bonds, build confidence and shape memories that will last a lifetime.

SBC has an innovative approach to learning by advocating experiential learning, which is essentially ‘learning through doing.’ In addition to absorbing information, our students are challenged to take an even more hands-on approach to demonstrate new skills in an environment in which they are supported every step of the way.

Students have the opportunity to acquire the soft skills necessary outside of the classroom because throughout the programme exciting possibilities are created for key abilities to be used such as; critical thinking, leadership, communication, and teamwork.

Each student in the classroom is actively encouraged to take the initiative, think critically, and cooperate with others to solve problems, simulating what we do every day in a work environment. This is done under the direction of our inspiring tutors.

The safety and well-being of students is our number one priority. We have a comprehensive Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and procedures in place to which all employees, volunteers, visitors, and contractors are obligated to adhere to.

All staff are given the tools through their training to guarantee that all students feel safe, secure, valued and respected whilst studying with SBC. Students are accommodated in secure and comfortable boarding houses, which are managed by a dedicated team of residential staff.

Our Earlscliffe site is composed of dedicated and experienced Activity Leaders and Welfare Managers to ensure that students have the best possible experience during their time with us.

Our staff teams are always available to provide high-quality pastoral support and remain on call 24 hours per day.

During some off-site activities, students aged 12 and over are permitted ‘free time’ where they can independently explore a designated area in groups of at least three, for a set amount of time. Students must have consent from their parents/guardians to be allowed unsupervised free time.

All students will be given an Earlscliffe wristband which they must wear at all times when on and off-site. The wristband states the 24-hour emergency number to call or message in the event of a student becoming separated from their group or is needing support. Students wear these for the entire duration of their stay.

Student voice also features heavily in our student’s experience. We empower our students to shape their own experiences by championing that voice. SBC is committed to our response to student feedback and welcomes student-led initiatives which help us to continue to provide excellent service.