Educational Trips/Student Conferences/Work Experience

Educational Trips

Memories of school Educational trips are among the most prominent of the formative years, largely because they are a welcome break in the routine for both students and teachers. While their primary purpose is educational, they can also be a fun bonding experience for everyone involved. Students do not only engage with subjects but are also offered perfect opportunities to enhance their social skills and academic, emotional and personal development.
External, interactive learning activities tie learning to personal experiences and memories, helping students develop a deeper understanding of subjects and topics.
Educational trips provide an excellent opportunity to students to experience other cultures and understand these shared loves such as music, art and history. Students can also get a first-hand view of how their culture affected other cultures and vice versa, finding the unique origins, meanings and interpretations within each culture.
Educational trips challenge students who may be shy or find it difficult to engage with unfamiliar people, to step out of their comfort zone and face these issues head on. Asking for directions, asking questions to staff at visits and even ordering food while travelling make social interaction unavoidable, and will boost students’ confidence every time they encounter it.
Students develop a unique relationship bonding through the mutual interests and the shared memories and experiences. These experiences equip them with new skills for collaborative work, group discussions and group tasks, enhancing their performance and achievement in these activities. This surely benefits the dynamic both among fellow students but also with their teachers.
School trips provide vast benefits to the dynamic between teachers and their groups. The residential trip process means that teachers and students share memories and spend far more time together than they would do so on an average school day. Apart from benefiting students academically, school trips also benefit the classroom environment as well as the student teacher relationship.

Our School offers a number of Educational Trips/Visits its students such as:

• Trip to Greece
• UK University Trip
• Trip to Germany
• Trip to France
• Trip to Italy
• Sports Competitions Abroad (PanHellenic Competitions)
• Year 5 Trip to Paphos
• Duke of Edinburgh Adventures/Journeys
• Local Educational Club Visits
• Weir Camp
• CAS Trips (a future option)

Conferences

Conferences constitute an essential part of academic life, but the stress of presenting or giving talks, sometimes makes students regard it as an overwhelming or even scary experience. This, however, should not discourage them as there are countless good reasons to attend a conference!

Soft skills are important for every career. The students’ skills in presentation and communication are particularly important in academics and research. Fortunately, conferences give students the chance to practice these skills. Rehearsing and giving a talk or poster a presentation will make students more comfortable in front of an audience and will get familiar with the required talk speed during a speech as well as with the amount of detail required to be given in their explanations. Answering questions after their presentations and chatting with other attendees will help them improve their communication skills. Furthermore, listening to and participating in lively discussions at conferences can enrich them with new ideas, help refine their existing concepts, and may even change their mind regarding various key issues in their field.

On the other hand, it should not be overlooked that attending a conference is good fun! Even though a conference is regarded as a work event rather than a leisure one, it can still be enjoyable. Travelling to a new place constitutes a big part of the appeal of a conference since you travel to another city, eat new food, and visit some local landmarks or tourist attractions. You may even try out learning a little bit of a new language.

Students may also have the opportunity to attend social functions as part of a conference, such as dinners, trips, or parties. Sometimes these events can be formal or dull, but very often they are relaxing and friendly affairs. Moreover, they are given the chance to meet other students with similar interests, enjoy their company and probably develop lifelong friendships.

American Academy students have the opportunity to participate in a number of conferences such as:

• Brotherhood Conference
• Model United Nations (MUN)
• ERASMUS
• Euromath Conference

work experience

Furthermore, our school offers the opportunity to its students to build up their portfolio of work experience. Spending as little as one day with an employer, doing simple tasks or merely work shadowing can be hugely beneficial for them. The reasons for offering students the work experience scheme include:

• Developing transferable skills, such as communication and team working.
• Understanding how organisations work or bringing a job they have read about to life.
• Provide opportunities for students to learn more about their own abilities. It helps them explore their strengths and weaknesses and identify the gaps in their skills.
• Building confidence in interacting with adults.
• Work experience will help students decide whether the role or industry is somewhere they see themselves in the future. By shadowing and observing employees during work time gives them the opportunity to decide whether they would like to proceed with the specific profession/career.
• In the case where they impress the employer, they may be asked back on a more formal arrangement such as an internship or encouraged to apply when vacancies arise.
• Providing valuable content for the UCAS personal statement when giving evidence for an interest in a particular subject/occupation.