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Breaking Digital

Breaking Digital for 14-17 year olds

Shaping the socio-cultural landscape through communication

This two-week programme is designed to equip students with the skills and know-how to critically challenge and interpret information, data and news in order to arrive at a balanced view on global ‘big issues’.

The course will also teach students how best to communicate creatively their own ideas and opinions to the widest target audience.

This course is perfect for curious, well-informed students who think independently yet enjoy working collaboratively in dynamic teams. Students will harness technical skills in creating video, audio and text output to bring political, cultural and social discussion to the table.

Our learning

Topics include:

Analysing news: navigating the 21st century media landscape
Investigative journalism – collaborating to create a school newspaper and replicate the hustle and bustle of a newsroom
Collaborating to create a podcast focussing on global current affairs
Learning about film and photography from storyboarding to filming and editing
Learning about the role the internet plays in society, and how it could shape the future

Our activities

In addition to the academic enrichment events on all courses, Earlscliffe offers a balance of sports, cultural events, arts and crafts, fun games, walks and competitions, so there is something for everyone on the programme. Our staff organise and supervise all these activities after the day’s lessons have finished.

Students play volleyball, basketball, badminton, billiards and table tennis on-site. Our supervised afternoon and evening activities include karaoke nights; football; softball; ‘Earlscliffe’s Got Talent’; swimming; house competitions; themed disco nights; ‘Minute To Win It”; tennis; ‘Scavenger Hunt’; rounders; ‘Jeux sans Frontières’; ‘Bake Off’; and quiz nights, to name just a few.

Regular daytime and evening beach trips are a popular part of the week’s activities.

We are fortunate to be close to Folkestone’s town centre and its shops, the artistic Creative Quarter and the beach, all of which offer our students moments of discovery and relaxation.

We use the excellent facilities provided at the Three Hills and Folkestone sports centres, not to mention the new multi-storey skate park!

Cultural visits

Earlscliffe offers two full days trips on Wednesdays and Sundays and evening bowling, laser tag or cinema trips.

All trips are supervised and students are given a pre-trip briefing. An Earlscliffe highlight is our weekly trip to London (Capital Wednesday™) when over the course of the summer we visit many of the following famous London landmarks: the Tate Modern; the London Dungeon; the London Eye; the Natural History Museum; Thames Boat Tour; the Tower of London; the V&A; the British Museum and Buckingham Palace.

On Capital Wednesdays™ we use the direct high-speed train from nearby Folkestone Central station which has a journey time of 54 minutes.

Our Breaking Digital students also will have a special London media workshop with expert professionals.

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

Students will be given some free time in small groups on trips.

Rooms and meals

Most rooms are spacious single or twin rooms – all rooms are en-suite with WC, basin and shower. We also have a small number of triple rooms available. All rooms are Wi-Fi connected. The high standard of accommodation is attractive to today’s students, and all the more so given the beautiful Victorian façade of the buildings in which it sits.

Earlscliffe is an ‘in-town’ campus of buildings meaning that students can easily walk between classes, meals, accommodation and activities. (always supervised)

Meals are taken in the college dining room and prepared by our own chef and team. Meals are varied and often international, such as Chinese, Mexican or Indian, but not forgetting the occasional British fish and chips!

Any student’s special dietary needs can be catered for at special request, i.e. vegetarian, gluten-free etc. Students are given packed meals on day trips.

Optional extras

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Learn the basic skills needed to be competent at balancing, paddling, turning and stopping as well as touring the Folkestone Harbour area and Sunny Sands bay.

Paintball

Have fun in the forest dodging your opponents and trying to plant the flag for your team (all safety equipment is provided and must be worn at all times).

Musical Trip – Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ in London’s West End

Most children will have seen the movie and be familiar with Elton John’s music which makes the experience all the more fulfilling and easy to understand.

Warner Bros Harry Potter Tour

For Harry Potter fans, why not enjoy a day out at this popular attraction to Warner Bros Studios. You will be able to see many of the sets, props and costumes from the most successful film series of all the time: the Great Hall; Dumbledore’s office; the shops in Diagon Alley; see Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle; the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid’s hut and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic. Have a refreshing Butterbeer in the studio café to finish your magical afternoon!