Italian students enjoy study trip to Hastings

Sussex Coast College welcomed a group of Italian students to Hastings last month to study English.

64 students from Ugo Morin High School, in Mestre, in the province of Venice, travelled to the south coast to improve their English for two weeks and work towards their CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) C1 and C2 in English.

The students, who were all about to begin their fourth year at school, stayed at the Robert Tressell halls in St Leonards and made their way to college each day for 6 hours of English lessons.

Isabel Maguolo said: “I did not expect such a beautiful college. Inside, you can relax and buy drinks from Coast Coffee and play table-tennis in the atrium. I really enjoyed how the teachers interacted with us, and although we had to study, I really enjoyed the lessons.”

It was the second time that the school and college have worked together to arrange the two-week study trip, and for many of the students, it was their first time in the UK.

Claudio Aiello really enjoyed his time in Hastings, and said that the opportunity to study here was too good to turn down.

“We heard about the study trip from other students and teachers, and we all wanted to come and experience the UK to practise our English,” said Claudio. “The college is beautiful and really modern, and nothing like I have experienced in Italy.”

During their free time the students had the opportunity to explore Hastings and arrange weekend excursions to Brighton for some shopping, Oxford to visit famous places from the Harry Potter movies, and a day trip to Canterbury for a typically English tour of the Cathedral.

On the final Friday of the study trip, the students were treated to an indoor BBQ and were presented with certificates.

Dario De Franceschi said: “I thought the college was amazing. The teachers were really kind and very good at explaining tricky parts of the English language, and I would come back again if I had the opportunity.”