Sustainable Futures

Sustainable Futures for 14-17 year olds

Empowering the change-makers

20 hours per week
Minimum English level: B1+
Maximum class size: 12

This highly relevant course offers an exciting and thought-provoking mix of theoretical and practical activities designed to encourage responsibility, commitment and purpose in its participants through self-reflection.

Case studies will consist of both global and local initiatives and their interaction with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Our learning

Daily topics of the United Nation’s Goals for Sustainable Development are investigated in three phases:

Phase 1 = “Thinking Globally”: students learn about the general theme in broad terms and complete some reading and writing tasks to embed knowledge.

Phase 2 = “Thinking Locally”: students study, carry out fieldwork, conduct interviews, etc based around Folkestone and the campus.

Phase 3 = “Thinking Sustainably”: students work on projects which apply the above content from Phase 1 and 2.

General topics include:

  • Environmental culture and beliefs
  • Water systems & resources
  • Food & soil systems
  • Consumption & fast fashion
  • Engineering: Mega-engineering projects and finding solutions

Special feature: Coastal expeditions

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.

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.

Extra optional activities

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!