Surval Montreux, the only all girls boarding school in Switzerland is just one of the many schools in the Bellevue portfolio, a group providing an excellent educational experience for children and students aged 3 to 19 years. But the partnership that exists between our schools means there are fantastic opportunities, not just for our students but also for our teachers
At this year’s summer camp, Bellevue teachers from across the UK have travelled to Switzerland to provide lessons for our international contingent of campers who get to learn intensive French or English as part of their summer experience.
Alex Bedwell, French teacher at Bruern, Abbey, another Bellevue boarding school in Oxfordshire, has been teaching at schools in the group for over three years. When the opportunity arose for him to teach at Surval for a short period he was delighted, especially once he’d found out what teaching at summer camp entailed.
We managed to catch up with Alex a week into his Surval teaching experience:
Alex comments on how welcoming the teaching and boarding staff were upon his first arrival to the school, marking his first impression as a greatly welcoming community - quickly turning into a family unit once the girls arrived.
When asking Alex what he wanted to takeaway from this experience, he commented:
"Professionally I wanted to take away some new teaching strategies and I am excited to put these into practice back at Bruern in September. Beyond academics, I have never managed to visit Switzerland despite teaching French, German and Italian, so this has been a fantastic chance to see a stunning country. Now I just need to learn Romanche!”
As Surval is a language school, which prides itself in the language and cultural learning opportunities here, we wanted to ask Alex what his initial thoughts and impressions were of the language, environment and learning opportunities provided at Surval.
"Being in such an international environment, language learning is central to life at Surval. There are those for whom English is a second language and that is supported through teaching and an immersive environment, just as French is, with girls being encouraged to order their meals in French and use as much language as possible around the house.”
We asked Alex as a parting comment, what three words he would use to describe the school? “Global. Nurturing. Stunning… First and foremost I will never forget the view but I will also take away with me a great sense of joy in everything I have taken part in, from interactive language lessons in Montreux all the way to jumping off a 10 metre cliff into a river in Château d'Oex.”
After Alex’s time here, he tells us that he will be going home to rest with family and enjoy a holiday with his son, celebrating his birthday. Afterwards, he is looking forward to the new academic year back at Bruern Abbey, with the exciting opening of its new Senior School as well as welcoming lots of new boys into their Prep School.
If you’re interested in a teaching opportunity in a Bellevue school and the potential to gain experiences like Alex, then contact us via email: pernille.mogensen@surval.ch