Mid-IB at a glance

    The summer vacation is the time to strengthen your learning and prepare for the year ahead. In July and August Oxford Study Courses will once again hold its Mid-IB Summer School for students half way through their IB Diploma（国际预科证书）.

    We'll be back giving another generation of IB students a unique opportunity to sample a way of life enjoyed by students at famous universities.

    Students who have completed the first year of their IB Diploma can join us and we can help them prepare for their important second year.

    Students can choose how many subjects they study. Each subject is studied for one week. You can attend up to 5 weeks.

    The Mid-IB Summer School is held at Cambridge University in the UK （between June 20th and August 1 st） and at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT）in Boston, USA （between July 6th and July 25th）.

Student comments

◆ “The classes have shown me new approaches to learning. I have also learned how to approach exam questions and now feel confident in doing so.”

◆ “It was cool creating tight and close relationships with other students from around the world, realizing we all had a connection to each other.”

◆ “I really enjoyed the level of independence, although I felt like people were watching out for us. I also felt like an Oxford student!”

◆ “I have enjoyed the learning style and the course work has been extremely beneficial academically.”

Enjoy the summer

    Our Summer School gives you an action-packed social scene with visits to the fun places in the area, organized sports and social events, and advice on how to enjoy your free time in these amazing cities with your new friends. Welcome to contact us at ose@ose-ib.com or on +44（0）1865 521802!

    Big Brothers Big Sisters is based on the simplicity and power of friendship．It is a program which provides friendship and fun by matching vulnerable young people (ages 7-17) with a volunteer adult who can be both a role model and a supportive friend.

    Volunteer tutors come from all walks of life—married, single, with or without children. Big Brothers and Big Sisters are not replacement parents or social workers. They are tutors: someone to trust, to have fun with, to talk and go to when needed.

    A Big Sister and Little Sister will generally spend between one and four hours together three or four times each month for at least twelve months. They enjoy simple activities such as a picnic at a park, cooking, playing sport or going to a football match. These activities improve the friendship and help the young person develop positive self-respect, confidence and life direction.

    Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations exist throughout the world. It is the largest and most well-known provider of tutor services internationally and has been operating for 25 years.

    Emily and Sarah have been matched since 2008. Emily is a 10-year-old girl who has experienced some difficulties being accepted by her schoolmates at school. “ I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me.”

    Emily's mum came across Big Brothers Big Sisters and thought it would be of benefit to Emily by “providing different feedback (反馈) about herself other than just relying on schoolmates to measure her self-worth.

    Sarah wanted to get involved in a volunteer program. “I googled it and found out how to be a part of it. I thought it would be fun for me to get involved in making time to do something because sometimes it is all work and no play.”

    Big Brothers Big Sisters has been of great benefit and enjoyment to both Emily and Sarah. They love and look forward to their time together and the partnership has certainly helped Emily be more comfortable in being the wonderful, happy and unique girl she is!

    Settled by the Celts, invaded by the Romans and the Normans, and ruled by the English, Wales' population has regularly changed over the ages. Wales, particularly South Wales, became a melting pot (熔炉) of European nationalities and cultures. At first workers from England, Ireland and the rural areas of Wales rushed into the coal mines of South Wales. By 1911, workers from Ireland, Italy and Spain had joined the industrial workforce (劳动大军) there. Many of these newcomers were prepared to work for less pay.

    But during this period, workers, dissatisfied with regular pay cuts, poor safety, returned to the land. In 1891, the rural population of Wales was about 616,000 and by 1911 just over 649,000 people lived and worked in these areas.

       The rural population continues to grow slowly even today. People from richer parts of the UK, particularly southern England, are buying holiday homes in Wales. In some areas this has led to a lack of housing for local people. This, combined with the lack of employment in rural Welsh communities, has started a new movement of people in search of jobs and homes into the towns and cities of Wales and to other parts of the UK and Europe.

    As so many Welsh people have moved to other countries over the last 200 years, it's really no surprise that many visitors come to see friends and relatives. These visitors strengthen their links to their land of origin and continue to support the Welsh's development. During the hot summer days, about 28% of the visitors visit the countryside and nearly 70% visit the seaside.

My Favourite Travel Books

    The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux

    Choosing my favorite Paul Theroux book is like picking my favorite place in the world: It's impossible to settle on just one. But The Old Patagonian Express, which is about a train journey Theroux made from Boston, USA to southern Argentina, is right up there at the top of my list. Theroux has a wicked sense of humor. He brings so much wisdom and experience to his travels.

    Walden by Henry David Thoreau

    If he were alive today, Thoreau would probably frown if he heard someone refer to Walden as a travel book. But I regard it as a travel-writing masterpiece. I went into the woods, he writes, because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. That's the same spirit of discovery that defines so many great contemporary travel records.

    The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

    Like so many people, I fell in love with Kerouac's novels in my late teens and early 20s. On the Road gets all the press, but I always love The Dharma Bums. Kerouac beautifully captures the romance of California trains, Berkeley, and backpacking in the Sierras. It's hard to read this book without wanting to leave for the mountains to brainstorm bad haikus on the trail and cook canned macaroni and cheese over a crackling campfire.

    Confucius Lives Next Door by T. R. Reid

    This is sort of A Year in Provence in Japan, only the cross-cultural differences are much greater. Reid and his family moved to Tokyo when he became the chief for The Washington Post, enabling him to uncover truths about the country. Among the highlights are his observations about Japanese schools, including Yodobashi No. 6 Elementary School, where his daughters were greeted by the whole school staff.

    Indian-origin Anvitha Vijay has given a new meaning to the phrase “age is just a number”; she has proved that achievements and knowledge follow passion and not just age and experience.

    Vijay, who lives with her parents in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of seven realized that her piggy bank did not have enough money to hire a developer to make her an app, so she decided to teach herself how to code. With the help of YouTube videos, the young techie learned to code. For one entire year, she watched multiple coding tutorials on the web and became a programmer herself.

    Vijay's inspiration for developing the apps was her little sister, who was still learning to talk. Therefore, Vijay developed an educational app for children that were her sister's age. The app is called Smartkins, which uses about 100 sounds and flashcards of different animals that help children learn and identify. Later, Vijay developed a similar iOS app for children to identify and learn colors. Each app has been downloaded thousands of times.

    Anvitha's skills won her a scholarship to attend a big tech conference hosted by Apple in San Francisco, California. There, she got tips from the pros. She went to workshops where she learned about the latest software for app building.

    All that training led to an idea for a third app. This one, called GoalsHi, inspires kids to practice good habits. Users are rewarded for achieving goals, such as eating their vegetables or practicing piano. Anvitha says the rewards are like getting a sticker for a job well done.

    Anvitha's goal is to continue creating technology that helps kids learn while having fun. But even more important to her is that the world sees the power of technology in kids' hands. “The more training we get in tech at an early age,” she says, “the better chance we have of becoming creativity champions who will one day change the world.”

    Shine United (Madison, Wisconsin)

    In the past five years, this Wisconsin-based advertising agency has shared more than $500,000 in profits with its employees through the company's ShineShares program. The agency partnered with the University of Wisconsin's oncology department to develop the Ride, a biking event that benefits cancer research. Employees also get snacks every day, “Beer Thirty” on Thursdays, and Summer Fridays, a program that lets employees leave at noon.

    GroundFloor Media (Denver, Colorado)

    The key for workers at this midsize public relations firm in Denver is that employees work anytime, anywhere. Headquarters are in a former warehouse downtown, near Coors Field. The offices are spread around the central space that doubles as a wet bar every Thursday when the company's “bear club” brings in a new brew.

    Ergodyne (St. Paul, Minnesota)

    The St. Paul-based company has grown to operating out of a retired storehouse with plenty of natural light. Rules about dressing? “Wear something.” Its purpose? To create cool, comfortable, and tough safety workwear for those who need it to get the job done. Ergodyne has around 50 employees, who enjoy hot-dish cook-offs, tickets to sporting events, and at least one happy hour every quarter.

    Southwest Michigan First (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

    It's family first at this Michigan economic development advising agency. CEO Ron Kitchens says that in the past year, the company has made a push to go green, initially started by the millennial employees who make up half the agency's workforce. A new staff position was created for the purpose of making sure every employee is able to balance working and cheering at their kids' sporting events or going fishing.