Personalisation is at the centre of Bell‘s new ELT and university preparation portfolio launched to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary. Since opening its first school in 1955, Bell has taught over one million students and currently has schools in Cambridge, St Albans in Hertfordshire and in London.
The launch of the school’s new portfolio is part of Bell’s 60th anniversary celebrations. It will be student-led, placing focus on why students want to learn English, and then allowing them to build a course combination based on their particular motivations.
“We wanted each student to have their unique story and unique success story”
“For the people that come to us direct, we consult with them and it starts off with the big question, why do you want to learn English?,” Greg Patton, head of sales at Bell told The PIE News. “And then we’ll walk them through the process.”
Patton said Bell is also including its agent partners in the new approach by reminding them “why it’s important to take time to understand what it is students want and why they want it”.
“English is a means to an end,” he said. “Not a lot of people study English because they want to speak English, the majority of people do it because they want it for something else, or they want to do something.”
To cater to different learning drivers, the portfolio includes a variety of new courses.
The Young Cambridge Scholars course, which is offered to students aged seven to 17, is for those who excel academically and wish to further develop their English skills to apply to a top English-speaking university.
A new addition, Language in Action, will enable to allow students to learn more about British culture, with lessons held outside the classroom.
And in order to provide a more personalised experience, the new English Explorer course will offer 24 elective modules, including journalism, health and fitness and photography and film-making.
“We want them to create their own experience, and it’s actually something that Bell believe in very, very strongly,” said Patton.
“We wanted each student to have their unique story and unique success story.”
“Our student stories are our heritage,” said Greg Hoile, chief executive of Bell, adding that treating students as individuals is one of Bell’s core teaching principles.
“Now our 2016 portfolio takes this a step further with courses every student can personalise to achieve their own goals,” he said.
