CH: Yes it is… although Blyth has been around for about 35 years. It’s the largest private high school provider in Canada. But it only recently started promoting internationally.

Blyth has three distinct products – 1. High schools in Ontario – we have 9 campuses, including 3 sports and hockey academies. 2. International summer high school credit programs abroad. 3 Summer university credit programs abroad with Queen’s university. Our core product has traditionally been our International Summers program for Canadian high school students with 28 experiential education summer programs in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

The PIE: And does Blyth Education do the programming?

CH: Yes, we do it all, we hire and recruit teachers and these are Canadian high school teachers that are located and teach in high schools across the country. We get about 1,000 applications every year for about 100 positions. And we create the curriculum, organize the travel, and work with local suppliers for accommodation and activities.

It’s a fairly well understood product here in Canada but we’re seeing more interest from international students. The appeal is partially the opportunity to earn a credit, but it’s more about the possibility of doing a Canadian high school credit programme with Canadian students – outside of Canada!

A programme in the Galapagos is one of many that Blyth offers Canadians – and now internationals too

For example we’ve had some interest from European agents to recruit students for our Europe-based high school programmes. That’s great for our Canadian students as they will get an opportunity to meet and mix with international and local students. The local students get a chance to share their culture and language and at the same time they get a chance to take part in a Canadian high school programme in their own backyard!

The PIE: And who are you marketing to? Are you marketing to agencies or institutions/schools abroad?

CH: At the moment we’re working primarily with agents. Our preference is to partner with agents who specialize in the high school market as they understand the unique value of what we offer and they can also help students and parents shape expectations and get them ready for a high school study abroad experience.

The PIE: How did the high schools evolve?

CH: Our schools have been around for 10 years and they represent a natural evolution of our International Summers programme, because of the focus on experiential learning, small classes, and academic excellence. The model’s a very straightforward one: small classes and individualised attention.

“They have the opportunity to connect more easily when they’re only in a class with about eight to ten students”

I think this is ideal for many international students who sometimes struggle to meet friends and absorb course content in big classes and schools. They have the opportunity to connect more easily when they’re only in a class with about eight to ten students. They will also have a far better chance to make friends with Canadian students [too].

The PIE: Which markets are you targeting?

CH: I think the traditional high school ones, certainly for Canada: so we are looking at Asia: China, Korea, Japan and then in Latin America: Brazil and Mexico, Colombia to an extent and then in Europe: Germany is the big high school market and others, France and Italy as well.

We’re also very keen to market our sports and hockey academies to European markets – Russia and Czech Republic for example. One of our hockey academies works with a local Ontario Hockey League team – the Barrie Colts. So far we’ve had a fairly positive response and we’re really excited to open this programme up to as many markets as possible.

The PIE: And the biggest part of your business you said was the overseas programmes in the summer. How many students do you send each year?