A caring school

Safety and welfare at ECS

Ever since Chris and Sarah Etchells set up English Country Schools in 1988, they have made the personal care and safety of pupils paramount. ECS is now a much bigger school with a full and varied programme but still small enough to provide consistent care and individual attention for every child and teenager.

Over 30 years, ECS has built a reputation for providing a safe, first class experience for our pupils. Children and teenagers return healthy and refreshed from our summer boarding courses, with new life skills, ready to return to their studies with renewed enthusiasm and determination.

ECS Directors Chris and Sarah live at Port Regis during the summer to directly oversee the smooth running of the summer course. You will often see them talking to pupils, getting to know them and checking on their progress.

"As parents and experienced educators we understand the concern you feel for your child. We aim to provide the highest levels of care – it is our specialisation and our passion." – ECS Directors Chris and Sarah

Contact us whenever you want, and we can answer your questions and discuss how we care for pupils on our residential English summer camp with you personally and directly.

Accredited and quality assured

The British Council

English Country Schools is accredited by the British Council's Accreditation UK scheme for both our summer courses and our online teaching.

This means inspectors visit our school and examine our premises, teaching, food, welfare, etc. to ensure it meets the highest standards. This encourages excellence and ensures that your child will be well taught and cared for.

English UK membership

We are a member of English UK - the national association for UK English language teaching. This includes requirements for welfare, complaints and publicity that exceed those of the Accreditation UK.

Young learner specialists

ECS directors Chris and Sarah are founding members of Young Learners English UK. This organisation encourages excellence in the care and education of under-18s visiting the UK to learn English through training, advice and lobbying.

Sarah has been the joint chair of Young Learners English UK for over 15 years, with particular responsibility for welfare and safeguarding. She has helped to drive higher standards of child safeguarding across the profession, including better risk assessments and safer recruitment.

Safe and supervised

We focus on the wellbeing and happiness of our pupils.

Students are under the care and attention of experienced staff from arrival to departure. Each boarding house has its own house parent to oversee the supervision and welfare of the occupants.

The directors of ECS, Christopher and Sarah Etchells, live at Port Regis during the summer to oversee the courses. The atmosphere is friendly and caring and .

All staff are checked to ensure their suitability to work with children
Our Child Safeguarding Policy is reviewed annually
Comprehensive insurance is included for all ECS pupils
A local doctor is available 24 hours a day

A listening school

We involve pupils in decision making and collect feedback from pupils, parents and staff to continually assess and improve the quality of our courses.

See pupil and parent feedback on ECS.

A safe countryside campus

Port Regis is fortunate in being set in large grounds in beautiful countryside, well away from traffic. The campus provides a safe, green backdrop for our pupils to gain confidence, learn and explore.

Caring for our future

The school makes use of the rural setting to strengthen the pupils’ connection with nature and is proud of its track record of environmental responsibility, for example eliminating single-use plastics and donating to environmental projects.

Nurturing philosophy

From providing a balanced, healthy diet to responding to the individual academic and personal needs of all our pupils, ECS offers a caring and nurturing environment.

We help all our pupils gain confidence through a variety of new activities and experiences. Our truly international courses are a great place to develop interpersonal skills and better understand and value a diversity of cultures.

Catering for each age group

At ECS pupils are divided by age. This makes it easier to provide a programme suitable for each age group while ensuring a level of care appropriate to each child’s age. Younger pupils are closely supervised while older pupils have more independence, but still with the support and supervision they need when required.

Regular reporting

Parents and carers can follow the progress of their child during the course through the school’s online reporting system: house parents, teachers, activity staff and the pupils themselves all contribute, building a complete picture of each child's participation and progress on the course.

You will receive a settling in report within the first few days of the course, a teacher's report at the end of each week and a report from activity staff and house parents at the end of the child's stay.

Here to help

If you have any questions, special requirements or requests, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help.

If your child requires a visa, we are happy to send a Letter of Confirmation containing all the information you need after receiving your deposit payment.

> What do parents and pupils say about ECS?

We have a database of 200 parents and guardians in 50 countries, who are happy to discuss
their child’s experience at ECS with you. Let us put you in touch.