A TYPICAL LOCATION

The tutors create a relaxed framework for their courses. Easter and Summer schools usually take place in a rural environment such as Wicken House, a study centre in Essex.

THE ROUTINE

• 8.15am - breakfast! The ideal start to a long GIFT day.
• 9.30am - course start time. This gives us a chance to explore a topic outside the National Curriculum in depth.
  During the week, there is an outing to a place we can all draw something out of. Previous trips include such places as Bewl Water, Dover Castle and Tunbridge Wells.
• Lunch - usually a chance for us to relax and explore the grounds as well as socialize with each other.
• 6.00pm - course finish time.
• Dinner - followed by a short break.
• Evening activities - usually of a creative and relaxing nature. This page's content was created in one of these sessions.

For the evening activity, there is usually something interesting to round the day off, such as Creative Dreaming, a foreign film and performing.
Afterwards, the whole group gets together to socialize and reflect on the day's events.

"On the last night, instead of evening activities, we perform! We always look forward to the talent show because it is the ideal end to a week packed with entertainment. Bed time can be very late because we have so much to talk about!" "We enjoy attending GIFT courses because we can meet new people from all over the country and abroad. There is a wide variety of courses and activities which are challenging and fun!!
It is nice to meet like minded people who are keen to learn and share ideas. Even if you are new to GIFT, you'll soon fit in because we all started off like that. The atmosphere is always cheerful and happy. It's easy to mix with everyone."

COURSE EXAMPLES

"The Oulipo course offered us a chance to look at different styles of literature and experiment with them."

Write Up - "It gave us the opportunity to create poems and stories based on inspiration from around us such as nature."

Crusade! - "You take on the role of someone from the First Crusade and get to decide what they do next and you get to make a terebuchet!  It's great fun and you get to fling rocks!!" 

Flight of the Imagination - "we design and make an airport by working out how many planes we need, how many gates and what facilities we need to keep the airport going."

Fuller's Follies - "you take a day out looking at buildings with no purpose. Say no more..."