A Day in the Life of Liz Dunn, Activity Manager, St Giles Southampton 2013

As Spring comes upon us, the St Giles Juniors teams are busy preparing for another action-filled summer. This June, July and August, St Giles will be offering 14 junior summer programmes in the UK, USA and Canada.

Liz Dunn was the Activities Manager at St Giles Southampton during the summer of 2013 and tells us what a typical day at a Junior Summer Centre is like. With English lessons in the morning, an afternoon trip to Winchester, and an evening filled with dancing and baking, everyone had a fun and exciting time!

7.30: Liz is up bright and early and has breakfast with the St Giles Southampton team and with all of the students. As Liz is busy entertaining our 12 to 17-year-old students all day, she needs to make sure she has a good breakfast to keep her going. She opts for an egg sandwich, cereal, a banana and a large coffee. Delicious!

8.45: The students meet Liz and the rest of the management team for the St Giles Huddle. The Huddle is a short meeting where the whole centre gets together. In the morning, it helps students to warm up before heading off to their English lessons. Liz walks into the room full of students and asks ‘Are you ready to rock?’ The students respond ‘Let’s roll!’. Liz and her team organise a short ball game during which students have to speak about different countries. The students are also told about the day’s activities before going to class.

9.00: While the students are in class, Liz uses this time to get herself organised. In four hours she manages to plan a pizza night, a boat trip and three walking tours. She puts lots of thought into trying to make every activity and excursion as enjoyable as possible for the teenagers.

13.45: After lunch, Liz, her team and the students are off to Winchester! Liz describes Winchester as ‘one of the most interesting places to visit in England’. The excursion is an extension of the students’ morning classes, as they had been studying about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table that morning. The tour of Winchester includes the Cathedral, King Arthur’s round table and the castle!

18.00: Everyone is back from the excursion and ready for dinner. Liz thinks that the food in Southampton is great! She likes that there is good variety and lots of healthy options. On the menu this evening there is chicken and vegetables, pizza or butternut squash pie.

19.00: Time for another St Giles Huddle! ‘Are you ready to rock?’ and ‘Let’s roll!’ is heard again. Then the dancing begins! The students practise for a ‘flash mob’ which will take place in Southampton city centre on another day and also film a ‘Harlem Shake’ video.

19.30: Time for the evening activity. Liz and her team help the students get creative in the cake decorating workshop. The students love experimenting with colour and design and, of course, they love eating all the cupcakes at the end of the session!

21.00: The students have some free time before going to bed. Some of the students use this time to practise for the ‘St Giles Has Talent’ show later that week.

22.30: All is quiet at St Giles Southampton. Liz has a cup of tea, thinks back on a fun, action-packed day and looks forward to a good night’s sleep!

If you are interested in finding out more about our Junior Summer Courses, you can go on the St Giles website or contact us directly at ukjuniors@stgiles.co.uk or n.americajuniors@stgiles-canada.com.