College Beau Soleil

Av. Centrale
CH-1884 Villars-sur-Ollon
(7 - 16 years old)

Situated:

Beau Soleil is situated in the south-eastern part of French-speaking Switzerland, in the Canton of Vaud. It is perched at an altitude of 1'300 metres and enjoys a magnificent panorama to the south, overlooking the Rhone valley. Mont-Blanc, the Dents-du-Midi and the French Alps are distinctive landmarks on the horizon. The School is located in one and half hour driving from the Geneva international airport.

Accommodation:

The college's superb facilities include a campus of seven fully equipped buildings, a restaurant on the ski slopes, a performing arts centre, an expedition and riding centre in a nature reserve – all in a spectacular mountain setting at 1,300 m. Boys and girls are housed separately according to their age.

Alpine language camp

The academic courses emphasise spoken language and communication. Solid foundations in grammar, spelling and vocabulary are taught at every level. Juniors have their own teachers, and the courses are geared to their age level. The final hour of teaching is devoted to an activity outside the classroom to sustain their interest.

Courses:

• French: Four levels, from beginners to advanced
• English: Four levels, from beginners to advanced

Theme camps

Each week a group of students goes to one of our three theme camps to experience the various dimensions of outdoor life. These are the Adventure Camp, the Mountain Camp, and the Lake Camp. Each can accommodate about 20 students and their instructor. During their stay, the students are supervised by a camp leader.

The Mountain Camp and the Lake Camp Students learn to cope with the challenges of outdoor living, including the preparation of their meals, all under the supervision of the camp leader. The camp site is comprised of two-person tents and a large group tent where meals are served. The camping area is equipped with showers and toilets. The group leaves the school in the early afternoon after the academic classes and comes back in the late afternoon of the following day.

The Adventure Camp is located in "les Martinets", the school's own alpine expedition centre. It is an idyllic starting point for mountain hikes .

Each camp offers activities in keeping with the location and the selected theme. Situated in Les Diablerets at an elevation of 1,350 metres, the Mountain Camp gives students the opportunity to enjoy rafting, canyoning, adventurous hiking, rock climbing and other activities .

In the charming village of Les Plans sur Bex, 13 kilometres from Villars, the Adventure Camp enables students to ride mountain bikes, tackle orientation exercises and go hiking and horse-riding. The Lake Camp is located in Les Bouverets on the banks of Lake Geneva, half an hour from the school by road. Here students can enjoy water sports such as canoeing, water skiing, surfing, sailing and windsurfing. They can also play sports such as beach volleyball.

Activities

These activities focus primarily on team sports and entertainment which are vital in creating a positive and co-operative community atmosphere. Students can practise a wide range of sports including ice skating, swimming, mountain hiking, rock climbing, football, volleyball, basketball, mini-golf and fitness training.

Special options (supplementary charge)

Tennis :

this group course is taught one afternoon a week (2 hours) by a tennis professional.

Other activities

Excursions :

Each week, a half-day excursion provides an introduction to a new part of Switzerland, such as Lucerne, Zermatt, Interlaken, Geneva (location of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations), Berne (capital of Switzerland), or Lausanne (Olympic Museum).

Evenings :

Students and instructors organize a range of evening entertainment activities such as dancing nights, fancy dress balls, cabarets, sports parties, camp fires, theatre and movie evenings, karaoke and bowling and several others. There are specially adapted programmes for the juniors. Sports and leisure : Sundays are set aside for special events such as "Olympic Games", "Jeux sans Frontieres", water sports and treasure hunts in the spectacular Villars area.

These fees include:

boarding, schooling, themes camps, general activities, taxes, laundry, camp uniform (1 T-shirt) and group transport to and from Geneva airport on Sunday and Friday at the beginning and the end of the Camp (other day: CHF 450.- on way).