HMC Scholars at Prior Park College

HMC Projects gives students from Central and Eastern Europe an unparalleled opportunity to study for two years in a British school. The programme was initiated by our former Headmaster, Patrick Tobin, and has nurtured excellent contacts between young people as they advance in their careers and retain a deep understanding of other countries' traditions and culture.

In 2018, 93 boys and girls, 55 of whom have received full scholarships and 38 partial (reduced-fee) scholarships, have taken up their places in 50 schools.

Anna and Andrii are about to complete their first term with us at Prior Park. We asked them a few questions... 

Ladies first; Anna

Why did you want to study in England, and why Bath?
One day, we had a presentation about two different scholarship programmes in our school, HMC Projects (UK) and ASSIST (USA). I tried applying for HMC, which offered scholarships to British independent schools. I never really thought about the second programme, because being so far away from home for a year straight would be difficult for me. And on top of that, America was never attractive to me. The culture, peoples' customs, the feeling of the country, it wouldn't suit me. The last stage of the application process for the HMC scholarship was a personal interview. There, I told the interviewers that I would like to go to a Catholic school, and also my interest in music and science was clear. At the end, they chose Prior Park for me. And I couldn't be happier. The Chapel is beautiful, we have mass every Sunday, the musical opportunities are countless and the science department is challenging and fun. I'm amazed by the local architecture and the landscape garden.

Is the teaching style different here to home? If so, how?
Yes, very different. This time in Slovakia, I would be still studying around 12 compulsory subjects, plus a couple of "seminars" - extra lessons on two subjects I choose. The type of school I went to in Slovakia has classes of 30 people every year and those people stay together as one class, i.e. have all lessons together, for the next 8 years. They're very much like your family and it's hard to say goodbye when it ends.

What are your favourite subjects and what is your least favourite?
Biology has always been the top for me, but I love Chemistry and Physics too.

Outside of the classroom, how do you spend your time?
I sing in the Senior Chapel Choir, Choral Society, play the flute in Concert Band and Schools Philharmonic Orchestra Bath, occasionally go to the gym or play basketball with girls from St Marys, go out to town or walk in the park. Often I just stay in my room and have a nap or simply relax.

What new things have you done here?
I've never sung in a choir before, I've never worked with a proper microscope and I've never held a speech in English in front of strangers. But possibly the most important of all the skills I've acquired, is Corridor Swimming.

What could Prior Park learn from your school and how you were taught?
It's easier to get to know your classmates in my previous school as it is the same pupils in the class for all subjects during of your time at school. I'd like to see the younger students and older students hanging out together more.  I would like to see more dancing. In Slovakia, students would learn the basic ballroom dances at the age of 15 and there is a ball every year for older students, sometimes two. I think everyone should know how to dance. It's great fun and brings people together.

What do you miss about home and how often do you get to speak with your parents?
I miss my school, my classmates and teachers. I miss coming home every day through the old town of Bratislava which I love so much. I speak with my parents about once a week, but I get so busy and tired that it's even less often sometimes.

Food, talk to me about food…..
School food is much better than in my Slovak school. Just the range of choice, back in Slovakia I would get a meal, some squash, a plate of soup if I wanted to and that was it. Here you have at least 3 options and the quality is also much better.

What do you hope to do when you leave Prior Park College?
I would like to be marine biologist or work in disease research. I'm considering teaching too.

And finally, as a European, what are your thoughts on Brexit? 
I don't know much about the statistics, but for me personally it might make getting into and paying for a university in the UK more difficult. And I think the UK is a wonderful country and it would be a shame to have it leave the EU.

And now, Andrii

Why did you want to study in England, and why Bath?
Oh, I think, everybody wants to study in England. It has an outstanding education level, it is an economically and socially well-developed country, and, obviously, English is spoken always and everywhere – these are probably the most important reasons why I wanted to study in England. Besides these reasons which were pretty much thinking about my future, I just wanted to have fun, meet new, different people and make friends with them. And until this moment, my plan has been working ideally and I am pretty sure it will continue.

Talking about Bath, I can’t actually give reasons why I wanted to study here. I participated in a scholar program for students from Central and Eastern Europe which is called HMC Projects. When I got an opportunity to study in the UK, the school where I would study was chosen for me according to my hobbies and interests. So, you can imagine HOW much I like everything about this school.

Is the teaching style different here to home? If so, how?
Teaching style is completely different from the one I used to have in Ukraine.
First of all, in Ukraine in high school you would study about 15 subjects, no matter what subjects you want to take exams on. That meant that you had about 7-8 periods every day from 8.30 to 16.00 with 10-15 min breaks and without any frees. Having 3 A-levels here and EPQ seems much more efficient and reasonable, doesn’t it?
Secondly, back in Ukraine I had just one class, that is, one group of people that I always studied, spent the whole school days and went through the whole school time with. I don’t think, the way students are grouped here is better but, obviously, there is no way to do the same classes here with all pupils taking different subjects.
And finally, I would say that education here involves a huge amount of time spent on self-education whereas in Ukraine you could pretty much not do prep and it would not affect your knowledge and skills as much.

What are your favourite subjects and what is your least favourite?
To be honest, my attitude towards my subjects changes every day if not hour. I am doing Maths, Further Maths and Economics. At the very beginning I could not stand Economics at all. It was so difficult for me that I thought about dropping it quite a few times but I didn’t as I understood that it is a really good A-level for entering universities. Also, I love Further Maths, because there is a lot of interesting stuff that requires your brain to work but is usually very exciting and pleasant to work on. Talking about Maths, I would say that I neither love nor hate it. I just perceive it as a subject that I have to do for my exams, so I can’t say that I enjoy doing this so much nor I mind it.

Outside of the classroom, how do you spend your time?
On Thursdays, I go to a primary school to help children improve their reading. It is a part of the Prior Concern program which allows students to volunteer at such places as a charity shop, old peoples home or a primary school etc. I absolutely love doing that as it is very fun to spend some time with little kids and get refreshed and motivated for the whole week until next visit.
Apart from that, every Saturday, I attend Computer Club as one of the university specialties I am thinking about is Computer Science.
Also, every Tuesday I spend some time mentoring a student from Baines, which is a junior house at Prior Park. We work on their homework, share some stories about what happened during the week and just spend some time talking about what we want to do, what we plan to do and just about our lives in general.
And, finally, I take part in a school musical, so I have rehearsals every week. This is so pleasant for me because back in Ukraine I spent loads of time doing all kinds of drama. It is also a good thing for me to do because my life is literally filled with Maths. Even though, I absolutely love it, sometimes, I just need to properly work on something different in order to take my mind off it.

What could Prior Park learn from your school and how you were taught?
I like absolutely everything about this school. That is a place where I feel really confident, safe and happy. I know that a lot of things are done every day to make Prior Park more than just a school. And I can absolutely tell. There is only one thing that I always liked in Ukraine and it is kind of different here. Back there, students had more responsibility for their schedule and just themselves. It was good because it was very nice for me, as for a teen, to learn how to manage my time, how to remember things I have to do and just how to keep everything under control. At the same time, I think, that it is extremely helpful that I do have a fixed schedule, so that I have designated time for everything from meals to prep, as due to this, I can be concentrating on studying as much as possible.

What do you miss about home and how often do you get to speak with your parents?
Earlier this term I didn’t miss my home at all but now, when there are only a few weeks until Christmas left, I have started thinking about home more and more and just anticipating when I can get there. But it is not something that I am sad about because I simply don’t have enough time to be homesick. I am always busy here and it is really nice as I feel very productive and understand that I develop myself and improve my different skills and personality features constantly. Talking about the things I miss the most – the language and the people are probably those. It is obvious why I miss the language – sometimes, you are just tired of speaking English. I miss Ukrainian people because British people are really different. It does not mean I am struggling to communicate with the Brits – not, at all. Just we, as two nations, are so different and our mentalities are nearly contrary. In fact, that is what has to happen after moving from your country at all times, so I perceive it like a thing that I just have to get used to .

Food, talk to me about food…..
Well, food is very different from Ukrainian cuisine. We never have as many different spices and sauces in our food as you tend to do here. Also, I have not ever had such big breakfasts in my life. They are just huge! In general, I am absolutely content with the food I am provided with and I can surely say that I never starve and always enjoy the food I eat.

What do you hope to do when you leave Prior Park?
I would really like to enter a university either in the UK or in the USA or in Europe. I will try to study really hard now in order to get good results on my exams, which are not only 3 A-levels but also IELTS or TOEFL, as I am an international student, and, probably, SATs which I will I need if I want to apply for American universities. I am thinking about a speciality I want to apply for, but it will definitely be something related to Maths. Maybe, something like Computer Science, Programme Engineering, Economics or just Pure Maths.

And finally, as a European, what are your thoughts on Brexit
Well, Ukraine is not in the European Union but the EU still has a huge impact on Ukraine. After coming here and getting deeper into the Brexit topic, I realized that even if the Brits do want to leave EU, it is not the best time to do it as the British economy is not doing very well now. With a very likely recession in the near future and the predicted losses that Britain is going to experience as soon as Brexit has taken place, it is better to concentrate now on preventing all the negative impacts of cyclical deficit than to initiate any significant changes that can be followed by unpredicted negative results. All in all, I think, Britain should remain in the EU, at least at this time.