Shaping a global educational experience at OIC Brighton

Opening a business is a challenge; opening a school is an adventure. Here at Oxford International College (OIC) Brighton we opened our gates in August 2023, breathing life back into our historical Ovingdean Hall campus and bringing a piece of Nord Anglia Education’s global education offer to the South Downs.

We are truly international; with students and colleagues from some 30 countries around the world and an educational programme to match, we wanted to make the most of these international connections and create something modern and innovative. Being part of Nord Anglia Education affords us collaborative links with MIT in the US, with UNICEF and with 80+ schools around the world. But our students come to us to experience a British education, and we know how strong a model the UK independent sector offers. Ovingdean, and East Sussex, has a powerful character of its own and it would be remiss to start something new here without making a concerted effort to grow roots in the local community.

At OIC Brighton we have been able to do this through recruitment, with many of our colleagues local enough to walk and cycle onto campus each morning. We have been quick to form relationships with local community groups and support these with sponsorship and attendance. The community is a rich source of expertise and opportunity for our students – through charity initiatives, volunteering, cultural events, work experience and visiting experts – and there have been wonderful moments like a small group of international students attending their first ever Remembrance Day service, and two of our young singers performing with Ovingdean Choral Society.

There are challenges, too, of course: seeking planning permission as we aim to grow the facilities on campus is painstaking and not without its pitfalls. Our international students have been continually astonished by how limited the phone signal is in this part of the UK. Marketing a brand new college and getting known in the area takes time, resources and imagination. Hostility towards international students in the UK is a real threat - although Brighton, thankfully, prides itself on its welcoming and diverse atmosphere.

Ours is an ambitious academic model which demands hard work and discipline from students and teachers alike. At OIC Brighton, we have designed a complementary wellbeing programme which ensures that, alongside those academic pressures, our students are well connected, supported and engaged. Our setting is a source of real strength in this endeavour: the clean air, rolling hills and coastal landscape enable our students to connect with the world around them and de-stress. Brighton is a rich source of expertise in mental health first aid, suicide prevention and special educational needs, and this kind of external input for the training of our colleagues and development of our programme has been invaluable.

I am an English Literature specialist by training, so I can’t help but see symbols everywhere. Every morning, over the top of the hill, I look down towards the Rampion Wind Farm. Some days it disappears in the clouds; on others it gleams white and brilliant and other worldly. There is something about windmills. We celebrate the Rottingdean windmill in art around our college, and have hosted an exhibition of our students’ work there, thanks to Rottingdean Heritage. It’s beautiful – as, I think, are modern wind turbines – testament to human ingenuity, futuristic in the generation of clean energy and a solution to a societal problem. There is a beauty in that symbol: generating power from the resources available, solving a problem through design and collaboration and standing strong, steadfast, whatever the weather. 

With thanks to Jaya Carroll from OIC Brighton. Find out more on their website. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk