Testimonial 1 – David S – Opera
What I did on my Holidays?
My kids think that I’m regressing to my teenage years which is rubbish since I can’t remember what I had for breakfast most days let alone stuff that happened over six decades ago.
They are shocked that in August I went to a Rock Festival in a camper van – well not in the van obviously, the festival was in Cornwall.
Then at the beginning of this month I was at the u3a South East Summer School at Chichester University.
The Rock Festival was good, the camper van less so, to be honest, these days I have to get up several times a night and fields are dark, wet and cold!
The Summer School was brilliant!
I can’t remember how I found out about it, no surprise there, but I signed up on line and managed to secure a place.
As far as I’m aware I was the only one from Orpington U3a and at first the other delegates (which is what they called us) seemed slightly wary of me – possibly as I was the only one in the some two hundred there who sported a visible tattoo.
They relaxed when I explained that nearly everyone in our u3a group had tattoos…even some of the men.
It was a 4-day residential course and I was a little nervous as I didn’t know anyone who was going – I really needn’t have worried, everyone was very friendly and I never once found myself sitting alone.
The cost was £400 and this included –
- Accommodation, all meals, parking, 15 hours of tuition, evening entertainment, welcome drinks and farewell drinks
Pretty good value, I think.
The rooms were obviously for students, but surprisingly better than you might imagine – spacious with a bed (as you’d expect), desk, tea and coffee making and a wardrobe and chest of drawers.
There was an ensuite shower wet room and toiletries were supplied.
The meals were excellent –
Breakfast – cereals, fruit, yogurt, pastries, full English plus vegetarian options. Tea, coffee, milk and fruit juice
Morning – tea and biscuits
Lunch was soup, rolls, salad, choice of several hot dishes and a selection of desserts
Afternoon – tea and cake
Evening meal – similar to lunch but with different hot dishes – again including vegetarian options.
Every table had bottles of still and sparkling water
Portions were plentiful and no problem if you could manage a second serving, one went hungry.
Evening entertainment
Monday – there was a quiz, I entered alone and a table of ladies grabbed me, not like that unfortunately, to be on their team – presumably assuming I could help on stuff like sport. This proved not to be the case and we came last.
Tuesday was a screening of ‘Conclave’ on the big screen – well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.
Wednesday - an interesting book talk by an author, Beyond Beliefs by Sohail Husain.
There were a number of courses available including Roman History, several European languages, Opera, Mai Jong, Philosophy and Latin.
I had chosen Opera and the tutor was very good and made every session interesting.
Delegates attended from u3a groups all over the South East including Brighton, Dorking, Southampton and Chichester and Orpington, obviously.
I would 100% recommend the summer school – the next one is September 2026 – details come out in March and bookings in April…but you have to be quick as, not surprisingly, places fill rapidly – it’s not quite like Glastonbury or Oasis, but, as I’m told, not far behind.
I will certainly be going in 2026, assuming I haven’t joined the choir invisible, and I’m happy to car share with anyone who’s interested.
Thanks for reading!
David - Orpington u3a - 2025
Testimonial 2 – Hazel T-A – Opera:Tutor
Aspects of Summer School
I felt, as a tutor, that we were very well prepared in the tutor briefing and lunch.
En-suite room - I enjoyed room 105 in Amberley - the size of the room and the bathroom were great.
Dining - the food was delicious; the range of choices was amazing - it seemed like every possible option and preference was covered. I would like to compliment both the chef/catering staff on that. I would also compliment the other staff - they were so very friendly, accommodating and helpful. The Manager would pop out from time to time and ask if everything was okay - which was impressive. Because there were lots of healthy options available, I must have chosen fairly wisely, as I found I had not gained any weight when I returned home! Also - the queue system works - having two separate queues for food and for the coffee stations worked well.
The general camaraderie of both my own group and of other groups was wonderful. I found out that some people had been coming for several years and treated it as a staple every year, in their summer calendar. I like that there are a range of places to "hang-out", even when the weather isn't so good. The show at Chichester Festival Theatre - although it does not count as "summer school" it was a terrific show, and we got a real bargain in those tickets.
The teaching room - 101. I found that the group members made themselves very comfortable. We decided on what lighting we wanted, some wanted a window open, certain blinds pulled to see the screen better, etc. I liked having a double long table so I could spread out the copies of notes to give them. And at the final session I had "prizes", and there was room for them, too.
The group gave me a card signed by them all, and lovely flowers. It was a wonderful sign of their appreciation and I was touched.
Ryan - he was fantastic. I felt I could rely on him when I needed help at first. He was prompt, efficient, and explained clearly. So, I then went on to manage on my own and felt very comfortable. I feel he is a very valuable person to have on hand. Thank you, Ryan. And Chris, who gave me an idea for my playlists for the future...
Without being at all patronising, I feel that the Tutor Liaison (Linda) did an amazing job - I feel that every i was dotted and every t crossed to make the whole summer school run on greased wheels, especially seeing to it that the tutors were looked after to the nth degree. Thank you, Linda.
Thank you
Hazel – Brighton & Hove u3a - 2025
Testimonials from 2023
Testimonial 1 – Hilary H – Intermediate French
Hilary wrote following article for her home u3a newsletter – Harborough Welland.
Do you remember that very hot week we had, early in September? Wasn't it lovely?
I remember it very well because I was at a u3a summer school at University of Chichester.
The summer school was organised by the South East u3a Forum, but I saw it advertised in our national magazine: Third Age Matters.
I chose to do a course on French at an Intermediate level. For three days the 11 of us in that group spoke to each other, in pairs or threes, mostly in French. We played games, did a crossword, watched podcasts, visited websites, discovered the origins of odd phrases. For example, why is it not rude to say "Merde*" to someone, to wish them good luck?
We were all much of a muchness in our abilities. Someone from another group at the summer school (more about other groups later) asked me what level of French the course was at. I said "O level plus a year", but someone else from the group overheard me and said "Oh no, it is more like first year university level". Whatever, we all stayed the course and ended up smiling. Our teacher was very gentle, sympathetic and funny!
At the summer school were several other courses, such as yoga, mathematics, fun fizzics, cycling, ukulele, walking, poetry. The cyclists and the walkers did amazingly well to complete their rides and walks in those temperatures!
Perhaps they were sustained by the excellent food we had. Three cooked meals a day and all with plenty of options and self-service, so you could just have the right amount of just what you fancied. There was a free drinks reception on two of the three evenings, too.
Of course, we were staying in student single rooms, which were adequate, but not luxurious. But they were all on the same campus and very handy, so no long walks for meals or activities.
The evening entertainments were also excellent: speakers or the film "Where the Crawdads Sing".
I would heartily recommend attending a South East u3a Forum’s summer school at Chichester. I learned a lot, met many lovely people from many u3a's who did different things, and ate very well!
Thank you for the summer school. I loved it!
Hilary - Harborough Welland u3a
*In the 19th century, if a play was a great success, the theatre would have lots of horse-drawn carriages queuing outside to drop their passengers for the theatre. The queueing horses also dropped a lot of manure. So, wishing someone lots of "merde" was wishing them success.
Testimonial 2 – Gelhi J – Creative Writing
Seeing your email address so long after the event made me think of the amount of work that goes into the organisation of these Summer Schools. It just made me feel like saying how much I enjoy them and how grateful I am to all the organisers who give so much of your time for our enjoyment.
I tried Creative Writing this time – an easy option after a couple of years of maths.
The whole event is a really good way to spend a few days, with lasting memories a happy bonus.
Roll on next year!
Gelhi – Dorking u3a
Testimonial 3 – Lis F – Demystifying Mathematics
Just to say what a great occasion and thanks to all involved.
Lis – West Oxford u3a
Testimonial 4 – Andrew M – French Intermediate
Tuesday evening waiting for the talk on Tangmere Airfield to start, Mrs Jones is sitting next to me, ‘I’m with the Dorking u3a’ she says.
‘How about that’ I reply, ‘I was born and brought up in Dorking’.
‘I actually live just outside Dorking in Newdigate ‘, She adds.
‘Even more extraordinary. We moved there in the early 1980’s – we lived in Peartree Cottage’.
‘Well, I live in Spring Cottage – I was your next-door neighbour. Wasn’t it Harry and Mary Morgan?’
What a small world. This is how extraordinary conversations begin here at the SE u3a Forum Summer School.
We were blessed with beautiful weather at The University of Chichester’s campus, Monday 4th – Thursday 8th September. Plenty on offer for the 150 attendees, from archaeology to yoga – something to suit almost everybody. I was in the French group among 10 ladies from all over the country with Susanne as our truly lovely tutor. Nous avons bavardé,
discuté, lis, écouté, regardé, traduit en fait nous avons passé de très , très bon moment
c’était top!
The accommodation was in the student flats which were fine for three nights (though my mattress was far from comfortable) and meals in the campus restaurant. I was particularly pleased to find delicious pain au chocolat for breakfast. Generally, I thought the catering was very good.
After dinner each evening we had some entertainment. A quiz on Monday – our table (8) were middle ranking but thanks to Beryl her table were the champions winning a packet of chocolate fingers. Tuesday was the excellent talk on Tangmere with a film as an alternative if you didn’t fancy the talk. On Wednesday Jane Glennie, who specialises in theatrical talks, presented ‘Violet’s Titanic Escape’ about how Violet Jessop a ship’s stewardess survived the sinking of the Titanic and then the sinking of her sister ship Britannic. It was totally enthralling, I have never known an hour fly by so quickly.
All in in all it was a fabulous 4 days not only for the courses but for all the different people that you meet.
Finally, an enormous thank you everyone involved in organising it. I know that many, many hours of hard work went into it.
Andrew – Meopham u3a