Prime Language & Activity Summer Camp for Teenagers in Via Collina d'Oro, Switzerland

Course Description: Prime Language & Activity Summer Camp for Teenagers in Via Collina d'Oro, Switzerland

🎓 Course Overview

This three-week summer programme in southern Switzerland is designed for students aged 11–13 who want to learn a language, try new sports and make friends from around the world. Each student chooses one main academic course for the session, such as English as an Additional Language, Italian or French Language & Culture, and spends afternoons on sports and activities. Evenings and weekends bring cultural events, dances, day trips and outdoor adventures in Switzerland and Italy. Boarding and day places are available.

📚 Academic Content

Students take one primary academic course for the whole session, with about three to four hours of class each morning, followed by a Discovery class after lunch.

Language Courses

• English as an Additional Language (EAL): four levels covering reading, writing, speaking and listening; advanced learners are placed in Creative Writing.

• Italian Language & Culture: beginner and intermediate levels, with practical vocabulary and Italian culture through songs, films and food.

• French Language & Culture: practical language and vocabulary, plus French culture and its global influence.

Other Course Options

• Creative Writing: narrative craft, literary devices and poetry, with a visit to the Hermann Hesse Museum in Montagnola (for native or near-fluent speakers).

• Art: pottery, watercolour, collage, sculpture, textile art, crochet and knitting, ending in a personal exhibition at the Summer Arts Festival.

• STEM: project-based work on scale models, simple machines, engineering design, electronics and coding.

• Musical Theatre: acting, singing and dancing with professional teaching artists, or production roles in costume, lighting and sound (minimum language requirement).

• Digital Photography: composition, lighting and editing, with excursions around Ticino (students bring their own DSLR camera).

Sports & Activities

Each afternoon students choose two sports or activities (about two hours a day). Included options are volleyball, recreational tennis, basketball, hiking, rock climbing, dance and recreational football, plus watersports on Lake Lugano (paddleboarding, windsurfing and swimming, typically twice a week, monitored by lifeguards). Optional sports clubs cost CHF 500 each: waterskiing, Milan Academy football coaching, golf at Lugano Golf Club (maximum five students) and a tennis club (coach ratio 1:5).

📍 Campus & Location

The school sits on a hillside in Montagnola, in the municipality of Collina d'Oro just above Lugano in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, with views of snow-capped mountains, palm trees and Lake Lugano. The campus has 25 buildings, ranging from a 17th-century villa to a modern science centre, and students use the lake for watersports and the surrounding Ticino region for trips and outdoor adventures.

Unaccompanied boarding students are met at Milan Malpensa Airport (flights landing between 09:00 and 17:00 on arrival day) or at Lugano railway station, and departure buses run to the same points at the end of the session.

🏫 Accommodation & Meals

Boarding students live in separate boys' and girls' dormitories with peers of their own age group, usually in rooms for two to four, alongside roommates from different countries. Siblings and friends are not placed together. Boarders have breakfast, lunch and family-style dinners, and laundry is included. Day students receive lunch and snacks and can join family-style dinners on Mondays and Thursdays.

🚌 Excursions & Activities

Weekend day trips, included in tuition, go to destinations such as Milan, Zurich and Lucerne, with adventure options including canyoning, canoeing, rafting and caving, and lido visits in Ascona, Locarno or Tesserete. Optional overnight trips of one or two nights are available at extra cost to the Italian Riviera, Verona and Sirmione, Zermatt and the Matterhorn, and a Great Swiss Outdoors trip. Evenings feature cultural events, group games, a semi-formal dance and a World Cup football tournament.

⏰ A Day in the Life

• 07:30 — Breakfast

• 08:15 — Morning meeting

• 08:40 — Classes and music

• 11:30 — Lunch

• 12:20 — Discovery class

• 13:30 — Afternoon sports and activities

• 17:30 — Family-style dinner

• 19:00 — Evening activity

• 20:45 — Evening meeting in dorms

• 22:00 — Lights out

Day students arrive at 08:00–08:15 and may leave at 16:45 or stay for dinner and evening activities until 20:45.

2027 Dates & Fees 📅

The programme runs in two three-week sessions. Students arrive on the first day (registration 10:00–16:00), and classes begin the following day. Fees are quoted in Swiss francs (CHF).

• Session One: Sunday 27 June – Saturday 17 July — Length: 3 weeks — Boarding: CHF 9,200 — Day: CHF 5,100

• Session Two: Monday 19 July – Sunday 8 August — Length: 3 weeks — Boarding: CHF 9,200 — Day: CHF 5,100

The last programme day for day students is Friday 16 July (Session One) or Saturday 7 August (Session Two); boarders may leave after the Arts Festival performances and must check out by 12:00 on the final day.

Optional extras: sports clubs (CHF 500 each) and overnight trips (prices on application).

Payment: a non-refundable deposit of CHF 1,500 secures a place, and the balance is due by 15 May 2027 (later enrolments must be paid in full within seven days of the invoice). Cancellations before 15 May may receive a tuition refund minus the deposit; after that, enrolment is binding and there are no refunds for absence, withdrawal or dismissal except in documented emergencies. Optional sports and trips are non-refundable after arrival.

Other costs: if an airline's unaccompanied-minor service is booked, a CHF 200 chaperone fee applies. Suggested pocket money is CHF 80–100 per week.

✔️ What's Included

• Boarding: tuition, books, dormitory accommodation, all meals, laundry, daily excursions and weekend day trips, and health and accident insurance for non-Swiss residents.

• Day: tuition, books, lunch and snacks, most sports and activities and daily excursions.

Not included: optional sports clubs, overnight trips, personal spending, uncovered medical costs and travel to Switzerland.

🛡️ Safety & Welfare

Middle school students follow a closely structured day with morning and evening meetings, quiet time before bed and lights out at 22:00. They can phone home after the first week at set times. Watersports are monitored by lifeguards and trained staff.

The on-campus Health Center is staffed by three nurses providing round-the-clock care, and the Civico Hospital in Lugano is about 15 minutes away for emergencies. Boarding students who are not Swiss residents are covered by the school's health and accident insurance plan, which has no deductibles (dental and eye care are not covered); Swiss residents and day students need their own policy, although non-Swiss day students can apply to join the plan.

💡 Who This Programme Is For

This programme suits 11–13-year-olds who want to improve their English, French or Italian in a lively, international setting, or explore a creative or STEM subject. It is a good fit for young people ready for their first extended stay away from home in a well-structured environment, and for families who want academic progress balanced with sport, the arts and travel.

TASIS The American School In Switzerland — Google Maps ↗

Via Collina d'Oro 15, 6926 Montagnola, Switzerland Google Maps ↗