Education

Club School

Migros Club School launched eight new TV ads in May 2010 with the aim of advertising its broad range. A successful move: 450'000 course and seminar attendees were welcomed in 2010 by Migros Club School at its 50 locations throughout Switzerland.

Award for the website
The new Club School website won the bronze medal at the Best of Swiss Web Award 2010 in the Usability category. This category commends websites, whose content and functions meet the requirements of the users targeted. With the award, the expert jury praised the intuitive navigation and search concept, which allows users to filter the entire course range by topic, location, day and time within the shortest period of time and in any combination.
The figures prove that the website is popular among users: 125'548 applications for Club School courses were received online in 2010, representing an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year.

Languages: Bestseller and online test
Learning the respective national language is key to successful integration – speakers of foreign languages living in Switzerland are increasingly aware of this fact. This is also reflected in the figures of the Club School: the most frequently visited language courses are those for the integration of speakers of foreign languages. In 2010 more people learned German than English at Migros Club School for the first time. Many participants attend the courses by instruction of job centres, but an increasing number of companies also support their employees when it comes to languages.
The Club School went live with new language tests on its website at the start of August 2010. Anyone interested can test their language level online in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The tests are free of charge and popular – more than 100'000 people took an online test in the first four months.

Zumba - the new fitness sensation
Latin rhythms promise fun; interval workouts are guaranteed to burn fat: Zumba is the name of the new way to keep your body in shape. The merging of dance and fitness was invented by Colombian fitness instructor Alberto «Berto» Perez in the 1990s, reached the US in 2001 and continued its journey from there to Europe. Zumba is now also a cult over here. With more than 120 classes, Migros Club School is the biggest provider of Zumba in Switzerland.

Art students design courses
A win-win situation: Migros Club School has jointly created courses with students of the Bachelor of Arts in Art and Design Communication of the University of the Arts, Zurich. As such, Migros Club School benefits from innovative offers and the students gain professional experience as course instructors. Migros Club School has added a total of eight courses from students. There, one's own chocolate shape can be created, or disposable ceramic crockery thrown or phallic sculptures carved. These course have been offered at various Club Schools around Switzerland since August 2010.

Club School Business: new courses
The Club School Business launched new courses and seminars in 2010. The SME Compact seminar is tailored to small businesses looking for answers to questions related to insurance, strategy, employees or communication. Online Marketing Manager is a practical seminar that provides rapid development in this area. Together with Migros Bank, Migros Club School now also provides business courses in investment. And since March 2010, the Spa Manager professional training has been recognised nationally and is now called Health Tourism and Exercise Manager with National Diploma.
Offers for Companies was the most successful area of the Club School Migros in terms of sales in 2010. The range was also expanded here: sector-specific language modules have been available since the start of 2010 (hotel and gastronomy, cleaning, construction and care), and are seeing strong interest. In addition, 33 modular IT modules were created, which allow company employees to develop their skills in a short period of time and in accordance with their level.

Eurocentres

The world comes together at Eurocentres: people from 98 countries with 50 different mother tongues studied at one of the 30 Eurocentres schools in 16 countries in 2010. And: Eurocentres opened new  language schools in Beijing and Marbella in 2010.
 

Mixed market environment
Thanks to the recovery from the global financial crisis, the language holiday sector also managed to find a stronger footing in 2010. But stricter visa requirements in Australia and the UK, as well as smaller scholarships in some countries, ultimately dampened the positive mood a little and margins came under increasing pressure from the stalled market. The foundation used 2010 to find strategic answers to these market conditions: the position of Eurocentres as a quality provider will be strengthened in the future by additional investment in school infrastructure and increasing efficiency after the launch of the new finance and administration system.
 

The globe in the classroom
The economic relaxation was also clearly reflected in the increasing interest in language holidays in 2010. Interested people from 195 countries visited the website of Eurocentres to obtain information on language courses – that is three countries more than the United Nations has members. The origins of the students are as varied as are the expectations of the courses. Teachers are required to design a varied and informative class every day, which is not always easy, as the course attendees have very different experiences of schooling and bring different mentalities and views to the classroom – the globe in the classroom. With self-designed interactive teaching methods and personal coaching of their students, the Eurocentres guarantee an inspiring learning environment and succesful learning – albeit in an unstable market environment.
 

Figures and charts Migros Culture Percentage