Phoenix Academy – Interview with Robynne Walsh

Date: 21/09/2011

Founded in 1989, IALC-accredited Phoenix Academy in Perth, Western Australia, is one of Australia’s largest English language institutions and the largest specialist centre in Perth.

We spoke to School Principal Robynne Walsh to find out more about Phoenix’s aims, life in Perth and being a member of the “IALC family”.

Q: Hello Robynne, how does it feel to be part of this exclusive group of quality language schools?
A: Pretty special. Phoenix has been a proud member of IALC for over 15 years. We value this membership immensely. We appreciate the camaraderie with valued representatives who work with IALC schools and we enjoy the opportunity to discuss our business ideas with colleagues in the same business without fear of losing intellectual ideas to competitors.

Q: How has 2011 been for the school so far and how is it looking compared to last year?
A:In some respects Australia has largely ridden out the global financial crisis due to our strong Aussie dollar and lack of national debt. Also being in Perth, Western Australia, we are sitting on top of the world’s largest deposits of oil and gas, iron ore, gold, diamonds etc., so we are actually living in a boom town at the moment. The rest of the world’s struggle with weak currencies and mounting debts has reduced our student flow from some markets, but other strong markets such as China and the Australian domestic market have grown considerably for us. This has meant a shift in our school demographics and the growth of domestic classes such as University Pathway Programs (EAP), Diplomas of Business, Employability programs and corporate training.

Q: You were established in 1989. How have things changed at the school since then?
A: My husband Brian and I established Phoenix with just two students in 1989. As I said, continuously monitoring markets and client needs has been important to us and over the years we have been good at diversifying when needed. Always keeping our eyes on the ball and looking ahead for changes in immigration rules, world financial events etc., has been an important guiding philosophy. We believe we have been successful at manoeuvring our ship around the icebergs due to being a relatively small and competitive school as opposed to the larger chain schools and universities that are unable to make change quickly. Another change came when we established our second campus in the wonderful city of Fremantle, 20 minutes from Perth. Then about ten years ago we established a 90-bed student residence on our Perth campus and that added choice to our customers for their accommodation needs. We have in the past 2 years moved more into e-learning. We now have a well-established Student Learning Management System (portal) and can deliver many of our programs in blended delivery style. Our New Generation course combines face-to-face classroom delivery with online learning. This suits our au pairs and students who need to work, as they can’t spend as much time in the classroom as other full time students.

Q: What are your main aims for Phoenix Academy?
A: To continue to be known as a quality training institution that is cutting-edge, student focussed with happy staff, and I think we have pretty well nailed this.

Q: Which countries do the majority of your students come from?
A: The one aim that my husband Brian and I established when we started Phoenix was to have a truly international campus, and we have stayed true to that mantra. Today, as for the past 22 years, we market across the world. This has been time consuming and expensive but it has always been one of our major “selling points’. Around 40% of our clients come from Asia, 40% from Europe and 20% from elsewhere (mainly South American and the Indian Ocean region). Of our Asian markets China is our largest, followed by Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. For Europe it is Switzerland, Germany and France, and for South America it is Colombia and Brazil.

Q: What are the most popular student activities?
A: At Phoenix we have our own in-house Student Adventure Centre, similar to a travel agency office, where our clients can come in and have discounted recreation activities arranged for them. We arrange hire cars, bus and train travel, accommodation in other cities, etc. The most popular activities are swimming with dolphins, whale watching and trips to Rottnest Island, PADI Dive course and exploring the Pinnacles area.

Q: What are the biggest attractions and advantages for students learning English in Australia?
A: At Phoenix we have our own in-house Student Adventure Centre, similar to a travel agency office, where our clients can come in and have discounted recreation activities arranged for them. We arrange hire cars, bus and train travel, accommodation in other cities, etc. The most popular activities are swimming with dolphins, whale watching and trips to Rottnest Island, PADI Dive course and exploring the Pinnacles area.

Q: What would you say are the biggest challenges facing your school and language study in Australia?
A: A big challenge has always been our isolation. We are the most isolated large city in the world but I always see that as an advantage. The great adventure is to go to a remote city and live the life. Once it was a problem but now with fast and affordable air travel, distance is not a disadvantage, it is an advantage. My French clients always used to say “Australie the land I dream to go to” but now they don’t have to dream, it is truly available and welcoming.

Q: Moving on to find out more about you, which is your favourite city in the world and why?
A: My favourite city in the world has to be Prague because I am a romantic at heart and I love the cobbled streets and ancient architecture – best seen outside the months of May and September. If you visit then you will love this city.

Q: Your favourite pastime?
A: Riding my bicycle. Brian and I are both avid cyclists. Brian is the speedy one and competes in Masters’ events on the track and road and does the male thing of sweating and trying to beat other men. I like to cycle and combine it with coffee and meeting up with girlfriends and long chats. For most of the year I try to cycle to work at least 2 to 3 times per week.

Q: Your favourite meal?
A: I love seafood. So I guess my favourite meal is when Brian catches me a lobster in the bay where we anchor our boat on Rottnest Island and then we cook it and eat it within 10 minutes of it leaving the ocean and combine it with a great Western Australian chardonnay. Then I know I am in heaven. Many of our representatives have joined us on our boat “The Lucky Strike” and enjoyed this simple pleasure.

Q: Your dream dinner guests?
A: Hugh Jackman because he is so handsome and so humane. He has sponsored some fantastic causes and is such an interesting person. I guess I would also love to chat with Hillary Clinton to hear her stories of the people she has met and the places she has travelled to. I also love music so I would love to dine with Michael Bublé so he could sing to me after dinner!!

Q: Finally, what would you say are the main benefits of learning English in Australia?
A: Of course the main benefits would have to be experiencing this great land and its people, the opportunity to study in a peaceful environment, free from racial problems, civil unrest, poverty, inequality, and the proximity of Western Australia to the Asian region.

Phoenix Academy specialises in a diverse range of education training and services including: teaching intensive General and Academic English (ELICOS) to over 3,000 international students per year, providing a pre-university/Foundation Studies program to over 400 international and Australian students per year, English support programs for university students and English as a Second Language Teacher Training for Australian and foreign teachers. In addition Phoenix Academy offers corporate training programs offshore and in Australia.

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