A COMPANY which provides educational programmes to international students had its achievements recognised by the mayors of Waverley and Haslemere and a visiting dignitary from the Moscow government (Duma) earlier this month. British company, UK2Learn, in association with Moscow-based RELOD, recently celebrated its inaugural programme with a lunch reception, which took place over the Easter holidays at King Edward's School, Witley.   Both local mayors and Dr Tatiana Potiaeva, from the Moscow Duma, attended the event, which also saw the UK2Learn, RELOD and King Edward's School team meet with BBC broadcaster Michael Nicholson and renowned artist Nick Bashall, brother to UK2Learn MD Suzie Mackie. The educational programmes provide international students with the opportunity to study English as a foreign language combined with a choice of drama or marketing.   Although primarily study focused, the course also comprises of sports, social and cultural aspects, which was highlighted by the participation of local UK students in the drama classes and the end of course performance. Ms Mackie said, "This event was a great success and I and Dr Svetlana Oulassevitch of RELOD were delighted at the attendance of so many key figures in the local area as well as the esteemed guest from Russia. This certainly reflects the success of our first Easter programme, on which we had nearly 100 international young learners, 75 of whom were from Russia." "The support shown by the Mayor of Waverley and the Mayor of Haslemere as well as the international teachers that attended the course with their students, is the ideal seal of approval for an educational programme that not only promotes the study of the English language by international students, but also promotes the English school system and our culture. "The Russian children were excited and enthusiastic about participating in this course as were the UK students and it provided a truly cross cultural platform for all involved." Dr Oulassevitch said: "The schools participating in this project are some of the best state schools in Moscow providing high quality education in the English language. They all are recognised by Oxford University Press, their supplier of ELT course materials, for high achievements in English (the 'Oxford Quality' Programme). "This programme is our endeavour at introducing professional orientation and development programmes similar to GCSE syllabuses. We feel that this will help with the plans of the Russian government to join the European educational standards. "We are very pleased to have the presence of Tatiana Potiaeva, who has always supported RELOD and OUP in our 'Oxford Quality' programme. This is a new step forward in our activities, which hopefully will allow for closer educational ties between Russian and British schools. We are long standing partners with Suzie and we are very happy to be able to work with King Edward's School now." The next UK2Learn programme is their Summer 2007 course, where, as with the Easter programme, international students can complement their English as a foreign language learning with marketing, business studies, drama and new for summer: arts, film studies or theatre studies. For information about UK2Learn, contact Suzie Mackie on 01483 425500 or visit http://www.uk2learn.com">www.uk2learn.com