TEFL in Zaragoza, Spain

Date posted:2006-08-01 | Writer: Professional School of English | Email: [email protected]

General Information for candidates

History of the school

Professional School was founded in 1990, it grew steadily and slowly until 1997 when, with 160 students and 4 teachers, the school changed management. In 2001 Professional School (Sector Miguel Servet) moved to larger premises and in 2003 Professional School - Sector Actur the second school opened. The two schools currently have a total of 750 students and 14 teachers and is one of the largest English Language Schools in Zaragoza. Professional School Actur is also about to relocate to larger and more modern premises in August 2006.

Working at Professional School

School is proud of its excellent working atmosphere and conditions. Teachers have both the benefits of a large organisation ( excellent salary, job security, paid holidays and bonus conditions) and a small school ( small community of 7or 8 teachers working at each school)

The salary offered to EFL teachers is nearly double that established in the National Agreement for Private Schools together with two performance related bonuses per academic year, a perk hardly ever offered by any other Language School in the city. We have a very low turnover of teachers. Staff leave only to pursue other careers or returning the the UK however many of the British teachers have decided to set up home permanently in Zaragoza.

Methodology and Teaching Style.

Professional School uses the immersion method in which all students are expected to use only English while on school premises, English is the offical language uof the school spoken by staff and students. The majority of classes are to small groups of up to a maximum of 8 students. We have a variety of ages and levels from young learners, through to adults . The classes take place Monday to Friday and the main bulk of the classes are in the afternoons. Children?s courses are 2 hours per week and adults 3 hours per week. The students under 18 are grouped by age and by level to streamline students into groups of similar level and capability. Adults are grouped by level and needs ( business, exam practice etc) Each group and level has a syllabus and objectives which have been devised by the school and we nearly always use a text book and workbook as a base to teach the elements in the syllabus. Teacher's normally use the book for about 60% of the class then are free to prepare there own materials / activities or use ones already tried and tested by other teachers ( teachers usually exchange experiences and materials). The school provides all the materials and has an extensive range of additional material for teachers to use ( a library of 1500 books, readers, DVD, VHS, flashcards, board games, Teacher's Resource Packs, music, audio cassettes, magazines, newspapers etc) Teacher's can also use the Internet to get material from.

The city

Zaragoza is the 5^th largest city in Spain situated in the Ebro valley on the route between Madrid and Barcelona. It has a current population of 660.000 inhabitants. It has excellent transport links to other major cities like Madrid , Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao. Within 2 hours you can also be in the Pyrenees mountains or on a beach in the Costa Daurada. You can fly cheaply and direct from ZaragozaAirport with RYANAIR, to Stanstead. UK. In 2008 Zaragoza will be the host city for the Expo2008 which is hoped will put Zaragoza on the International map. Accommodation is very good in terms of value for money. Living is a lot cheaper than cities like Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao, there are a lot of shops and shopping centres. Zaragoza is well known is Spain for its excellent night life and has a variety of different places to dine out. Check out the following websites Contact us

ACADEMIC YEAR 2006-2007

JOB PROFILE AND CONDITIONS

Approximately 1 week at Easter