The primary role of the Activity Leader is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the students and to help them to make the most of their time in London and have fun.  The programme needs to be developed in line with ‘What matters most to the students’.

Location: Heythrop College, Kensington Square, London.

Hours and Pay: 48 hours per week, £343.20/week

It is essential that you have -

• Ability to organise and lead the student’s afternoon, and evening activities and the full day excursions.
• Willing to live-in at the centre.
• Excellent organisational and observational skills. Flexibility and enthusiasm.
• High level of written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to implement plans to respond to activity related issues.
• First Aid training (If you are not First Aid trained, you must be willing to participate in training).
• DBS Check (if you do not have this we will require you to complete a check upon appointment).

It is also desirable that you have -

• Experience working in a summer school.
• Experience working in a residential school. Experience working with teenagers.
• Experience working with an activity programme.

Your responsibilities

• To effectively participate in presenting a high quality activity and excursion programme, including the preparation and set up as needed.

• To provide the students with an exciting and stimulating experience of London.

• To supervise students during activities to ensure they are safe, taking all appropriate steps to minimise risk.

• To foster a very positive and lively atmosphere for the students.

• Welcoming students on arrival.

• Ensuring new students know where to find information.

• Assisting in student transfers

• Regular overnight duty: To be available for students in the case of an emergency or first aid incident. To ensure that students stick to the rules, are in their rooms and allow each other to sleep.

• Sleeping in accommodation in close proximity to students and respond sensitively and professionally to any pastoral matters.

• Supervising students during daily breaks and free time (as directed by your manager).

• Being prepared for emergency situations in line with the policy of the school.

• Keeping accurate records and reporting incidents.

• Keeping notice boards up to date, informative and attractive.

• Attending and participating in regular staff meetings.

• Assisting in the set up and shut down of centre.

• Various other tasks to help with the smooth running of the centre.

• To maintain open communication with the Activity Manager.

• Implement the school’s Health and Safety Policy.

• To ensure the implementation of the child protection policies, safeguarding policies, welfare and discipline procedures of the school.

• To carry out 24hr emergency duties on a rota basis.

• To carry out residential supervision duties, including mealtime and bedtime supervision.

• To take the lead in activities when requested to do so by the Activity Manager.

• Apply agreed contractual arrangements and terms of employment and to recommend changes.

Students Welfare:

• Provide and improve student services as set out in the student manual.

• Responsible for the welfare of all the students and the adherence to safeguarding and child protection policies.

• Work closely with the Academic team to ensure all students are catered for and that the activities and academic elements of the course are integrated.

Compliance:

• Health and Safety: implement the school’s Health and Safety Policy.

• Accreditation: be fully informed about standards set down by The British Council in the Accreditation Handbook and by the ISI and ensure compliance.

Have you thought of teaching in the Middle East?  Stop thinking, start doing!

A major Saudi Arabian company will be in London next month to recruit for a wide range of Saudi locations.  If you have 4+ years’ experience and are fully qualified, you may be the teacher they need.  Evocation EFL is handling this exciting opportunity on behalf of the Saudi client, and we want to see your CV right now.

Full details are in our ad here

About Us

The TEFL Lab is a dedicated teacher training centre, and we specialise in training people to become Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.

Our aim is to train teachers right at the start of their career, so that they can provide the high standards of English teaching that is in demand throughout the world. With this in mind we’ve set ourselves three simple goals:

• To encourage intelligent, talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to choose English teaching as a career
• To give our students the best training possible, using excellent course materials and inspirational teaching methods
• To send our new teachers out into the world, confident and fully equipped to teach English anywhere on the planet

View a short video about TEFL Lab.

Our Full Time and Part Time Trinity Cert. TESOL Courses

We run a variety of courses for those interested in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

The standard course that enables teachers to teach at British Council accredited schools, as well as being accepted worldwide, is the Trinty Cert. TESOL.

We run both full and part-time courses, and these take place at our TEFL Lab, which is located in a beautiful five-storey Georgian townhouse on London’s famous Bloomsbury Square, a stone’s throw from the British Museum.

The full time course takes place over 4 weeks, and the part time, over 12 weeks. The part time Trinity Cert. TESOL is also structured around the normal working week, with classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on Saturdays through the day. Both courses provide exactly the same qualification.

Find out the course dates for the next full time and part time courses.

How we Teach

We believe that the best kind of learning happens when students are actively involved in the learning process. Our trainers know that guiding students is better than simply telling them ‘stuff’. At TEFL Lab we put the learning experience right at the heart of what we do. In practical terms this means involving trainees in practical workshops, guided discussions, real-world assignments, and loads of fun, informative sessions on anything and everything from the building blocks of modern methodology to the weird and wonderful world of English grammar and phonology.

You will learn most by actually teaching. And every time you teach you will receive a balanced, practical appraisal of your performance. These teaching and feedback sessions are designed to help you become a reflective teacher and to help you maximise your learning potential.

Find out More and Book your Place

Phone us:
0800 022 4186 (free within the UK)
+44(0) 20 7637 3813 (international)

Visit our website:
http://www.tefllab.co.uk/

Email us via this link

By Neil Root
Neil Root is a writer and London based English Language teacher with 10 years experience.

Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sites such as TEFL Jobs London regularly advertise jobs so it is well worth checking regularly. Due to the number of TEFL teachers looking and the lack of teaching hours in off-peak times of the year, it is often first-come, first-served. The early CELTA/Trinity TESOL/DELTA bird catches the TEFL worm. The only TEFL agency in London is Evocation, and it is well worth being on their books although rates of pay may be less than if you are employed directly by the school. Aside from that, it really is a case of using your own initiative.

Relationships with DOSs and Academic Managers crucial

Once you have taught in London for a year or two, and not just in the summer when jobs are easy to find, you’ll build up a network of TEFL contacts, with Directors of Studies and Academic Managers. These relationships are crucial, and if you are a good teacher you will usually get repeat work. The website Gumtree London has a TEFL Jobs section, and this is also worth checking, but beware that some less scrupulous schools sometimes advertise on here. Run a search engine check of the school, if you have the name, and if you go to interview, have a good look at their approach, resources and professionalism. Are they British Council, and if not, are you satisfied that you will be paid on time and be given the hours promised? The jobs advertised on Tefl.com are normally reputable, but as this is the No.1 site, these jobs go very fast and you have to move quickly.

Calling and emailing schools with your CV can be soul-destroying, but it is worth doing even when they are not advertising. With your CV on file, when a vacancy comes up, their stock of CVs is often the first point of call. Personalise your approach, and make regular follow-up calls if you need work. This kind of networking can pay real dividends, but of course you have to be enthusiastic and very flexible. And it may lead to that permanent position you really want.

So use your resources, think fast and apply early, and don’t be afraid to be a self-starter- the TEFL industry in London demands it!

By Neil Root
Neil Root is a writer and London based English Language teacher with 10 years experience.

By Shane Global from Hastings, UK (Intermediate Class Uploaded by Mr. Stradivarius) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The 3 P’s

Be presentable, punctual and prepared: the 3 P’s. You have to look professional to be treated as such, not over-dressed (this can build a barrier to your students) but clean and smart. Always be on time, but more than that, early. There’s nothing a Director of Studies (DOS), Assistant Director of Studies (ADOS) or Academic Manager hates more than chasing up a teacher at the last minute at 8.58am when staff rooms are heaving, students are complaining and stress levels are high. If you are required to be there for 8.45am, try to be there for 8.30am. Sometimes traffic or tube problems make you later, but try to create an early pattern, this creates a perception of you. Be well-prepared – try to prepare the bulk of your materials the day before. Very well-organised teachers stay late on Friday or Monday and prepare the week. This is often unpaid, but it will make the rest of the week easy and prevent any panics that make you look unprepared. There is nothing worse first thing in the morning to be in a queue of tense teachers at the old photocopier, which invariably jams or overheats, breaking down five minutes before your class.

Workplace relationships

Attend training sessions when required, and give input when you can. Keep your registers, class diaries and student reports and test sheets up to date. If you have to be chased on paperwork, it will create an impression that you are unorganised. Be professional in your dealings with management and other teachers, not sycophantic (this never goes down well long-term), and try to stay out of staffroom politics as much as possible – some school staff rooms have a very happy environment, others can be quite nasty. Rise above it as much as you can, without being a yes-person or doormat. Do what you are asked within reason, but don’t be afraid to give a thoughtful opinion, but present it politely and in a relaxed way. Make sure the relevant management know when and if you are available – they are not mind readers, and if you want more work/can’t do Tuesday, let them know, they like being informed.

So remember the 3 P’s and that you are as presentable, punctual and prepared as you are perceived to be!

By Neil Root
Neil Root is a writer and London based English Language teacher with 10 years experience.

By Joseph Plotz (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Remember that you are taking the class for anything for one hour to a fortnight or three weeks. You may think that the class you will enter will be used to their regular teacher and miss that teacher, and this may daunt you. But not necessarily – most London TEFL schools rotate their teachers at regular intervals, to keep their teaching fresh. Also, no teacher is everybody’s favourite. This is an important lesson to learn- you have skills that other teachers do not, and they ones which you don’t possess. So be ‘yourself’, as students respond to confidence and a fluent lesson.

Cover what you have been told to

You will almost definitely have some prescribed materials if it is a very short-term cover, but you may have to prepare your own more for longer cover assignments. There will almost always be a core course book, and you must cover what you have been told to. That is the main point of your job, to keep the absent teacher’s seat warm as efficiently and smoothly as possible – students hate change if it is too sudden and sharp. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t supplement core materials with your own ideas and activities, whether it’s cut-ups, games, debates or grammar or vocabulary activities. Read the class diary of the teacher you are covering – identify the area which you feel is under-represented, and focus on that weakness. If there’s not enough speaking or tense-work, or the listening has been too easy, choose appropriate resources and materials to fill that gap.

Listen to your students

Be creative, and above all listen to your students. Their needs and desires are what you are there to deliver as they are the customer after all. But don’t become too focused on one or two vocal students – you have to take the whole class with you, although of course in a one-to-one class this does not apply. That is not to say that you should let your students lead you too much though – you have to maintain control, let them know that their opinion and input is highly valued, but that you are dictating the pace and direction of the class. This is particularly important for cover teaching, as you have no prior relationship with the students or them with you, so boundaries on both sides will be tested. Be positive, confident and attentive, prepare well, follow the criteria given by the school and you will thrive. Best of luck!

By Neil Root
Neil Root is a writer and London based English Language teacher with 10 years experience.

London is a city with scores of English language schools, some more established than others. With your Trinity TESOL/CELTA/DELTA accreditation, you have the passport to apply for jobs at any of these schools – one or two even take non-qualified teachers – one school in central London was recently advertising for teaching ‘interns’- no qualifications or experience required, 25 hours teaching a week for £450 a month! For the professional teacher of course, such schools are to be avoided. The kite mark of real quality is of course the British Council stamp of approval, and such schools have high standards and can offer more career development, but obviously in return, higher teaching standards and attendance at training workshops (sometimes unpaid) are expected, and observations and feedback are usually given on a regular basis.

No guarantees

However, having your certificate does not guarantee you any stability or a permanent job, a lesson learnt by any teacher who has worked in London as a TEFL teacher for more than a year. There is an over-abundance of TEFL teachers, and whilst you can always find work year-round abroad somewhere, London doesn’t easily offer up permanent jobs. Most schools will employ you on a rolling contract, with one week’s notice required either way, and only state sick pay is widely offered. If fewer students come, and classes have to be closed, teachers are laid off- this is just the way of the industry in London. Newly qualified teachers quickly become hardened to this reality, or at least they have to if they are to remain a TEFL teacher in the capital.

Take nothing for granted

The key is to take nothing for granted. You have to be punctual and applied, preparing your lessons and delivering them effectively if you have any chance of keeping work. But then of course, if there are not enough classes to teach, even the best teachers can find themselves disappearing from next week’s teaching timetable. The key to surviving as a TEFL teacher in London is to be very flexible and adaptable – you may have to change schools several times in a year. Most years, there is guaranteed teaching work from June-September, and in a good year February-November is sometimes possible. But usually October-March/April/May are fraught months, with teachers scrambling for work, taking a day’s/week’s work here and another there. Having a DELTA can improve your chances of gaining a permanent post, but there are still too many DELTA-qualified teachers to permanent TEFL jobs in London.

In conclusion, you have to learn to not take being let go by a school personally – it is the nature of a largely unregulated and revenue-driven industry with teachers in abundance. Be flexible and adaptable, and resourceful and quick-thinking in your job hunting approach. Being a TEFL teacher in London is not for the fainthearted, but then again it is never boring! Good luck.

by Clara Harland

Journeying through the EFL Patchwork Quilt, piecing together work in a variety of schools, I have always found that a continuing challenge for me has been to find new and innovative ways of dealing with discipline in the classroom. From rowdy groups of teenagers to adults lacking in motivation because their employers have pushed them into an English course, adapting my discipline techniques to keep the class focussed on the task at hand has been both a source of satisfaction and one of immense frustration.

The silent treatment

I am not a shouty person. Naturally of a shy disposition, I don’t feel comfortable yelling at the top of my voice to get a class under control. Speaking to other teachers about their techniques, the general consensus has usually seemed to be: full-on shouting doesn’t really work. My use of The Silent Treatment perfectly illustrates how much I embrace this theory. This strategy came about spontaneously one bright summer school day when I found myself standing in a cacophony of noise and paper aeroplanes and realised there was no way I could shout loud enough to get my students to shut up. Besides, this was mid-way through the summer and quite frankly I didn’t have the energy to start jumping up and down, shouting and waving my arms as if I were attempting to attract the attention of a passing ship. So I just stood with my hands on my hips, staring at the clock on the wall with my stoniest expression on my face. Eventually, after well over five minutes, the students slowly realised that their teacher had stood without uttering a word for quite some time and eyes began to turn back in my direction. Once silence had descended and I could see that the students knew they were in trouble, I strode over to the board and wrote ‘5 MINUTES’ at the top before calmly informing them: “You are too noisy, you have wasted five minutes, we are staying an extra five minutes into break time”. I have to admit the audible ‘aaaaaw’ from the class was quite satisfying after the irritation I’d been feeling. This approach proved so effective that if they ever got out of control again, all I had to do was stop speaking and look at my watch to get them back in line.

My over-riding philosophy though is to try and reason with the students. Sometimes the following does the trick: “Would you like me to spend the lesson shouting at you? It’s just that that’s really very boring for me and is going to get very boring for you. Which would you prefer? We get on with the lesson or I stand here and shout at you?”

On other occasions, I appeal to their manners by asking the student who’s chatting through someone else’s answer: “What did Silvio just say? You don’t know? Okay, well, it’s important that you stop talking and start listening to each other.”

Humour is the key

I find that humour is the key and if I’ve managed to strike the balance between a serious subtext of “I really mean this” and a jokey delivery then I end up with some of my most rewarding teaching experiences. One boy springs to mind. He insisted on sitting with his hoody and sunglasses on during class, passive aggressive sulk playing across his face. I watched as he took little to no interest in the lesson and then pottered over to him while the others were engrossed in an exercise. I asked if he’d rather I called him Eminem and struck what was no doubt a very uncool ‘Hip Hop’ pose. He laughed, removed the headgear and quickly became one of the most valuable members of the group.

Of course, sometimes we find ourselves working in places where nothing seems to work. At times like these, I turn to the EFL staff room, where teachers commiserate over difficult students, share ideas for dealing with them and if all else fails, my Director of Studies will always step in and sort it out. Having spent three years working in a secondary boarding school where the constant implication from others was one of an undermining “well, these things don’t happen in my classroom”, I have grown to appreciate the predominant trend of support and advice I have come across in EFL. Perhaps I was unlucky with my experience of conventional education but still, now that I have placed myself back in the EFL Patchwork Quilt, I have rediscovered the vibe of camaraderie and support that, for me, is distinctive to this particular environment and which makes working among like minded individuals all the more enjoyable.

Clara Harland is the author of ‘Escape From The Big Green Button’, a novel inspired by her experiences in TEFL.

by Donna Hutchinson
London based TEFL Teacher, @donnatamara

I am rather lucky to work in a school within a college, providing resources aplenty. This week I took advantage of that and decided to film my students doing a presentation. I’d seen other teachers use cameras in their classes but had always stayed away because I wasn’t sure if my classes would take to the idea. Fortunately, by the time I got round to it, it all worked out rather nicely. Hooray for me!

The premise was for the students to write a news presentation as if they themselves were newsreaders/reporters. They had to choose a news story each, put it into their own words and then write a news cast script. This would be filmed and then analysed. First I split the class of 8 into two groups. I did the standard “a, b, a, b, a, b, a, b… hands up if you’re a; hands up if you’re b!” and via this method I’d inadvertently split the class into a group of boys and a group of girls. I suggested revising the group assignments but actually it added a more competitive element to the task. I then made some Anchorman joke (I can quote that film fluently) to the boys but it went straight over their heads of course.

How the lessons panned out

The whole thing spanned three 90 minute lessons which was a pleasant respite from my usual daily panic planning. The first class was spent choosing the right stories and re-writing them; the second class was scriptwriting and filming, and in the third class we watched the presentations back. During the presentation, if the student was watching themselves they would have to complete a self-evaluation but if they were watching another student they had to summarise their on-screen peer’s story in 3 sentences.

What I loved about it is how the addition of the camera really kicked everyone into gear. I hadn’t told them about it and just strolled into class with a camera and tripod under my arm. Some students were a little nervous while others shone in the limelight. It really pushed the students to be more creative and original. Watching the film back we shared a few laughs and it encouraged the students to think more about their language use when they can see themselves.

If you have access to such equipment, I can highly recommend bringing film into your classroom.

by Donna Hutchinson
London based TEFL Teacher, @donnatamara

I must say I’ve been fairly spoilt when it comes to students. I started teaching over a year ago now (something I still find a little unbelievable) and ever since, I have had lovely students. If ever there was a bad apple, there was always 5 other lovely ones as well. Some students who I met last year, as I was starting out have left the school recently making me nostalgic, new students who arrived over the summer have been and still are a pleasure to teach. For the most part, there are students who make laugh, those who fascinate me and those I am happy to see upon entering the classroom.

The bad apples

…But what about those bad apples? They’re out there and every now and then, they crop up. I count myself lucky to work in a school where they are rarity. However, I have unfortunately been contending with some bad apples of late. This is somewhat of a first for me because said apples have been the only two apples in my class this term. This brings the situation much more to the forefront without any other students to dull the pain.

I mean, we can’t like everyone can we? No, of course not. I’m all for peace, love and happiness but we’re merely human and there’s no way we could possibly like everyone we encounter. We tend to spend our time with the people we are partial to when we have the choice. When we can’t, we just have to suck it up and be as civil as possible. This is a fact of life and something we have to deal with as an adult in the work place but how does this affect teaching?

Treating unruly students equally

I recently vented my frustrations in the staff room much to the sympathy of other teachers. I claimed that even though I didn’t exactly have a great rapport with them, I was still teaching them to the best of my ability to which a colleague replied, “you can’t possibly teach students you don’t like to the best of your ability”.

I instantly disagreed with him but I have since mulled it over. Although I still put in the same amount of time and effort into preparing my lessons, I’ve come to realise that perhaps how I interact with them is different and maybe not my best. This is something that must have an effect on their learning and I don’t ever want to hinder that if I can help it, but is that possible? It’s an intriguing question because no one in this story is a bad person and my little head can’t quite get around it.

Basically I’m trying to contend with my natural reaction to a given situation versus my teacher head trying to keep controlled. Surely though, it must work the other way round and not every student could possibly like me and neither do I expect them to but let’s be honest, it certainly does help, doesn’t it?