Academia Britanica (AB) is the birthplace of International House, which was set up in Cordoba in 1953 by John and Brita Haycraft and in Huelva by Eulogio Cremades in 1968. Since then, Academia Britanica (AB) has been striving to offer the best teaching and learning environment possible for teachers and students. We offer quality assurance not only under the IH banner, but also under ACEIA, the Spanish association for quality language schools of which we are a founder member. This means that you can rely on being treated fairly and professionally if you work for us.
As well as the opportunities within the AB schools, working at an International House school also gives you the chance to find work more easily in over 150 quality IH schools worldwide with the International House teacher transfer system.
Academia Britanica Huelva has around 20 employees and approximately 1,000 students, and the school building is situated right in Huelva city centre, just a short walk from the main square, in attractive, purpose-built premises distributed on two floors. The classrooms are bright and modern and equipped with PCs, projectors and Interactive Whiteboards.
Living in Huelva
Huelva is an attractive modern-looking city, although it has its historical roots in the voyages of Christopher Columbus and its picturesque old churches and monasteries, including El Rocio, the site of an annual pilgrimage and funfair. Just a bit further down the coast lies Doñana National Park, with its spectacular sand-dunes and amazing opportunities to see rare migratory birds. Things that attract teachers to Huelva include the wonderful food (with seafood a speciality), the close proximity of some of the finest sandy beaches in Spain (Atlantic Ocean) and the fact that it’s a very friendly and inexpensive place to live, with many cultural events during the year.
Job Information
As well as a competitive salary package and the security of working at an IH school, one of the key attractions we offer teachers is the chance to develop their teaching.
International House prides itself on its in teacher development, and IH Huelva has always made this a high priority. The weekly in-house seminars are based on our three main development ‘threads’: Teaching Younger Learners, Using IT in the Classroom and Preparing Cambridge Exam Classes. There are 3 Directors of Studies per school (Adults, Teens and YLs), and teachers get regular observation and monthly meetings with them, so there are plenty of opportunities for them to give you help and support. In addition, there is the chance to peer observe very experienced teachers, internal teaching conferences organised between the 3 schools and encouragement to go to external conferences (e.g. ACEIA). A number of our teachers have the DELTA qualification and are conference speakers too. The schools are Cambridge Examining Centre ES030, and this means that there is a greater chance to train up to be a Cambridge Speaking Examiner for both main suite exams (KET, PET, FCE, CAE & CPE) and YLE (Starters, Movers & Flyers).
As well as using textbooks in nearly all our classes, our schools are strongly committed to using the latest technology in the language classroom: all classrooms are fitted with PCs, projector and IWBs and there is an online ‘Moodle’ platform for students, teachers and school admin (Acabri Campus) which provides us with a tool to share the huge range of teaching materials which is now available both in-house and through IH. Using IT in the Classroom is one of our main ‘development threads’ and there are regular training sessions and ideas swaps to support teachers in their use of IT.
International House has a wide range of online seminars and also runs online courses which are available to IH teachers at a 50% discount, the most popular of which are the courses in Online Tutoring (COLT), Advanced Methodology (CAM) and Teacher Training. See http://ihworld.com/online-training for full details.
Requirements
We are interested in receiving applications from teachers who are outgoing, love teaching all ages and like to make learning an effective, fun experience for the students. The minimum requirement is a ‘B’ grade in the CELTA certificate and we prefer teachers with experience in teaching Younger Learners and Cambridge exam classes.
The position involves working with children on a daily basis, and teachers are now required by European law to apply for (1) the Spanish Police Certificate for working with children and (2) the ICPC (UK Police Check for working with minors) – or the equivalent from other home countries. It will be an advantage if potential teachers have the latter certificate from their home country already.
Quality is the byword at AB, and so we expect teachers to dedicate time to class preparation and be adaptable and enthusiastic. It is essential, too, for them to be able to create an atmosphere in class which is conducive to learning and have a friendly rapport with the students.
Teachers who work at AB always comment on how it has helped them progress professionally, especially in our three main areas of expertise, Using IT in the Classroom, teaching Younger Learners, and teaching Cambridge Exam classes.
If you are interested in working with us, please send a CV and Covering Letter to yvonne@acabri.com or info-huelva@acabri.com
You can also check out our other school (in Cordoba)
