WHO WE ARE
Velvet School It is a wholly independent private school run by a general manager and a director of studies and supported by an expert team in different fields; education, administration, marketing etc. etc. and it is not a franchise. Our expertise and skills are all resident locally and available to any learner in the school. Over the course of the years Velvet School has become a point of reference not only in Bilbao but witing the province of Vizcaya. The school is member of ACIE and FECEI and is a University of Cambridge ESOL Authorised Centre.
WHAT WE DO
Velvet School teaches English – and many more languages – to all age ranges from Younger Learners to adults in small homogeneous classes. In our School our adults can take general English courses or a wide range of more specialised courses leading to international certifications. We prepare our learners for an extensive range of examinations, which can be found in the section entitled “Certificaciones” The full range of study options is listed in the section called “Cursos” we also provide specific training for company, analyse their needs and fulfill them. Velvet School has a long-established and well founded learner-focused language education policy which is reflected in our Mission Statement below.
OUR TEACHERS
Our teaching team are experienced mother-tongue qualified teachers. We invest in, and train, our staff on a continuous basis. In this way our staff can enjoy employment with continuous professional development which, in turn, provides the learner with the certainty of effective quality teaching.
MISSION STATEMENT – OUR PROFESSIONAL VISION
Our Mission Statement. Our overall aim is to be an internationally recognised centre of excellence and leader in the professional field that provides high quality and affordable English language educational services to a wide range learners of English for Speakers of Other Languages ESOL. Our teaching aims are to help our learners to develop mastery of practical language skills in a stimulating and supportive environment sensitive to their personal growth and to provide them with officially recognised certification of language proficiency. For our staff, our aims are to provide secure employment in a workplace with a strong sense of professional commitment and shared objectives which offers rewarding teaching experience and the opportunity for career advancement through on-going support and development. In order to achieve these aims and maintain standards of excellence, we attach the highest importance to both the quality of the teaching provided and the effective monitoring of thus quality, as Wells as to an attitude of openness towards challenge, innovation and creative change.
LOCATION & BACKGROUND
Where we are
You can find us only in the Basque Country. The contact details for our school are listed below: Velvet School has been teaching English in Bilbao since 1988. The school is located on the first and Fourth floor of a modern building in Calle Simon Bolivar 7. It is a member of ACIE And FECEI – Asociación Española de Academias de Idiomas, the Spanish quality association for language providers: designed to maintain educational standards by protecting both staff and students. It is an Authorised Centre of preparation for Cambridge ESOL.
Velvet School is an equal opportunities employer
Organisation of Academic Management
There is a Director of studies whose job is to coordinate teachers, and give them the support and provide specialist knowledge and support for specific subsets such as Young Learners, Adults, Examinations, Testing and Assessment, ICT, and so on. Teaching staff are assigned a 1:1 link who acts as both a mentor and the first port of call for support and advice. Teachers and their assigned 1:1 link meet on a regular basis.
The Autonomous Region of Basque Country
Bilbao is the main city of the Autonomous Region of Basque Country. It has a population of about 500,000 and is situated on the Cantabrian coast about 80 miles from the France border. It also has the advantage of mountains within easy reach of the city. Swimming and skiing are therefore both easily available. Bilbao usually has comparatively mild winters punctuated by the famous “siri-miri”. Average summer temperatures are in the 25°-30°C range. It’s a really warm and friendly town, a place to walk from home to work, a place where you can have a “pintxo” and a “zurito” with friends while meeting local people. Bilbao has an opera house, theatres among many other attractions but we should point out that the Guggenhem Museum is our most important and internationally renouned symbol.
HOW TO APPLY FOR A TEACHING POST.
Brief background information on teaching posts
Minimum requirements to apply for teaching positions at Velvet School should:
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- English mother tongue or have native speaker competencies in all language skills and eligible for employment in Spain – i.e. EU nationals or holders of a “permiso de residencia por motivos de trabajo”
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- have a degree
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- have a qualification in teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language – Cambridge CELTA or a TESOL Certificate. Preference will be given to candidates who have a PGCE or DELTA
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- have previous relevant experience of teaching EFL, including a period abroad. They should have already taught a range of levels and age groups – previous experience of teaching to Cambridge ESOL examinations and/or young learners is an advantage.
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- be enthusiastic and motivated
Terms of appointment
Teachers appointed in Spain are employed on open-ended contracts with security of tenure (“Trabajador con contratos a tiempo indeterminato/fijo discontinuo”) as provided under the “Spain National Contract”. Their principal duties are to teach English as a foreign language at all levels (A1 – C2) up to Cambridge ESOL Proficiency and sometimes beyond, to all ages from children to teenagers, from adult beginners groups to ESP groups and business courses.
Resources
Syllabuses are thought between commercial course materials and in-house syllabuses which are benchmarked as appropriate to the CEFR, and/or Cambridge ESOL exams, or which relate to examinations from other boards such as Trinity or IELTS. The school uses commercially published course books as “core materials” as well as specially prepared course materials for many of the adults’ courses and some of the children’s courses. The school has a Teachers’ Resource library which will give you an extra support for the preparation of your classes.
Ongoing Training The school places considerable emphasis on continual staff training and development, particularly as it encourages staff to take up careers in EFL. CPD (Continuous Professional Development) is a cornerstone of the school’s ongoing training policy. Teacher development is broadly and supported by 1 to 1 meetings with the Dos, Cambridge Esol exams workshops, motivation and class control seminars etc. inside and within our School.
Somos tu academia de inglés en Bilbao
Velvet School es una academia de inglés en Bilbao, situada en pleno centro de la villa y que lleva más de 30 años enseñando inglés a niños, jóvenes, mayores y empresas de Bilbao y Bizkaia.
