IH Prague - Akcent | School profiles | Recruitment

Director: Radmila Prochazkova

DoS: Helena Linkova

School and town profile:
Situated in the very centre of Europe, Prague is a lively and exciting city. Few cities of its size (1.2 million people) can match it for the variety of cultural experiences it offers (opera, theatre, film, exhibitions). It is also famous for its architectural beauty and the quality of its many restaurants and bars.

The School
The main school is situated about 10 minutes by metro south of the centre of the city. It consists of 20 bright classrooms, all with OHP, video and MP3 facilities and large whiteboards. We have a large teachers' with a reference library and computers with internet access and a computer room to be used with classes.In the adjoining Teacher Training Centre, with CELTA, DELTA, TKT and other TT courses running all the year round, there is a well-stocked library and a cafÃ©. We also teach in Benesov, which is 35 km south of Prague. We employ about 90 teachers, two-thirds of whom are native speakers. We have about 3000 students 60% of whom are adults. Slightly more than half our teaching is in-company and half in-school. Most of the in-company teaching involves English for Work. Our school is strongly committed to teacher development and we run an extensive programme of workshops and seminars. We are the only school in the country offering both DELTA and CELTA coursesas well as the CELTA YL extension course. We also run the IHCYL and IHBET courses.

Contract dates:
Possible start dates:
26th August 2010, with teaching starting on 1st September or
29th September 2010, with teaching starting on 1st October
Possible end of contract:
30th June 2011/ 31 July 2011

Hours:
For the full year the contract is approximately for 1100 (45 minute) teaching hours. This comes to 26.5 (45 minute) hours a week on average, this equals 21 clock hours.

Holidays:
25 days per calendar year, which is 2.1 days per each complete calendar month worked. School holidays include Christmas; and there are about 10 Czech public holidays in a year. Out of the annual allottment the teachers can take up to 6 days of holiday between September and June. The remaining holidays can be taken in summer or can be paid out at the end of the contract.

Accommodation:
In shared flats with basic furnishings. The school covers the cost. The school can assist teachers in finding single accommodation but this is usually more expensive and teachers generally have to supplement the cost from their salary.

Number of Students:
approximately 3000

Breakdown of Students:
60% adults. Approximately 50% in-company. Most of the in-company teaching involves English for Work. Approximately 1000 young learners.

Number of teachers:
90 English teachers, 8 German teachers and 12 of other languages (French, Spanish and Czech).

Facilities:
20 bright classrooms, all with OHP, MP3 and video facilities and large whiteboards. We have a teachers' room with computers and internet access and a computer room with internet access. There is a cafÃ© situated in the nextdoor teacher training centre and a well-stocked library.

Future Developments:
As a newly established centre for Cambridge exams we are working on increasing numbers of students wishing to take one of the exams.

We are also interested in projects that focus on improving teaching standards in the country. So far we have been involved in many of them.

Main Activities:
Classes include: intensive 20-hour a week courses; 4-hour a week standard courses; company classes (English for Work, business English and exam preparation, including one-to-ones and also short intensive courses either at the school or off-site); exam preparation (the full range of Cambridge ESOL exams); and YL courses. We also teach German, Czech, French, Spanish and Russian.

Notes on Contract:
Teachers must have CELTA (or equivalent) and preferably some experience
Visas:
Employing EU citizens is very easy. Non-EU citizens can only be employed if they have the Czech work visa. Getting this visa is a long, bureaucratic process which has to be started in the home country of the applicant.
Teachers must bring with them the original of their teaching and degree (if they have one) certificates and have a passport valid for a further 15-months once they have entered the Czech Republic.

Useful Info:
The school is owned as a co-operative with all the owners being employees of the school (anyone can apply to join after 2 years service). We feel that this makes a difference in the atmosphere and makes the school more teacher centred (the majority of the owners being teachers themselves). The post is hard work and since teaching happens mostly in the mornings (between 07.30 and 10.00) and in the evenings (between 16.00 and 20.30) split shifts are a normal part of working life and can be tiring. The school provides great support both in terms of extensive resources and a of highly qualified management team to give individual support to teachers. Less experienced teachers will often find that they get as much help informally from colleagues in the staffroom. There are also about 16 seminars/workshops offered each semester which teachers can select to go to. At the beginning of the year there is a 4-day induction so that teachers get the chance to get to know the school, the procedures and each other. We believe that it is a very friendly place to work with and the management prides itself on being open and approachable. Apart from being unusually beautiful, Prague also has a lot to offer in terms of social life from opera, classical music and exhibitions to eating out and clubbing. They are also more affordable on a teacher's salary than is the case in most western European cities. The city is also quite a safe place (though pick-pocketing is common in the tourist centre) and has possibly the best transport system in Europe. There is also a lot to see in the Czech Republic and travelling around by train or bus relatively inexpensive.