WHETHER YOU ARE JUST STARTING IN TEFL OR ALREADY AN ESTABLISHED TEACHER, GAIN THE RANGE OF EXPERIENCE YOU NEED, BUILD YOUR TEACHING SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS AT LORD BYRON COLLEGE, DEDICATED TO QUALITY TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1972

Lord Byron College was founded forty-eight years ago and is now one of the largest private language schools in Italy, with a staff of over fifty native English teachers in addition to native speaker teachers of French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Arabic and Italian as a Foreign Language. computer instructors and dubbing experts. With nearly 2,000 students of all ages, levels and backgrounds attending every year, teachers, both new and established are given the unique opportunity to gain valuable experience with an incredible range of courses , including every imaginable type of programme from Young Learners and nine level fluency building to exam preps for all major certifications, English for Special Purposes and intensive one to ones. Our school has built up an excellent reputation in Italy and the rest of Europe thanks to its proven commitment to high standards of professional teaching, competitive fees and free access to a varied programme of supplementary activities. As a learning organisation, our stated mission is “top quality low cost training for the personal and professional development of our students and staff”: our school has always been committed to our own teachers’ professional development through our programme of free in house training both for starting teachers and more experienced teachers, with our free in-house teacher development course and free DELTA Diploma course. We are looking for motivated and career minded EFL teachers, with degree, European Union passport, TEFL qualification and teaching experience for employment for the seven-month period from January to July 2020 with possibility of extension. Unfortunately we cannot consider applicants who do not have a European Union passport if you are career minded, able to work well in a team situation, and interested in upgrading your skills, experience and qualifications fast we offer an exceptional opportunity for professional and personal development in a supportive, professional environment.

LOCATION
Lord Byron College is located on the main pedestrian precinct in the centre of Bari, the regional capital of Apulia, a dynamic city of 600,000 people on the South Adriatic coast. Apulia is the Italian region with the cleanest sea and the longest coastline in the country. Bari is large enough to offer a variety of places to go to but small enough to move around in easily: it has the third largest university in Italy and hosts several important international trade fairs each year. The city boasts a lively, picturesque medieval old town with more than eighty pubs, restaurants and bars, and a well-equipped public beach and lido four kilometres long within walking distance of the city centre. Our region has some of the mildest weather in Italy and many interesting towns and places of interest just a short train journey from the city. Bari is less expensive than most Italian capital cities. A full meal with wine is under 15 euro and transportation costs are also very reasonable. For further information on our city and region, see:

• www.comune.bari.it
• www.apulia.com
• www.pugliaturismo.com/Inglese/default.asp

SCHOOL PREMISES AND QUALIFICATIONS
Our school is authorised by MIUR, the Italian Ministry of Education and since 1996 has been the only language school in Southern Italy accredited as a full member of EAQUALS, the leading professional association for language education throughout the world (www.eaquals.org) with membership restricted to schools passing rigorous regular inspections. Our ongoing commitment to teacher development is evidenced by the fact that for seven years we were course provider and test centre for the Trinity College London TESOL Licentiate Diploma for teachers of English as a foreign language and, for the past ten years, for the Cambridge English DELTA Diploma. We are also one of the largest authorised test centres in Italy for the entire range of the UCLES examinations-Cambridge Young Learners, KET, PET, First Certificate, Cambridge Advanced, Proficiency and Business English Certificate (www.ucles.org.uk) as well as preparatory centre for all certifications for major European languages. Lord Byron College is the only language school in Italy accredited as test centre for the three major international certifications–Cambridge English and IELTS both paper based and computer delivered and has been a testing centre for the American TOEFL examinations for over thirty years (www.ets.org/toefl). We are also authorised test centre for the SAT examinations and for the European Computer Driving License (www.ecdl.com).

In 2005, our school opened the first dubbing school and professional dubbing centre for film and television in South Italy, with year round courses taught by qualified experts in the field for future film and tv dubbers, voice over experts and film and tv translators and adaptors. Our dubbing centre has already made a name for itself, working on various important projects including Italian versions of award winning Irish short films, English versions of a children’s series for the national RAI television network, multilingual versions of historical documentaries and medical training courses and voice over, audiobooks for the blind and dubbing for well known Italian director Sergio Rubini’s film L’Uomo Nero. Seeing this exciting technique as an ideal vehicle for deepening language awareness and building motivation, during the school year, Lord Byron College gives all its language students (and teachers!) the opportunity to take part free of charge in a recorded voiceover dubbing session in the dubbing booth. And some of our own teachers have been trained to add their voices to some of our dubbing centre’s professional productions as well!

COURSE PROGRAMMES
Southern Italians are sociable and friendly, and make teaching a stimulating and dynamic experience. As a large well-established school, we have an incredibly broad spectrum of course programmes tailored for all ages and levels, from very young children and young adults to professionals and older adults, attending intensive and extensive individual and group General English courses ( normally 5-10 students), mainly in house but also tailor made ESP courses for various companies, government offices, the Air Force and Army as well as some PON (European Union Funded Projects for Southern Italian State Schools) courses in state schools, the majority of which are leading to Cambridge exam qualifications. We cover the full range of levels recognised by the Council of Europe, from absolute beginner children to courses for professional translators and interpreters beyond Cambridge Proficiency level. Courses normally work from a set syllabus focusing on oral/aural fluency, including regular progress tests and ending with certification according to the European framework. There is a main course book from one of the major ELT publishers and suggested resources for each level. We actively encourage our students to make full use of our well equipped self access centre, where they have free access to all the numerous facilities in the study centre mentioned above, and can also choose to do an extra twenty hour group course focusing on exam skills, Business English, Mastering Oral Skills in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Computer skills, and, for children and teens, making their own movie in English, all completely free of charge.

CONDITIONS
We are currently interviewing for full time teaching positions for the 7 month period from January to July 2020 with the possibility of extension.
Teachers are contracted for a maximum of 29.5 hours a week. Included in these hours are all teaching hours, stand by on call hours and 1.5-2 hours paid training hours per week. We are one of the few if not the only language school anywhere that budgets into the weekly school timetable 50 standby on call hours, the equivalent of two full time teachers, so each time slot has a teacher available in case of an illness or need to cover, without needing to call a teacher to come in at the last minute. We do lessons from Monday to Friday from 930am to 945pm and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. Lessons are set out set out in blocks of around five hours a day spread out rationally from Monday to Friday and on Saturday mornings, mainly on the school premises but with some hours in state school afternoon PON projects. Teachers teaching Saturday mornings will not start on Mondays before 2pm. teachers will normally have a mix of group and individual lessons, with groups normally no larger than 10 students. With 35 classrooms and 12 levels we are able to insure a high degree of level uniformity in our groups.
All staff meetings, DELTA and teacher development training meetings and standby “on call” hours are seen as normal paid working hours and are counted as part of this weekly total. Teachers doing Teacher Development training sessions have one 90 minute meeting per week. DELTA course participants have one two-hour meeting per week.
SALARY AND BENEFITS
For the period indicated, starting salary for teachers is 1,100 euro per month net, with salaries paid monthly in arrears on the 5th of each month on either UK or Italian contracts. Additional travel time compensation is calculated for courses in the outlying city suburbs and outside of the city as normal hourly pay, and these teachers are also reimbursed for all documented bus or train expenses required to reach these locations. In addition, teachers who take part in the two-year DELTA training programme receive an additional bonus or 400 euro at the end of their second year if they successfully complete all three modules; if they decide to stay on for a third year, they will also receive an increase in salary and be reimbursed for the DELTA exam fees.
INDUCTION : All teachers participate in a full induction programme during their first week at school before starting teaching, during which our senior staff present all aspects of the school and lead focus groups aimed at team building and preparing for the first week of school together. Teachers arriving in January will receive a 200 euro travel bonus upon successful completion of their contract in July.
CAMBRIDGE EXAMINERS: Lord Byron College is one of the largest test centres for Cambridge English in Italy, with over 3,000 candidates tested by our team of Cambridge speaking examiners both on the premises and in state schools throughout the year. All of our teachers are trained up as invigilators for these examinations, and those with three years’ teaching experience and CELTA or equivalent are also trained up as Cambridge Speaking Examiners, receiving an International Cambridge examiner code number that remains with them permanently and a special salary rate for all oral examining which is equivalent to more than double the normal hourly teaching rate. Although there are sessions running throughout the year, our Cambridge speaking examiners are particularly busy with examinations during the months of May and June, with most taking home a sizeable bonus packet for these examining hours at the end of June.
UK nationals are on UK contracts with all benefits transferable to the UK. Non UK nationals sign Italian contracts.
We offer the following package of paid holidays: January 1st to January 6th, January 27th to 30th, February 24th to 26th, April 9th to 15th, April 25th, May 1st and June 2nd.
Recognising the important role of L1 in a learner-based programme of teaching (and the need to integrate quickly into the new environment), our school also gives all teachers the opportunity to participate free of charge in a course of Italian once a week throughout the school year.
Ryanair and Easyjet fly direct from the UK to Bari, and Alitalia and British Airways also have regular flights. All UK teachers need to bring their European Health card and passport.
ACCOMMODATION ASSISTANCE
Bari is a university city, and decent accommodation at reasonable rates is not always easy to find. We have managed to establish and maintain a good rapport with local landlords over the years, and for all new teachers we find centrally located accommodation in single rooms sharing furnished flats a short walking distance from the school at monthly rates of about 260 euro plus shared water, gas, condominium and electricity costs, with the possibility of extending into the summer months at the same rate., or a limited number of studio flats at around 400-450 euro monthly plus bills. Contracts are signed with the landlord directly by the teachers and require teachers to make payment of first month plus refundable damage deposit equal to one month’s rent at beginning of stayor alternatively payment of the first and final month when moving in.
IN-HOUSE TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Our mission gives equal importance to in house training for both students and teachers. We want our teachers’ stay with Lord Byron College to be rewarding and memorable and to give them the experience they need to move ahead in their teaching career. Regardless of their TEFL experience, all of our teachers are given the opportunity and encouragement to improve their skills in a supportive learning environment with a carefully planned training programme as an integral part of their teaching week. Teachers use widely recognised coursebooks and have free internet access, as well as access to a large selection of TEFL resource books, supplementary course books and materials, a library of over 200 TEFL methodology books and TEFL journals, and receive ongoing support from our Directors of Studies and senior teachers, many of whom gained their DELTA Diplomas through our own in house courses. Teachers have ebook versions of all course books, mp3 players for audio material and most classrooms are equipped with projectors. There are regular observation, tutorial and feedback sessions and great attention is paid to new teachers’ progress throughout the school year. The school invests in training programmes for all of our teachers. Training sessions are in all cases seen as paid working hours, carefully integrated into the working week, and graded according to the experience and needs of the teacher. At the end of their Lord Byron experience, all of our teachers, regardless of their initial level of experience, the skills, acquire the creative skills, knowledge and confidence to move ahead in their chosen career, backed up by a solid reference from one of the largest and most well established language institutions in Europe.

TEACHER TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

1) For newly qualified teachers and teachers with fewer than 2000 hours teaching experience:

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE
For teachers starting their careers in TEFL, our school offers a practical and involving programme of teacher development– plenary and focus group meetings and training sessions, guided individual planning, supportive observation sessions, feedback meetings and peer observation–designed to help the new teacher improve teaching skills and gain confidence in the classroom. This preparatory course runs on Friday mornings straight through the school year and aims to give newly qualified teachers the confidence and skills to handle any course situation, and teachers with one or two years experience the practical and theoretical skills to bridge the gap between Certificate standards and those required to start a Diploma course. At the same time this programme gives our teachers valuable input and provides a forum to exchange ideas and experiences in a supportive and constructive environment. If these teachers have acquired the necessary skills and expertise they can then apply to start the Diploma course in the following year.
Teachers who wish to add to their present qualifications can also join our free in house three module TKT course leading to the Cambridge TKT certification (http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/tkt), for which our school is an accredited test centre, paying only the exam fees.

2) For teachers with at least three academic years’ teaching experience:

CAMBRIDGE DELTA MODULAR DIPLOMA COURSE
For over two decades, our school has been a recognised preparation and examination centre for internationally recognised Diploma examinations, which are held at our school each year. Our school makes a sizeable investment annually to run this course each year. The modular DELTA course extends over a two school year period and includes 120 training hours in addition to guided self study, written assignments and observation . The course, which is recognised by Cambridge English, has been created in strict accordance with Cambridge DELTA specifications in a series of weekly workshops, seminars, lectures, study groups and tutorials designed to help our teachers bridge the important gap between Certificate and Diploma teaching standards and successfully complete all parts of the Diploma qualification by the end of their second year. Teachers are chosen each year to take part in the DELTA course on the basis of an entry examination and interview and over the years we have seen dozens of our teachers move from entry level teaching experience to DELTA qualifications, many achieved with Merit and Distinction.

The cost for external participants in the DELTA course is €2,400 excluding exam fees, which is what the course costs our school to run for each teacher taking part in the course. Those of our teachers chosen to take part in this in-house DELTA training course do so completely free of charge with all weekly DELTA meetings also calculated as working hours. As mentioned above, all Diploma meetings, scheduled observation sessions and feedback encounters with observers and trainers are calculated as paid working hours as part of the normal working week. Teachers who successfully complete the 120 hour course and all of the written assignments can register for the DELTA examinations and are required to pay only the examination fees. Teachers who pass the DELTA examinations and stay on with the Lord Byron College for a third school year during which they are also involved in teacher development and mentoring will be receive an increase in salary, a bonus of 400 euro, reimbursement of their DELTA exam fees and can apply to train to become DELTA trainers themselves.

We are the only language school in Europe (and quite likely anywhere else) to offer our own teachers this unique opportunity and, in spite of the considerable costs and time involved, we are committed to this programme because we believe in the importance of professional development and training for our teachers, to help them move ahead in their careers.

Only 5% of all EFL teachers have a Diploma qualification, because the costs of this certification are beyond the reach of most EFL teachers. It is not possible to prepare for the DELTA solely by distance learning so teachers either need to take time off work and pay a large amount of money for a rushed, five week course with the added costs of accommodation in England, or else find work near enough to a recognised Diploma training centre and do a part time course over at least a year, again paying for an equally expensive programme, usually on their own with little or no support.

Our teachers are given the unique opportunity to prepare for the DELTA qualification free of charge, over a period of two academic years, in a supportive working environment, without having to take time off or pay expensive accommodation and course fees. They have access to a complete TEFL theory resource library and can take full advantage of being part of a team preparing for the examination together. Results our teachers have achieved reflect this advantage: we have been congratulated on more than one occasion by external examiners for the standards achieved by our candidates, and we have had a very high pass rate over the past seven years. Fifty-five of our teachers, many of them with little or no teaching experience when they started us, have so far successfully completely exam requirements for their Diploma qualification, several with distinction.

These teachers have since taken full advantage of the benefits of being part of the small percentage of DELTA qualified EFL teachers by being able to choose from top tier TEFL positions–both teaching and management–both with British Council and in prominent schools in the UK and abroad as full time teachers in both private and state sectors, directors of studies, centre managers, senior teachers and teacher trainers, as well as careers in publishing, human resources and in a whole range of private and government positions, aided by a solid teaching background in our internationally recognised language institution and the DELTA qualification .

As a teaching and learning organisation, our school is committed to helping all our teachers, whether starting out or experienced, to upgrade their professional skills and further their careers by insuring a productive and practical training and learning environment as an integral part of their period of employment with our school.

AN EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
written comments from some of our teachers over the years:
“”
“I received my DELTA results – a PASS on Module 3 and a PASS with Merit on Module 2! …I would like to extend my gratitude to you for offering this opportunity. As a result, more doors have been opened in terms of employment and I am seeing what my options are here in Canada and abroad….Reflecting on my experiences at my time at Lord Byron has reiterated the fact that very few other schools (especially in Toronto) offer any professional development at all. Thank you for seeing the value in helping your teachers grow. I sincerely appreciate all that you have done for me. ” Celine D.
“I’d like to thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work in Lord Byron. During my time there I met so many fantastic people and I learned so many things, not only on a professional level but also on a personal level. It is, without a doubt, an experience that will stay with me forever.” Lena M.
“I’m extremely grateful for all of the opportunities that I was afforded whilst working at your school. After just two years , I’m now a Cambridge speaking examiner with what I hope will be a future in EAP teaching thanks to the DELTA that you provided for me.” Terry S.
“It’s been a pleasure working for you and the experience and
qualifications I’ve had the opportunity to get have been priceless. Thank you. ” Sarah W.
“Thank you for your continual support and trust in me.” Jessica F.
“I’ve learnt a lot about teaching and about myself. “Kirsty S.
“Thank you for a great year. It has been a fantastic experience for me.” Aileen F.
“My experience at Lord Byron has helped put my future teaching career on the right track”. Julie G
“Thank you for all of the opportunities provided, particularly the pre Diploma course and the Italian lessons. I’m sure that all I have learnt here will be of great use in the future.” Sarah M.
“I have enjoyed my time here tremendously and found Lord Byron College to be a well run and very professional school” James E
“I will recommend this school to anyone who should express an interest in teaching in Italy and developing as a teacher” Samuel D
“This year has provided me with valuable experience and enabled me to develop and enhance my own teaching skills within a friendly and supportive environment.” Joanna S.
“I had a great experience and will miss it. I am especially grateful for the chance to study for the DELTA and Cambridge exams, but most of all I will miss the wonderful people–both staff and students.” Laura L.

Congratulations
to our teachers who received their DELTA qualification in 2019: Edwina Laycock and Celine DeAlmeida; our teachers who received their DELTA qualification in 2017: Rowena Smith, Lucy Shakespeare, Francesca Berlen, Kate Taylor (Pass with Merit Module Two) and Gillian Scott; to Malachy Byrne who passed Module Two with Merit and Sebastian Shead who passed Module Two with Distinction, both in 2018;
and to all our teachers who have taken part in our Cambridge DELTA course over the past eleven years and received their DELTA qualification, many with merit and distinction : Steven Cameron, Catherine Spiers, Alice Kilpatrick, Terry Scott, Alison McKay , Caroline Collier, Khara Burgess, Rachael Jones. Rachel Jeffries, Benedict Reekes , Brooke Fleming, Rhiannon Fitzgerald, Sarah Wordsworth. Nicky Martin, Rachel Applegate, Jenan Ismail, Malcolm Davies, Katy Crowson, Jacosta VonAchten, Mark Elliott, Stephen Howard, Zoe Robson, Laura Gerrard, Alison Millar, Sarah Morse, Laura Laubache , Becky Wright , Rebecca Palmer, Caroline Oakley, Amy Spearman, Kiri Wood, Jonathan Ingham , Pippa Simmons, Lucy Nicholls , Melanie Drake, Niamh Finn, Naomi Rabin, Natasha Arain and Beatrice Shelley.
We are very proud of all of you!
and congratulations
to former teachers Lucy Nicholls for her British Council senior appointment in the Far East, Mark Brooke (Diploma qualified at our school) on his teaching appointment with British Council, Hong Kong , Rachel Applegate for her London DOS posting, Jenan Ismail, who completed her PGCE course in England, Mark Elliott and Jacosta VonAchten for their teaching posting and acceptance for her Masters programme at Bilkent University, Ankara, and Natasha Arain, Sarah Forbes and Rachel Jeffries for their new careers in EFL publishing in London, Madrid and Dubhai . Well done everyone!

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