General information

•  The school has about 500 students and 16 teachers.
•  We operate a system of tandem teaching – most groups are taught once a week by a native speaker teacher and once a week by a Polish English teacher. In our experience we find that the two types of teacher complement each other and the two teachers can rely on each other for help and support. It’s also useful for teachers to be able to compare their impressions of the students with each other. We currently employ 9 full-time native speaker teachers and 9 part-time Polish English teachers.

Curriculum and syllabus

•  There is a comprehensive curriculum and syllabus for the school’s courses. The relevant documents for each course are at the front of the register for easy reference.
•  All courses work from a coursebook set by the school. Teachers will receive a full set of materials for each course: coursebook, workbook, teachers’ book and CDs/cassettes.

Types of courses

•  Younger learners (from the age of 8 years old)
• Teens
•  Adults 
• Exam preparation courses for University of Cambridge exams – FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate in Advanced English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English).
• Premium Centre courses for business people and individual students. Classes are held both in the school and off-site.

Organisation of courses

• Nearly all courses take place over the academic year for 9 months from October to June. Students have 2 lessons of 90 minutes each per week so 3 hours each week altogether. There are 30 weeks of teaching meaning that the courses last for 90 clock hours in total.
• The courses are run from Monday to Friday in three ‘slots’: 15.30-17.00, 17.15-18.45 and 19.00 to 20.30 and on Saturday mornings 09.00-10.30 and 10.45-12.15. Teachers who work on Saturday morning get the whole of Monday free. Premium centre courses are run at various times of the day including early morning.
• The academic year is divided into two semesters: October to January and February to June. All students are tested at the end of each semester. Teachers write reports on the students’ progress twice a year and the students receive a certificate at the end of the course.
• There is normally a maximum of 12 students in each group, although, some groups may have up to 13 students in special circumstances.

Ages and levels system

• Students are placed into one of ten levels when joining a course – from beginner level to proficiency. Their level is checked carefully when they register with a comprehensive placement test and interview.
• Students are taught in 4 age groups: 8-9 years old, 10-12 years old, 13-15 years old and 16+.