Job Discussion Forums

[peder]

Does anyone have any personal experience with English summer camps in Italy. Any camps that you recomend or camps that you would stay away from. And how about the overall experience?
Thanks in advance,
Peder

[jnesta1]

I'd recommend doing search of this forum for your topic. It was covered some time in the last year. You're more likely to get an answer.

JJN

[Canedolia]

I worked as a camp tutor for ACLE last summer. There is another thread about them in this forum but I don't know how helpful you'll find it. I personally thought ACLE as a company were OK to work for but they operate all over Italy and the experince can vary hugely from camp to camp. I did three camps and one was terrible, one was all right and one was really good. Some people go back; others drop out after the first week. Be warned, though: even the good camps are incredibly hard work! The organisation of the camps and the tutors was pretty chaotic at times. ACLE don't guarantee how much work they'll give you, and they don't tell you where you're going next until a day or so before you leave. They are upfront about this from the beginning though.

The website for tutors is www.acle.org. If you speak Italian, www.acle.it (the one for parents of campers) might be of interest too. I'd be happy to answer any other questions if you have any.

[tunafish]

Hey peder,

I'm from a small town in the alps Trento

One of the local language school has summer camps.
I worked there two summers.
The pay is reasonable (belive me I've been doing camps for the last 7 years now) food is good, accomodation is good, staff is good (usually)

they have 3 going... two weeks at atime,back to back usually... so you can o all of them or whatever suits you.

The school is CLM (Centro di Lingue Moderne) My mother used to work fo them... they're pretty good.

Don't know the email for them but jsut gogle CLM and whack Trento italy in and I'm sure it'l come up.
The boss is Eugen Joa, German dude, total businessman but a nice guy!

Good luck
Marco

[peder]

Thanks for the help everyone!

[nat_capelli_rossi]

Canedolia, you wrote that you had some positive, and some negative experiences w/ Italian summer camps...could you embellish, and give me an idea of what exactly was so bad a/b them?? More specifically, which camps seemed to have the biggest problems? I've applied for work @ an Italian summer camp, and I want to know what I might be getting myself into!

I applied thru a Canadian organization, called Scotia Personnel http://www.scotia-personnel-ltd.com, and they serve as middlemen between myself and the camps...has anyone had any experience w/ this organization and its affiliated camps?

If I do decide to go, I also have to consider a city camp vs. a rural camp; and location!!!! Decisions, decisions! Any suggestions?

[Andreacanada]

Scotia Personnel I had a job interview with them last year. I remember they actually charged you a fee to work in Italy. Wouldnt take that, you can find plenty of summer camps, maybe not directly through Canada, but in Italy who will hire you through a job interview over the phone. Just search on the net and you will find atleast 5. I worked for a summer camp last year, it was a good experience, but very little outside help from anyone, lack of teaching resources but a experience I will never forget! I think Scotia Personnel is a hiring company, correct me if I am wrong or things have changed since last year. But they definatly told me to work in an Italian summer camp I would have to pay something like 500 Canadian plus my ticket.
Good Luck

[Canedolia]

Well, all the camps I worked for were run by ACLE, so I can't comment on any other organisation, but even within ACLE, my experiences varied a lot. One camp was terrible because we had next to no facilities, the other tutor didn't want to do any work, we were short of a tutor and the camp director was never there. We lived in a disgusting flat and the guy that was supposed to give us money for food didn't even show up until we'd been there for a week. Then we got the blame for the camp being a disaster.

The one I worked at after that was in a country park overlooking the Bay of Naples, the kids spent two hours every day in the swimming pool, the other tutors were great, the camp director invited us to her house and took us on trips at the weekend and the mother of the family I stayed with was a fantastic cook

Both were incredibly hard work but the second one was worth it for the experience and the first one wasn't.

[helensushi]

Hi
I work for a company that organises summer camps here in Italy from June 15th to July 15th. If you would like more information please contact me on [email protected]
It is hard work but a great experience! . Thanks Helen