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[naturegirl321]

Here's some info that I came across on Fleming College. keepwalking and Luna Chica work here so if you have more questions, PM them

Fleming College

Here's some details on Fleming college. We are a bi-lingual college for 1-17 year olds and in total we have about 650 kids here. The villa, or kindergarten, is in the school grounds but run separately. That's the 1-5 year olds, who are in small age-based groups and they just play and sing and do fun stuff like stick their fingers up their noses. They speak Spanish but are exposed to English through songs and games.

In primary we have 6 grades, with two classes in each grade. A typical class size is around 20-25. The lowest grades (1 and 2) also have classroom assistants who are Peruvians who speak English. Those kids take the Cambridge exams, Starters, Movers and Flyers. As they get further into primary, 5th and 6th grade, they also take KET and PET. They have to have PET to graduate in 5th year and this will increase to FCE in years to come (next year possibly). Kids take the exam when they are ready - as their class teacher you recommend them for each exam and they then go to after-school classes to prepare.

In secondary we have 5 year groups. Some are two classes per year, some are one larger class. The average class size is around 25 but we have one monster group of 34. Netx year they will be split for English so that won't matter. In secondary classes they take PET, FCE and CAE. We have had two studetns pass CPE but we don't encourage them to enter because it is a more adult exam. CAE is fine for their purposes. In fourth year they also take IGCSE's in IT, Science, History and Maths. These are British qualifications modified for an international context but taken in English. We are considering adding a IGCSE that the English department would teach to that list. That is a future project.

The English department also has responsibility for teaching History/Geography/Social Studies - the exact combination depends on year group being taught. The subject is taught and assessed in English and the content is a mixture of Peruvian, British, worldwide history/geography.

We don't use a course book in secondary. In primary we use Step Up 1-6. The books are not used exclusively. They act as a skeleton for teachers to build their courses around. We also have a curriculum for each year, very much in its infancy as I wrote it at the end of last year!

In secondary we pick a theme and design lessons around that theme. Each theme tends to last about half a bimester - 4-5 weeks. So for example, I am doing animal rights with my Year 2 group. They range from pre-PET to preparing for FCE. We have researched endangered animals and produced leaflets about them, we've written and performed speeches about vivisection, done loads of reading comprehension work on newspaper articles, watched videos about factory farming and they are currently designing a menu for a Peruvian vegetarian restaurant, which will end in them preparing the food and feeding me for a week! With an advanced group I've been loking at the English language, asking what is this language we are learning. We've investigated differences between the ways men and women speak, looked at how the language has evolved from Chaucer, the influence of other languages, globalisation, how children learn language etc. This is culminating in them writing an article for a magazine with the title what is this language we are learning, choosing any theme we have studied or that interests them within the field of linguistics.

The beauty of the secondary approach is that you can tailor lessons to your students. The biggest challenge is dealing with the range of abilities. I have had groups where one student had never been in a bi-lingual school before, 3 or 4 had learning difficulties which impeded their language skills and 2 were born in the US and were practically native speakers. It can be tough to deal with all the needs.

Behaviour is no challenge at all. We have occasionally disruptive kids but the biggest difficulty is over-enthusiasm and the Peruvian desire to do everything as loudly as possible! They can get nosiy, but it is positive noise.

The lessons here are 45 minutes long. Each day the kids have 8 45 minute
lessons, many of which are doubles (so 90 minutes) All English lessons are doubles. Most year groups have English every day, a few have it 4 times a week. They also have other lessons in English but delivered by subject specialists, not the English department.

The teaching load is 30x45minute lessons a week, or 15 doubles. That usually means you have 3 different classes although some teachers also teach history etc and so have 2 English classes and 5 history classes who they see once a week. We try to organise the timetable so that you teach two classes in the same year group and so can prepare one course which you deliver twice. Or we try to pair up teachers who plan the courses together and then teach their own class.

In addition to teaching, you may have tutor responsibilities, although we try to avoid this in the first year of your contract. This means you take registration with your tutor group at the start of each day and see them off at the end of the day. You also keep an eye on their progress etc - kind of like home room in the states I'm told! You also have an additional 45 minute lesson a week where you teach 'values'. This uses a text book which is in Spanish.

All teachers also have to attend meetings after school although we try to keep these short - if there's nothing to discuss, there's no meeting. There's also parent evenings once a bimester. Parents can also request an appointment with you during the week - you have a nominated time on your timetable when you are available and they have to turn up then.

There's also extra-curricular activities, stuff after school like sports etc. These are voluntary but there's an unwritten expectation that all teachers will do something for one bimester each year. In the English dept we tend to get round this because we offer exam classes after school for those students entering the Cambridge exams. We do that in the 6 weeks before the exam, once class a week.

The school day runs from 7.30-2.40. We are in school from 7.15. It's Monday to Friday and every 9 weeks you get one week off, paid. You also get 3 weeks in July for Fiestas Patrias and about 6-8 weeks in December/January. All holidays are paid. You also get the CTS bonus payments in July and December so each year you get 14 months pay. Salary is paid in dollars and depends on your experience and qualifications - between $700 and $900 basically. The killer is the tax but I guess that you wouldn't have to pay the 'gringo' rates now you've been here a while. IN the first year our newbies get hammered, but it is more civilised after that. You also get health insurance.

There's a website at www.fleming.edu.pe if you want to see pictures of smiley kids.

[Luna Chica]

Great info Keepwalking. I would like to add my tuppence worth too. Fleming is a great school to work in. The headmaster is very positive and helpful and just a little bit mad, which I love.

I teach grade 5 and 6 in primary. The kids are wonderful. They even ask me for more projects. What is up with that? I have a lot of fun with them. There are some small management issues - they like to move around and shout out. But management issues are so slight, they barely rate a mention and are in no way unique to Fleming.

For anyone interested in teaching at Fleming in the future though, I would suggest that you need to be a passionate teacher to enjoy working here. This is a school not an institute. You need to love kids and love teaching, not just have a will to live in Peru and travel around.

My little boy is starting school here in a couple of weeks. And I am thrilled, because I would be hard pressed to find a better school forhim here or even in Australia (where we are from).

There will probably be positions available in 2008. SO anyone wanting any background should PM me or keepwalking. (she is the big cheese, I am just a lackey.)