The school
St. James English School opened in 1995 and primarily teaches English as a foreign language, although it also provides supplementary classes for high school subjects such as English, Spanish Language and Maths. The school has 2 centres, the original in Ciudad Expo and a newer one in Mairena Centro. Some classes are also conducted offsite, in primary schools and businesses. St. James belongs to the following professional organizations:
- ACEIA (the association of language schools in Andalusia).
- The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate Committee for PET.
- KET and CYLET exams.
- Trinity College Registered Examination Centre.
Location
The schools are located in a busy suburb of Seville called Mairena del Aljarafe and are easily accessible from the city. The metro which opened in March 2009 stops outside the main school and is also on many bus routes which come from different areas of the city.
Facilities
The schools have:
- Classrooms with equipment such as interactive whiteboards, cd / cassette players and air conditioning.
- A teachers' resource room with a library of supplementary material and teacher training resource books, computers with broadband Internet access,wifi access, a photocopier, a projector and laptop for classroom use, an OHP, a video camera and a digital voice recorder.
- Equipped kitchen for staff use.
- A reception area with a student lending library of books, videos and magazines.
Staff
Currently there are 13 EFL teachers, 3 Spanish support teachers for supplementary classes, a director, a director of studies and 2 secretaries. All EFL teaching staff hold a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language, such as the RSA CELTA. Some also have the Young Learner's certificate in EFL or the RSA DELTA.
Students
St. James mainly teaches extensive general English classes. The student population is mainly children (from age 3) and teens. Only about 10% of the students are adults. The levels range from pre-reading/writing beginner children to advanced (CAE) teen/adult classes.