English camps are an excellent opportunity for us teachers to work in a pleasant school environment, gain experience during summer and also earn good money. In this article we see how to find our opportunities.

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Summer English schools have always been an amazing experience for kids to find motivation in learning English. However much a teacher tries to make his lessons interesting, there is always an artificial situation in the school environment where students almost always end up speaking their mother tongue.

Attending an English camp allows students to immerse themselves in a reality where they have to speak English out of necessity. Thanks to this new situation they realize that they have a much higher level than they thought, they can understand and even speak, and this alone motivates them for the rest of the year to engage more in the study of the language because they see its usefulness.

But there is also another aspect that is not talked about much, and it is the possibility of making new friends. Very often in English camps, there are many nationalities together, and in order to communicate, all the kids have to use English.

Friendships are created that last over time, continue to write and keep in touch once the camp ends, sometimes they continue their friendship, for example, by going on vacation together the following summer, and by cultivating this relationship they are stimulated to communicate through English. They make an active effort, they want to communicate, so they improve without the fatigue they feel in school, when they have to study and do their homework.

Working in English camps

For us teachers, working in an English camp is equally stimulating and represents a good financial income, for a very pleasant job and which can help us find motivation after a year in the routine of school.

In other cases, a summer camp helps us to gain experience as an English teacher when we are at the beginning of our careers and the curriculum is still empty.

English camps often require resident teachers, so availability 24 hours a day, for a very limited period of time. This is why it is a possibility that especially attracts younger teachers, compared to those who have a family to return to in the evening. Being resident teachers, however, is not an obligation and depending on the summer camp you will also find places where you do your working hours and go home.

There are 5 professionals that are worth taking into consideration. For each one, the remuneration is different, as well as the type of commitment required.

Let’s see them below. To start looking for career opportunities in teaching English, look at the Jobs section of our site. 

Administrative staff

If you have good administrative skills and a qualification to teach English, this is certainly an interesting opportunity to familiarize yourself with the operation of a school from the inside.

Administrators usually don’t have much contact with students, but they may have some with their parents or carers. 

The work can be intense, particularly during the time when activities need to be prepared.

It starts before summer school, so an administrative tends to work longer than a teacher (although his hourly wages are often lower).

Working as an administrator does not prevent you from working as a teacher. Many schools prefer to have staff who can fill both positions, so there will be an hourly wage for when you fill administrative roles and one for when you fill teaching roles.

The location is usually not residential, so it is aimed at those who are local.

Academic Staff

Teaching English during a summer camp is rewarding for both experienced and inexperienced teachers.

Many professional teachers who work in a school the rest of the year decide to go to a summer camp instead of enjoying the holidays. The reason is quite obvious: the experience is usually very pleasant, in some ways similar to working in a school and in others very different. Also, being seasonal, the work is often well paid (more than the work they have throughout the year).

Teaching English in a summer camp is also a great way to get paid experience.

Taking a qualification to teach English, in fact, is what you need to start teaching English, but schools tend to be wary of teachers who are inexperienced and this can be even more complicated if you are not a native speaker.

Working in a summer camp is the first and foremost way for you to understand if this is really something you would like to do for life. Many, in fact, felt like teachers until the moment of teaching, and there they understood that dealing with children is not for them.

If you fail to connect with students, there are other honourable avenues, for example, an administrative career.

Applying for a job at a school and including in your curriculum experience as a teacher in a summer camp, and perhaps even references from someone in the industry, is something that can open many doors for you.

Activity Leaders

Activity Leaders are school staff who are not necessarily academic, although that helps.

University students are the ones that usually take the students on excursions or organize sports or evening activities or assist when needed. 

In other circumstances, they are people who are considering pursuing a career in teaching and are taking advantage of the free programs available to schools to train. 

The work carries a certain responsibility that often many teachers do not feel ready to take, so even if they can be considered teachers, Activity Leaders often have marginally academic assignments and focus more on activities that entertain children, but they are also responsible for their safety, for example during excursions, and are the first to intervene in case of any need.

The salary is usually lower than that of teachers, but the working hours are longer, so if you do it also to make money, it may be more rewarding to be an Activity Leader rather than a teacher, or you can give your availability for both positions.

Intern

Interns can take a small salary or not, this depends on the agreements made previously. Interns are usually sent by a company that takes care of their payment, while the school focuses on teaching them a job. 

Interns work with schools all year round, but when the school opens the residence they can have the advantage of being a resident, therefore being involved in all activities (even the evening ones) and not having to worry about covering rent or meals. 

This role is definitely more interesting in the summer.

What is required of interns is very different, as they change a lot, both in terms of age and preparation. There are companies that require their employees to take a stint as interns in another company to learn how others work, perhaps in another country. In this case, they are interns who already have a job with responsibilities in their country and can bring great added value to the school.

In other cases, interns are students in their first work experience, there to learn what it means to work for someone, and not much is required of them.

In any case, it is a short-term experience (from a few weeks to a few months) in which, while having to perform tasks, they do not suffer the pressure that an employee has.

Group Leader

This figure is certainly the most profitable and interesting. It changes depending on the structure of the school, but in general, it consists of forming a group and taking it to the summer school.

Very often it is teachers who bring their pupils to the summer school, and for this they receive compensation, sometimes from their own school, sometimes from the host school, sometimes from their students.

In other cases, they are agents who put together a group, or someone who can form a group (who has a gym, who works in a large company, who has many friends, who works very well in marketing, etc.). 

The salary changes a lot, depending on the type of commitment you put into it (if you only suggest a possible student or you lead a whole group). It is difficult to explain all the different situations here, so if you are interested in this career possibility, you can start to see how to become a Group Leader with Gallery Teachers.

The job changes a lot depending on what you are looking for. In the case of Gallery Teachers, for example, when the Group Leader is the teacher of the children, they tend to want to be involved in their activities (lessons, excursions and free time). When the Group Leader is sent by an agent, then he does not know the kids and prefers to be involved as little as possible, taking advantage of this period to deepen the language and study English in programs made available free of charge by the school or enjoy free time in a foreign city, while the school takes care of organizing the activities of the children with its own staff.

Conclusions

If you are interested in working in a summer school (and earning good money too), this is the magical summer. In the past years, due to the Corona Virus, schools have not been able to open their traditional summer school and now the children want to leave. This is the first summer in 3 years that things seem to be back to more or less as before and it is a great time for the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) industry.April is a very hot time to apply to various positions. You will certainly find some at the last minute, but it is better to prepare in time. Start looking around and apply, for example on the Gallery Teachers website!