Welcome to The Totnes School of English
History and culture of the school
The
Totnes School of English was founded in 1980 and has been accredited by the British Council since 1985. The school is owned by Margie Barker and Clare Vickers, both of whom come from teaching backgrounds. All of the
English courses at the school have a sound linguistic basis presented through communicative lessons focusing on 'real English'.
We encourage students to maximise their ties with the community in order to improve not only their English language, but also their cultural knowledge. The English school is at the heart of Totnes, a small friendly town in Devon. Our students quickly become integrated in everyday town life, something that would be difficult to achieve in a bigger city.
Totnes has its own unique style. It is a cutting age centre for natural health, with organic food-shops and eco-friendly attitudes, and a haven for writers and musicians. It is also a traditional English town with a castle, Elizabethan timber-frame houses and gourmet markets providing plenty of photo opportunities!
We introduced Thursday afternoon workshops at the
English language school some years ago in order to bring some of the unusual town atmosphere into the school. Students are offered different natural health, music, art and cultureworkshops each week on a Thursday afternoon. These workshops are included free with any
English course.
As an English school we recognise and welcome the diversity of our students. We have been inspired over the years by the different experiences that people have wanted from their
English course. We are committed to providing a learning environment that is flexible enough to meet individual needs, and due to popular demand we have developed courses that combine
Standard English with afternoon options in Natural Health, Creative Art, Castles and Gardens, Work Experience and English in Action. We have also developed
Forty Plus English language courses as an exciting new development!
We are a small English school (around 50 adult students out of season and 80 in July and August, with 120 teenage students at separate premises in the summer) and we pride ourselves on our friendly personal approach. We are lucky to have a good range of nationalities all year round. This is important as many students attend
an English language course to meet people from different countries as well as to learn English in the country in which it is spoken. We are passionate about teaching English and about meeting people from all over the world. Please read on t
o find out more about our courses... and if anything is unclear,
please get in touch with us!
Margie Barker (School Director)
