The British College of Benalmádena

Si eres profesor buscando trabajo, evita este centro a toda costa. Mi experiencia fue terrible.
Para empezar, el centro no disponía de medios en las clases (ordenadores antiguos y con la licencia de Windows aún por validar, proyectores de mala calidad que no se reparaban durante semanas si fallaban, altavoces que no se oían.).
Esto dificultaba el día a día del profesorado y, además, no tenía acceso a una fotocopiadora. La única opción era enviar los documentos por email al menos 24 horas antes.
Sí es cierto que el número máximo de estudiantes por clase era de unos 22, pero se olvidaban de mencionar que a veces incluían a estudiantes de español como lengua extranjera en la parte de atrás de la clase donde se enseñaba otra asignatura. En otros casos esos estudiantes estaban en la clase de español pero trabajando "de forma individual" en otro libro que ya en su época estaba obsoleto.
Como había que mantener esa ratio, a veces cambiaban a estudiantes de grupo sin tener en cuenta sus habilidades o necesidades.
Había excelentes profesores pero también desconfianza en el ambiente y poco compañerismo, lo importante era mantener un perfil bajo para evitar problemas.
No esperes cobrar las vacaciones de verano a menos que trabajes julio y agosto, sin importar que tu horario durante el curso posiblemente contenga más de 26 horas lectivas, con la carga de trabajo extra que eso supone.
La organización también dejaba mucho que desear, por mucho que dirección enlace al documento de su última inspección. Cualquiera que haya trabajado en un centro británico sabe que la fecha se anuncia con antelación (la próxima es en mayo 2027), lo que permite poner en marcha un teatrillo para los inspectores. Todo ese personal extra vigilando los pasillos y las zonas comunes desaparece en el mismo momento en el que se van los inspectores, al igual que la rapidez para solucionar problemas técnicos.
Todo esto y algunas cosas más hacen que los profesores no paren de irse o de ser despedidos en cualquier momento (el periodo de prueba es de 11 meses), por lo que la rotación de docentes es insoportable. Cuando aparezca un nuevo profesor, este no recibirá información de los grupos ya que la calidad de la educación no parece ser la prioridad de este centro "educativo".

Horrible. Solo les importa el dinero. Jamás lleven allí a sus hijos. Los trabajadores son explotados bajo el yugo de una familia tacaña a la que sólo le importa el dinero. Evitenlo a toda costa.

For us, finding the right school for our three children when we first moved to Spain from the UK was not easy at all. Before finding the perfect school for our children, The British College of Benalmádena, our children went to two other schools. I only wish we had found this fantastic school from the beginning.
Keeping a long story short, we made the mistake of enrolling our children in an international school in the area, instead of a British one. The so called “international” school was a Spanish school, full stop. They were following Spanish primary and secondary and a very strange version of the IB. Our children were very distressed because they did not speak Spanish and they were unable to follow the lessons at all. The school had a nice building, but nothing was being taught inside it. We obviously left.
We wanted a British school so we contacted the British College and asked for an appointment with the Headteacher. Unfortunately, we went to the wrong school and ended-up in another school also in Benalmádena. It was very easy to be mistaken because this other school used The British College´s name on their signage on the road- even with the same font and colours! When we arrived, we said we had an appointment to meet the Headmistress and nobody told us were at the wrong school. We met a Headmaster who had the cheek to tell us the Headmistress was away for a few days. I know it´s very naive, but we were convinced it was The British College. We paid a whole year up-front because we were offered a discount if we did so. Some days later I contacted the school office to ask about uniform. I was absolutely astonished when I was told our children were not registered with them and that we had not attended the interview we had with their Headmistress. I then realised I had arranged the interview with the real British College as their website was the one I had been visiting all the time, but we had gone to the wrong school. I was devastated as we had already paid the other school. We tried to talk with them, but they were not helpful at all. They should have told us instead of misleading us on purpose. The man told us the Headmistress was away when they did not have a Headmistress at all! We decided to wait for a year, but we had to move them a few weeks later. It was just impossible to have our children there.
We then asked for an interview with the British College´s Headmistress. I have to say the support we received from the school was absolutely fantastic, from the first email we sent up until today. The whole team is absolutely outstanding. I will never be able to thank them enough. We absolutely loved the school when we first went to visit it. The atmosphere is so British, it feels like being in a school back home. The Headmistress has a vast experience in British education and she is always in the school available to talk with everybody. The door of her office is always open and she knows every single child in the school. The standard of education is simply outstanding. Our children felt so happy and welcome from the first moment! The teachers are simply fantastic and so is the management team and the office staff. The school could not be better. My children are so happy, they made loads of friends straight away and they are learning at an amazing speed. My eldest son sat his IGCSEs last year and his results were impressive, we feel so proud! I have two other children. Early Years and Primary are as fantastic as Secondary school. I would recommend this school without hesitation to anybody moving to this area. Even more, I would recommend it to anybody moving to Spain. I only regret not having enrolled my children when we first moved to Spain because I am absolutely convinced this is the best school on the Coast.