Teacher Reviews

HAYLEY ALLEN

I was travelling in South East Asia when I met a friend of Mr Lawrance’s who spoke so highly of SVS School. The experience was just what I was looking for and luckily I was offered the job! We found ourselves being welcomed wholeheartedly into an extended family of which the school is a key part. Teaching at the school left me with some of the most memorable experiences of my whole travels: teaching Buddhist monks, struggling with my Sinhalese pronunciation of students’ names, and watching people’s confidence and abilities in speaking English flourish from the teaching I was responsible for. The weekends are a perfect opportunity to travel to see some of the many sights of the beautiful country, and the holidays in between term dates give the chance to go further afield. A trip to Maskeliya is a must, not only to gain a bigger picture of the SVS Foundation and the amazing hard work that the family put into making the charity a success, but also to experience the contrasting beauty of the country with the bustling city of Colombo. The memories I have will last a lifetime.

EUAN MACDONALD

Teaching at SVS School was a very worthwhile and memorable experience. The students were fun and a very diverse and interesting bunch, ranging from Korean housewives to Burmese Buddhist monks to Sri Lankan college kids and workers. Mark and Seb are dedicated to providing a unique educational opportunity in Colombo and made me feel an important part of their teaching team, the wider Samanala Valley project, and even their family. For new and serious teachers looking to get some good experience under their belt then I highly recommend SVS. And as a destination you can’t do much better than Sri Lanka – an endlessly interesting and beautiful place.

CAITLYN MERRY

I enjoyed my time at SVS School immensely, and the experience I had was unforgettable. Thanks to the friendly and approachable teachers and staff, I loved every minute of my time teaching. I not only gained valuable teaching experience and a sense of fulfilment from imparting my knowledge of the English language; I also felt I developed personally on a deeper level by interacting with the students, who continually amazed me during my time at the school. Outside the school, I got to know a beautiful culture and people and I made friends that I will have for life.

MATHILDE DRATWA

I had no idea what to expect when my plane landed in Sri Lanka. An old university friend, who had made his way from Cambridge to Colombo, had recommended that I come to teach at SVS. Unlike other language schools, he said, this is a program that is truly affordable for the local population – and the local population really needs to learn English. So off I went, ready to make a difference. What I hadn’t anticipated was how much of a difference this would make in MY life. Working alongside a dedicated, diligent staff, I found myself faced with students from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and South Korea who really, really wanted to learn. But they also taught me a thing or two. Seb, Mark and the other teachers were there to guide me every step of the way. They also helped me discover parts Sri Lanka I would never have found alone – and it’s a beautiful country. Would I go back? Absolutely.

ANDREW SHATTOCK

It’s been a good two years since I said goodbye to my SVS family, yet I still find myself reminiscing about the amazing three months I spent teaching English alongside Mr Lawrence and Mr Mark in Sri Lanka. I had the pleasure of teaching around 70 fun-loving and enthusiastic students from across Asia, some of whom with today. It really is a brilliant experience to be surrounded by such an incredible array of people from such diverse backgrounds, all of whom have their own dreams and ambitions of where the English language can take them. I also learnt a lot about the English language myself during my time at SVS, and I’ve found that these skills have helped me immeasurably when trying to learn other languages. All in all, it’s a incredible way to spend a few months of your life. Enjoy!

CHRISSY RENKER

Volunteering at SVS has been an amazing experience for me, both as a teaching and a learning endeavour. Despite being someone who is new to teaching English, I never felt like the work was more than I could handle, and I was given plenty of support from the staff. Sri Lanka is an incredible island, with a wealth of culture, history and natural beauty to explore, so the location really could not be better. When teaching at SVS you have the opportunity to meet people from all over South Asia, with students coming from countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Japan and Cambodia as well as Sri Lanka. I would recommend volunteering here wholeheartedly. I can promise that if you come with an open heart and mind, you will not regret it.

RISHI CHATTERJEE

If I had to sum up my teaching experience in Sri Lanka in one word, it would simply be: amazing! But luckily, I don’t have to. First and foremost, the people I worked with at SVS are dedicated, honest, and fun. Dedicated because; in the 6 months I taught there, not once did they call in sick. Not once were they late for class. Not once did they shirk their responsibilities. 5 days a week, every week. As teachers, we are aware that there will be good days and there will be bad days. Still we go to school and do our best to impart knowledge to our students as best we can. The staff at SVS are no exception to this. What I liked even more about teaching at SVS was it felt like we were family, and some of them literally are. From the moment I arrived, I felt welcomed and valued. Would I ever teach at SVS again? In a heartbeat. To aspiring teachers: This is a great way to jumpstart your teaching career.

SHAH ALI

Teaching English at SVS in Sri Lanka was great! It was honestly a life changing experience which has given me life long memories and friends. I used to work in a city job in London but decided to become a teacher. A friend told me about this amazing opportunity and I thought what a superb chance to develop my teaching skills before I began my teacher training back in the UK. Not to mention the opportunity to spend 6 months in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, living 5 minutes from a gorgeous and peaceful beach. Every day presented new challenges and I constantly found myself being amazed by my students. The work at SVS really is a team effort and we worked together to make a difference. Feeling part of that buzz, that common goal, with the most friendly people in the beautiful sunshine, made going to Sri Lanka and working with SVS the best decision I have ever made.