FAQS FOR SCHOOL CHAPERONES AND EDUCATORS
MIDDLE SCHOOL TRIPS AND HIGH SCHOOL TRIPS IN SPAIN
At Centro MundoLengua we have been working with school chaperones and educators to organize their ideal middle school / high school trips in Spain since 2005. All members of our team work in situ and know better than anybody the possibilities available in your study destination and how to get the maximum out of them. Our study center in Sevilla has received formal accreditation by the Instituto Cervantes; the only international accreditation for schools that teach Spanish as a foreign language, and one that demonstrates our commitment to excellence and to continued development. Our study center stands out for various reasons:
• Multi-focused programs. With Centro MundoLengua your students will not only be improving their knowledge of and proficiency in the language, but also thoroughly enriching various aspects of their lives (academic, cultural, personal etc.) during the school trip.
• Security and student orientation. We provide one activity leader for every 15 students and 24-hour responsive assistance in case of emergency.
• Benefits for school chaperones. Centro MundoLengua offers a wide range of incentives for school chaperones who travel together with their students.
• Complete customization. We adapt the student trip to the interests and needs of your students and work with you to meet their expectations.
• Unforgettable experiences. We are determined to make your students’ stay with us a real highlight of their lives. They will live the Spanish culture as the locals do, while also making new friendships with people from different countries.
• Complete immersion. Your students will be learning Spanish in an environment and in a fashion that is typically Spanish (with host families, classes, volunteering work, language exchanges….).
• Orientation for the future. Centro MundoLengua delivers programs that prepare students for their AP® and IB® exams, which is also a big bonus when it comes to applying for higher education places.
We take care of a large degree of the organizational work on behalf of the school chaperones. For example, we will help you to make payments; each student will be able to make a program payment online. In this way, we relieve you of the need to personally manage large cash sums. The only tasks that you will have to do will be to explain the content of the program to students in order to raise their interest, organize informative meetings with students and parents and help us with a few bureaucratic steps; creating a list of program participants, facilitating the online registration of your students and asking for copies of their passports.
If you would like, a representative of Centro MundoLengua can be present during an information meeting with your students, either in person, over the telephone or via a videoconference. Likewise it is also possible for us to provide promotional materials; brochures, images, itineraries, posters, etc.
We recommend a minimum of 10 students in a group in order to guarantee participation in all activities. We are able to organize a study abroad program with fewer students, but it would be necessary either for your students to join other groups of students, or for your group to pay a aslightly higher price.
No, we have worked with groups of middle school and high school students aged from 12 to 17 years.
Yes. During your educational tour in Spain, your group will use one city as a base for all operations (Cadiz, Sevilla, Madrid or Barcelona) and you will choose which places you want to visit during your study abroad program; different locations in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Gibraltar.
Our groups come from all over the world, but the majority come from either the USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland or Belgium. A smaller amount of student groups typically come from France, China and Russia.
Students register online through the following page. We will provide your school group with a password. This password will lead your students to a dedicated page where they will be able to apply, as well as to get a more detailed overview of the program in question,
Yes. Generally speaking, a deposit corresponding to 20% of the total program price is required to reserve a space for one of our middle / high school trips in Spain. However, the amount can change depending on the program. Please get in touch in order to clarify the deposit value in your specific case.
You will be given a contact from Centro MundoLengua who can respond to any concern or question you may have regarding your student trip in Spain. Up until the start date of the program, we will keep you informed by email of any updates to the student trip. Remember, all students must have an up to date passport that will remain valid for the duration of your program (and in some cases up to 6 months after the scheduled departure date for your program). Students must provide us with a copy of their passport and a recent photograph of themselves. Furthermore, you will be responsible for making your own travel reservations. If you would like us to make travel reservations on your behalf, you must let us know well enough in advance so that we are able to do so through a partner agency (this is not included in the program).
Once we have received your deposit, we will send your student portal login details by email. If they do not receive them for whatever reason, they can reset it here. Remember that your username will be the email address that was used during online registration.
If you eventually decide to cancel your middle school / high school trip in Spain, you must inform us via email. Please bear in mind that 10% of the total estimated program cost paid by your students cannot be refunded under any circumstance. For more details, please consult our legal conditions.
In the case of a completely personalized program, get in touch with us to check if it is possible to make any modifications. The final price depends on the number of participating students that have registered, meaning that if any students choose to cancel their participation, it may result in an increase in cost for the other students.
School chaperones have various benefits available to them, meaning that they are eligible to receive free:
- Accommodation with full-board with a Spanish host family.
- Participation in professional development workshops, under certain conditions.
- Participation in activities and excursions depending on the dates of your student trip in Spain.
- Flights, under certain conditions.
Furthermore, you will receive a financial stipend to cover your costs here in Spain, under certain conditions. Get in touch for more details.
You have two options when it comes to making a payment for our custom school trips in Spain. The first is a collection of the money that each respective individual participant must pay before proceeding to make a single, full payment to Centro MundoLengua, either via a check or bank transfer. The second is individual payments made by each student directly on our website. Individual payments can be made by check, bank transfer, credit card and PayPal.
All our school trips in Spain are customized. They typically include Spanish classes, visits to points of interest and a social, cultural and recreational activity program. Generally they also include accommodation with full-board or half-board, transfers to and from the closest airport and 24-hour assistance in case of emergency. Likewise they can (but don’t always) include flights and health insurance.
They can be. Get in touch for more details.
We cannot tell you what an average day will be exactly like, as it depends on the course and contents you choose. But here is a rough outline of the weekday routine that your students will follow if they choose to stay with a Spanish host family.
- 8:30 – 9:30: Breakfast with the host family
Your students will enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared that same morning by their Spanish host family, such as the most typical Spanish breakfast; freshly toasted bread with tomato, olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- 9:30 – 10:00: Walk to the meeting point (or to class)
This is the moment in which your students will be able to enjoy a pleasant walk through the streets or their base city, or riding on Spain’s excellent public transport networks. They will see countess shops, restaurants and points of interest on their journey that they will undoubtedly want to explore further in their free time!
- 10:00 – 13:30: Attend Spanish classes (or educational tours)
Your students will be able to improve their Spanish in class with our expert teaching team. Alternatively, they could use this time to enjoy guided visits to one of the country’s innumerable points of interest. With the help of our guides, students can experience Spain’s leading monuments in the correct historical and cultural context, connecting their own experiences with their knowledge of Spain more generally.
- 13:30 – 14:00: Return home
Students return home after class to eat.
- 14:00 – 16:30: Lunch and free time with host families
Your students will share a typical Spanish lunch with their host family. This could include a gazpacho with fresh vegetables, a sumptuous Spanish omelette…. the menu will change each day. Don’t worry if some of your students have particular dietary requirements; we can always accommodate them if we are informed of the situation far enough in advance. Afterwards, your students can even try out one of Spain’s most famous daily traditions; the siesta!
- 16:30 – 18:30: Participate in the afternoon activity
Your students will be lead to the meeting point for their afternoon activity. This could be a flamenco dance workshop, a guided visit to a historic monument or a cycling tour through the city – each day will be different!
- 18:30 – 21:00 More free time at home
Your students will have another opportunity to relax, to speak and practice their Spanish with their host families, to spend time with their friends or to further explore their new home city together.
- 21:00 – 22:00 Dinner with host families
Your students will have another chance to familiarize themselves with the true flavors of the Spanish kitchen with their host families. Perhaps some croquetas or a fried fish dish are great options for an evening meal – and an even better chance for students to continue practicing their Spanish in an authentic setting.
- 22:00 – 00:00 Participate in the evening activity
Our evening activities give students a chance to let their hair down a little and enjoy some time to socialize with their friends on the trip. Concerts, tapas tours, shows, cinema, dances…. the program is full of variety!
You will have an expert team of teachers and activity leaders that will help you throughout the school trip in Spain. Our teachers are university graduates (of philology, journalism, translation and education) who are specifically trained to teach Spanish as a foreign language. They are all friendly, outgoing, very supportive and, above all, they truly care for the wellbeing of their students. All are native Spanish speakers, though the majority also speak English or another second language. Our activity leaders are also university graduates that are experts in the humanities and that are experienced in working with groups.
Depending on what you choose, your students will be staying with one of our carefully selected host families, in a hotel or in a student residence.
Depending on your choice of accommodation, you may choose full-board or half-board in a local Spanish family homestay, or opt for accommodation with or without meals included in a hotel or student residence.
Of course. You will be more than welcome to assist your students in their classes and activities free of charge. But if you prefer you can also use this time to explore the city however you like. School chaperones will often come to our facilities each day to check up on their students’ classes. This can be done at the beginning of the classes, during their break period or at the end of the classes. It is also common for school chaperones to take part in the cultural visits together with their students.
Your students will stay with a local host family with either full-board or half-board. If you prefer a different type of accommodation for your students, we are able to arrange alternatives for your entire group. For yourself you can choose between a single room with a host family, a hotel. or a private apartment.
Our Spanish family homestay program includes two or three meals per day: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This information should be communicated to us during the online registration phase so that we can look for the most convenient accommodation option possible. Our host families are used to adapting the food they prepare in order to accommodate different dietary requirements, but we still need to know well enough in advance if this is the case.
We are very lucky here at Centro MundoLengua. We work with a range of carefully-selected Spanish host families, and we have considerable experience when it comes to hosting students; we have being doing this consistently since 2005! Our housing director personally visits every house and interviews each family member, while also developing a dossier of the feedback of students that have already stayed with the host family on previous college / university study abroad programs.
Prospective new Spanish host families get in touch with the housing director for an initial interview. After this first stage, our housing director visits the property to assess the living conditions and to take photographs, as well as meeting and speaking to the entire family that resides at the property. If our quality standards are met, the family will be invited for a final interview. If both parties are satisfied at this stage, the family will sign an agreement that stipulates the host family guidelines so that the homestay is satisfactory for both students and for Centro MundoLengua.
The homes of our Spanish host families are visited every two years from the day of our first visit in order to ensure that our standards are continuously being met.
Furthermore, we constantly evaluate our Spanish host families and respond to the feedback that we receive from students who stay with them, removing host families from our homestay system when necessary on a case-by-case basis. For more information about the selection process, visit our family homestay section.
In the case of your students, it can occur that the host family simultaneously hosts students from other programs. This isn’t unusual and actually works really well. We will never place more than four students together with the same host family, and we will always place students of the same sex together. Centro MundoLengua regularly monitors the homestay situation over the course of the program to ensure that everything runs smoothly. If one of your students is uncomfortable with the amount of students living in the same homestay at the same time, get in touch with us immediately. We will resolve the situation directly with the host families.
If you are a chaperone and you choose to stay with a local host family, it is possible that you will be living with other participating adults in the homestay.
Generally, your students will share a bedroom with one other student. All roommates will be the same sex and of a similar age. School chaperones will always be given an individual room.
The accommodation Centro MundoLengua provides to school chaperones is located at most 20 minutes from our facility on foot.
For students, our Spanish family homestays will always be located within a reasonable distance from our center where studying takes place. For our school trips in Cadiz, it will take students around 15 to 20 minutes to get to class on foot. For our school trips in Sevilla, the furthest away your students will be is 30 minutes on foot, even though the majority of our host families live 20 minutes away or less. On the rest of our personalized programs, students will spend a maximum of 30 minutes walking to class from their accommodation, though this commute normally lasts no longer than 15 minutes one way.
If your children are teenagers, they can participate in our study abroad programs for high school students. If they are young children, in July there are summer camps for children nearby. Get in touch for more information.
Our middle / high school trips in Spain are delivered in safe cities. We have hosted many students and not once has anything truly serious happened. The cities in which we operate are tourist-friendly and the local authorities do a great job of guaranteeing a safe environment for everybody. Late in the evening when the temperatures cool during the hottest times of the year, everybody goes out into the streets to socialize, to go to the cinema, to share some food and drink with friends…. Because of this, you can always count on there being a large number of people walking around the peaceful streets until the early hours of the morning, families with small children included. The only thing that we advise is that you take care of your belongings in areas filled with people in order to avoid theft and pickpocketing. This is not common and you shouldn’t worry, but please remain alert and vigilant.
If there is any kind of problem, students will always be able to contact somebody in the school.
Each student will be given the number of an emergency contact from Centro MundoLengua that will be reachable 24 hours a day. In Spain you can call the number 112 without charge in the case of medical emergencies or immediate security concerns when there is a legitimate and immediate danger to your state of wellbeing.
Students will be supervised by adults 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thanks to our network of teachers, directors, activity leaders, and host families, your students will feel supported throughout their stay in Spain. Each day, a member of the Centro MundoLengua team will monitor their attendance and satisfaction in the classes, activities and excursions.
The purchase, consumption or possession of alcohol or drugs, including association with individuals consuming them, is strictly forbidden to participants on our middle / high school programs, regardless of their age. Any student found to be violating this zero tolerance policy may be expelled from our school and sent back to their country of origin at the expense of their family. The minimum penalty we can apply is a ban on the participation in our nighttime activities.
Get in touch for more information regarding this topic.
Of course. In addition to the photos you and your students take, we have a photographer at Centro MundoLengua that will accompany you to some of the activities. We will normally send you all images taken of your group approximately one week after the program concludes. If you have any special interest in a specific image (i.e. a photo of yourself in a certain landmark), feel free to communicate such a request to a member of the Centro MundoLengua team.
You can become a Centro MundoLengua ambassador. Our ambassadors are students or school chaperones that have already worked with us and who have thoroughly enjoyed their experience who then help us expand our network of contacts. If you would like to get to know more about the ambassador role and the benefits that you could receive after you have finished your school trip with us, don’t hesitate to contact us.
