We understand the needs of teachers and learners of English and the challenges they face, and recognise that qualifications may not be all that is needed in today’s competitive job market.
To help both teachers and learners further develop their skills, we offer a wide variety of free seminars, workshops, webinars and other training opportunities, all designed and delivered by highly qualified and experienced British Council presenters.
The seminars, workshops and webinars are free but you should contact us in advance in order to reserve a place.
Face-to-face seminar and workshop times may differ slightly from venue to venue. Please refer to your invitation for the exact schedule.
Seminars and webinars for teachers of English
The aim of our seminars and webinars for teachers of English is to share our considerable knowledge, skills and expertise in teaching, provide information, clarify grey areas, introduce new approaches to the teaching of English and give teachers the opportunity to come together to discuss issues around preparing students for exams. Both new and experienced teachers are welcome to take part.
Given the level and speed of changes taking place in exams, these seminars and webinars will be even more important in future and will enable teachers to plan and prepare students for very different qualifications.
Pedagogical seminars and webinars
Essay writing at B2 level and above
What are the features of good essay writing at B2 and above? We’ll look at authentic essays and discover the tools which make them effective.
Strategies for success in speaking tests – C1 and C2 level
Make the most of your speaking test. What should you say? How much should you say and how should you organise your thoughts? We’ll answer these questions and many more.
Teaching life skills and values to secondary learners
It’s an honour to teach teenagers. It’s an honour to help them grow into adulthood. What we teach and how we teach needs care and thought.
How to prepare for Reading and Listening for the Updated A2 Key and B1 Preliminary for Schools exams from January 2020
This session will look at the key changes to the Reading and Listening papers and provide a few practical tips to help prepare students for the reading and listening parts of the tests.
Presenter: Cliff Parry, British Council Academic Manager
| Where | Programme |
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Athens |
24 January 2020, 10.30–12.30
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Chalkida |
5 February 2020, 10.30–13.00
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Kos
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21 February 2020, 10.30–13.00
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Irakleio |
Temporarily postponed – New date to be announced
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Webinar |
17 March 2020, 10.30–12.30
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Aigina |
28 March 2020, 10.30–13.00
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We also offer more targeted seminars/webinars with exam-related content:
IELTS seminars and webinars
Every year we organise seminars and webinars to support IELTS teachers. Our topics vary and may cover any of the four test components – Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. They provide teachers with:
- key strategies for success in IELTS
- practical ideas for classroom teaching
- guidelines on marking and assessing candidate performance
- information on the content of the IELTS exam.
Preparing Adults for IELTS
Are you teaching IELTS for the first time? Or are you an experienced IELTS instructor looking to further develop your approach? Either way, teaching IELTS can present a variety of challenges including developing the IELTS test skills that students need for the exam and identifying the language for them to succeed. Join us and discover a variety of teaching resources and techniques provided by the British Council that will help you better prepare your students for IELTS.
Presenter: Cliff Parry, British Council Academic Manager
| Where/When | Programme |
| To be announced | To be announced |
Cambridge English webinars
We have scheduled a series of Cambridge English webinars in order to support both teachers who have experience of teaching towards these exams as well as those who wish to start preparing students for these exams in the future.
The webinars are organised by Cambridge English and the materials are designed by Cambridge English exams experts. Their aim is to:
- familiarise teachers with the content of the particular papers in these exams
- increase teachers’ awareness of the skills required by candidates taking these exams
- help teachers improve candidate performance.
Programme
| 22 January 2020, 10.30–12.00 Writing Skills for B2 First for Schools |
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This webinar takes a detailed look at both parts of the B2 First for Schools Writing paper and addresses what we expect to find in candidate scripts, how we assess the scripts, and how your learners can best meet these expectations. We shall also demonstrate free resources available for you to exploit in terms of B2 Writing Skills development. Register now! Presenter: Stephen-John Taylor, Cambridge Assessment English Consultant and Presenter |
| 5 February 2020, 10.30–12.00 Developing Speaking Skills for Success in B2 First for Schools |
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In this session we will consider what skills and sub-skills students need to develop at B2 level and we will provide you with ideas and activities for preparing your students successfully for the B2 First for Schools Speaking Paper. Register now! Presenter: Nick Michelioudakis, Cambridge Assessment English Presenter |
| 20 February 2020, 10.30–12.00 Banish Stress, Boost Confidence! B2 First for Schools Reading and Use of English |
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This presentation aims to provide help for your learners to better prepare for the Reading and Use of English component of the B2 Cambridge First for Schools. Through taking a step back, we will endeavour to get into the shoes of candidates; to understand their difficulties and provide help on overcoming exam stress. We will provide some useful strategies to help you help your students tackle certain tasks in this component. Register now! Presenter: Sara Hutton-Anetopoulos, Cambridge Assessment English Presenter |
For detailed information about Cambridge English’s full programme of events for teachers in Greece, visit www.cambridgeenglish.org/gr/events.
Further information
- Each seminar/webinar is designed to last around one to two hours.
- All seminars/webinars are free of charge.
- As the face-to-face seminars are popular, it is recommended that requests are made as soon as possible as places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
- Addvantage and Teachers’ Club members will receive invitations with the exact schedule.
- Face-to-face seminar times may differ slightly from venue to venue. Please refer to your invitation for the exact schedule.
For additional information about our seminars and webinars, please contact us.
If you’re interested in receiving regular updates about our seminars, webinars and other events, become a member of our Teachers’ Club.
Seminars for learners of English
In an effort to broaden the scope of our seminar programme, we offer student seminars to candidates who register for the Cambridge English exams through the British Council.
Candidates receive their invitations about two weeks before their written exams and the seminars are conducted in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major towns/exam venues.
The seminars provide candidates with practical advice to help boost their confidence on the day of the exam and tips on how to tackle a variety of tasks in the Reading, Writing, Listening, Use of English and Speaking papers. They will be invited to take part in activities designed to demonstrate how they can improve their test performance by utilising effective strategies such as skimming and scanning texts, recognising paraphrase (Reading), identifying and addressing key content points appropriately (Writing), and responding with extended and relevant contributions (Speaking).
We can also provide tailor-made student seminars based on the needs of our Addvantage partner schools on request.
Programme
| When | Where | Title |
| To be announced | Webinar | Tips for Cambridge English: B2 First (FCE) for Schools |
| To be announced | Webinar | Tips for Cambridge English: C2 Proficiency (CPE) |
Seminars, workshops and webinars for Addvantage Member Schools
Face-to-face seminars and workshops
Addvantage members are invited to the British Council’s face-to-face seminars and workshops for teachers of English in Greece.
We offer a wide range of topics for teachers with different levels of experience of teaching English and preparing students for English language exams. Our experienced and professional teacher trainers will focus on the following topics in the 2020–21 academic year:
| When/Where | To be announced |
| Programme | To be announced |
| How to register | To be announced |
Webinars
We are delighted to offer an exciting programme of Addvantage webinars for teachers in collaboration with Cambridge Assessment English in the 2020–21 academic year. Their expert speakers will present a wide range of topics for teachers with different levels of experience to help prepare students for success in Cambridge English Qualifications.
The webinar programme is exclusive to Addvantage members and all the topics have been suggested by teachers from across Europe.
After each webinar, teachers will receive a follow-up email with useful links, a certificate of attendance and information about the next webinar.
Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee. Sit comfortably in your armchair. Take part in the webinar and let yourself be inspired!
| When | Monday 1 June 2020, 10.30–12.30 |
| Title | Teacher well-being: Reflecting on this academic year and preparing yourself for the next |
| Description |
Together we will reflect on the academic year and capture the moments of happiness and joy. What went wrong and how did we cope? Join Eleni Kladi and Cliff Parry as they discuss the importance of teacher well-being and share their personal tips for next year. |
Presenters |
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| How to register | Invitations will be sent to all Addvantage members by 18 May. |
Further information
Addvantage seminars, workshops and webinars are available to teachers at schools, language centres and institutions which are members of the British Council Addvantage Member Scheme.
- Addvantage members will receive invitations to each seminar, workshop and webinar with instructions on how to register and join.
- Each seminar, workshop and webinar is designed to last one to two hours.
- As the face-to-face seminars and workshops are often popular, we recommended registering as soon as possible as places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
- There is no limit on the number of participants in a webinar.
- All seminars, workshops and webinars are free of charge.
- Face-to-face seminar and workshop times may differ slightly from venue to venue. Please refer to your invitation for the exact schedule.
For additional information about our Addvantage seminars, workshops and webinars, as well as the Addvantage member scheme, please contact our Addvantage Manager Andy Papadimitriou by email at Andy.Papadimitriou@britishcouncil.gr or by phone on 2310 378 316.
For detailed information about Cambridge English’s full programme of events for teachers in Greece, visit www.cambridgeenglish.org/gr/events.