Sri Lanka Teaching

Today is all about arriving in Sri Lanka and getting settled into your new surroundings! Take some time to unwind, get your bearings and get ready for the exciting adventures ahead. From Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport, your shared transfer will take you south to Unawatuna, the beachside town you’ll be calling home for the next two weeks. And when we say beachside, we mean it. Unawatuna Beach is just a five-minute walk from the volunteer house. Meet the people you’ll soon be swapping lesson ideas and weekend plans with. Explore your new neighbourhood and enjoy having absolutely nothing on the timetable just yet. School starts soon, but first... welcome to Unawatuna!

Before you start teaching, there are a few things worth knowing first! Sunday is your chance to get properly introduced to the programme, the people behind it and what life in the classroom is actually going to look like. You’ll cover the important bits like health & safety and Sri Lankan culture, head out for an orientation around Galle and meet the local team who’ll be supporting you throughout your placement. You’ll also get project-specific training, including guidance on lesson planning and the curriculum you’ll be following.  Your project coordinator will be there to guide you, help with lesson plans and support you during classes. Consider this your warm-up, tomorrow the teaching begins!

The training is done and it’s officially time to meet your students! Monday to Friday, you’ll work with local children aged 6 to 12, helping them build their confidence with English while getting your first proper taste of classroom life in Sri Lanka. You might lead parts of a lesson yourself or work alongside the education coordinator, so you’ll have support while you find your feet and grow in confidence too.  English Teaching Lessons use activity-based learning to get the children involved, with speaking, listening, reading and writing forming the foundations of what you’ll be helping with. Depending on the lesson, you could also work on grammar, reading comprehension and pronunciation, or encourage the children to practise speaking English more spontaneously. Basic life skills and introductory computer literacy can be included too, so there’s plenty of variety across the programme.  Classes typically have around 20 to 30 children, but volunteers often work with smaller groups, giving students a little more individual attention. That means you’ll have the chance to actually get to know the children you’re working with, understand where they might need some extra help and hopefully watch their confidence grow as the days go on. Classes usually run for around two to three hours in the afternoon, so prepare for a busy few hours of questions, activities and plenty of young personalities!  Behind the Lessons You’ll spend around four to five hours each week planning, but you’re definitely not expected to figure everything out alone. Your education coordinator will help you follow the curriculum, plan what to cover and make use of the teaching library, which includes manuals, books and other materials to help you prepare.  And After Class? Once the teaching is finished, volunteer life carries on back at the house. Join a weekly yoga class, settle in for movie night or, depending on when you’re there, get involved in one of the monthly guided bike tours or BBQs. And with Unawatuna Beach only five minutes away, there’s always the option of ending your day by the sea instead.

You’ve made it through your first week in the classroom, and now the weekend is completely yours! No lessons to plan, no classes to teach, just two full days to decide what kind of Sri Lanka weekend you’re in the mood for.  Living on the south coast means you’ve got some pretty good options. Head to Dewata or Kabalana and give surfing a go, or stay closer to home for diving and snorkelling around Unawatuna. There are multiple PADI-certified dive schools near the accommodation, so if exploring underwater sounds like your kind of Saturday, you’re in the right place.  More of a hiking-boots-than-flippers person? Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, can be visited as a day or weekend trip. And if you’re travelling between December and May, you could book a whale-watching trip and head out in search of blue whales off Sri Lanka’s coast.  Or... do absolutely none of that! Stay around Unawatuna, have a beach day, explore Galle with your new friends or give yourself a proper lazy weekend. You’ve got two days and zero classes, spend them however you like!

One week down, and hopefully you’re starting to feel a lot more at home in front of the class! You’ve met the children, worked out the teaching routine and got a feel for the kinds of activities that really get everyone involved. Now you’ve got another week to build on everything you started. As the days go on, you’ll continue helping the children develop their English through speaking, listening, reading and writing, adapting activities to different ages and ability levels. You might spend time with smaller groups who could use some extra attention, help with pronunciation and reading comprehension or find new ways to encourage even the quieter students to give speaking English a go.  By this point, lesson planning should feel a little less daunting too. You’ll still have your education coordinator there to help with the curriculum, resources and planning, but this is your chance to take what you learned during week one and start bringing more of your own ideas and personality into the classroom.  And just when you’ve learnt everyone’s names and properly found your teacher voice, two weeks have somehow flown by! Make the most of your final few classes, because now it’s time to decide whether Sri Lanka ends here... or whether you’re staying for a little more.

How are two weeks over already?! Your time in the classroom has officially come to an end, which means it’s time to say goodbye to the children, the local team and the volunteer life that’s probably started to feel very normal by now. If you’re heading home, today is your departure day. Transfers back to Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport aren’t included, but they’re easy to arrange while you’re in Sri Lanka.  But maybe two weeks just wasn’t enough? Good news, you don’t actually have to leave yet! Add on the 7-day Sri Lanka Adventure and swap lesson plans for a week travelling around the country. Head out on a safari in Yala National Park, take the famous train through Ella, visit a Ceylon tea plantation, explore Kandy and climb Sigiriya (Lion Rock). Teaching might be finished, but Sri Lanka definitely doesn’t have to be!