Curriculum overview

ESB uses the Hungarian National Curriculum for Bilingual schools and but for English we use the Cambridge International curriculum which is based on the National Curriculum for England and Wales. We will also conduct some other extra lessons with Cambridge so that students a broader knowledge and skill set in English than provided by the Hungarian curriculum. All school report cards and assessments are follow the Hungarian State’s requirements.

For grades 1-4, a typical split of subjects will look like this:

Important notes
1 ESB may change the language of instruction for certain lessons but the 50:50 balance between English and Hungarian will be made.
2 Grade 1 will do library instead on ICT
3 PE has an extra 2 lessons per week in after school hours

The teacher student ratio for most subjects will be at 1:18. Class size can run to 24 students but for any classes over 18, we will add a co teacher to the class. For English language learning, classes will be split into two groups, so that a typical group size would be 12 children.

Learning support

ESB a lot of the latest and most up to date learning support. We provide all textbooks and course books. Each classroom has a whiteboard, teacher laptop and projector with internet access so that each teacher can easily access all online and digital materials and resources

Library: There is an extensive library of books in both English and Hungarian. We constantly encourage children to take books out on a one out, one in basis.

iPads: ESB makes available iPads for all students to access and use in class when directed by the teachers. We use an iPad trolley to make sure that all children can get use them as a part of their educational programme.

BUG Club online reading programme: All students in grades 1-4 will have access to this levelled English reading series which can also be used at home with parents. The programme advises parents as to what are the learning points of each story and the book reds back the stories to the children as well so as to enhance their listening and pronounciation skills.

Levelled reading series: Children can use at school our levelled reading series which starts at beginner level and provides a framework for building reading and comprehension skills.

School day

The day is open from 8.00 to 17.00 each day. School starts with registration at 8.20 and the last lesson finishes at 15.00. Between 15.00 and 17.00 there are supervised after school activities and specific programmes that parents can pay for additionally if they so wish.

The school provides a lunch, a morning and an afternoon snack. These are provided during each of the three school breaks in the day.

Our Methodology

At ESB a focus on our children’s active engagement in their own learning is the driving force for our methodology.

Our teaching methodologies are very different from the Prussian, content-centred “Chalk and Talk” methods used in most Hungarian state schools. We aim at developing the children’s English, along with their communicative and cognitive skills, especially critical and creative thought. Our classrooms are vibrant and teaching is highly engaging.

We extend the children’s learning beyond the classroom through our own learning site, updated weekly with digital learning for students at home, including Pearson’s Active Learn and Rapid Plus, and through our school events.
For a panoramic view of the range of our classes and teaching and learning practices, please see our Facebook page

After school activities

ESB believes in the importance of offering a good range of diverse activities to further enhance child development. Our activities have included:
3D Art
Football
Martial arts
Modern Dance
Drama
A full list of 2019-20 activities will be made available when school starts in September 2019.