The Staff

All our staff at ‘ELC’ are friendly, experienced and well qualified in the teaching of English using the ‘Laugh, Learn and Succeed – Osmosis Technique’ . Lesson planning with exam preparation, progress checking and innovative teaching methods ensure that you will learn English well and rapidly providing that you have the correct attitude to learning and the motivation to improve.

Mr Séan Mc Burney

Mr Séan Mc Burney

The Principal / Director & Teacher – ‘Designated Prevent Strategic Lead’ – ‘First Aider’First-Aid

Educated in England, Ireland and France. He completed a University of Oxford Certificate in Education 1972 and qualified as a Ministry of Education teacher in English, French and drama / theatre. He has visited many countries in Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, as well as Africa – learning about different cultures and traditions.
He has been preparing student customers for the IELTS, Cambridge and TOEFL examinations for entry to UK Universities, Higher Education Institutions and Company Training Courses for over 40 years.
As a Northern Irishman he enjoys fishing, reading newspapers, watching rugby and telling stories over a glass of ‘lemonade’ .

Mr McBurney (McB) is a member of Reading Abbey Rotary Club – https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=563
Rotary International Logo

alison

‘ELC’ experience for me it has been an amazing experience because I'm confident person when I speak English with people. ‘ELC’ is a friendly school. I recommend ‘ELC’ because I hve learnt a lot, the teachers are very professional. Mr McBurney is a good man. read more...

Alison, Spain 5th March 2015

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Olena

Olena

Bursar – school fees and financial affairs.First-Aid

Having first visited and studied in the UK from 1999 – 2003 she moved here permanently in 2004. She is University educated and formerly worked in the Pathology Department (Haematology) of The Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading for four years. She speaks Russian and understands Ukrainian, enjoys meeting new students, cooking, swimming and the sauna.

Lynnie

Lynnie

Teacher – Academic Manager – ‘First Aider’ First-Aid ‘Designated Safeguarding Lead’

With a BA in Languages and Linguistics, she has taught and travelled all over the world, from Europe to Africa, Asia, Australia and beyond!

She is passionate about helping students achieve their goals through language and communication and she is happiest when her students can see the progress they are making. She loves teaching in an environment of small classes where learning with fun can have a real impact on how quickly students improve.
When she is not outside horse-riding or kayaking along The Thames, she is following her other passions – music and theatre.

Chrissie

Chrissie

Cover Teacher and support to the ‘Academic manager’

She is a Trinity Diploma (DELTA) qualified English language teacher with a P.G.C.E in adult education with over thirty years’ experience of teaching at colleges and language schools in Devon, Madrid, Reading college and now at ‘ELC’ where she has taught for over three years.

She has taught many different courses during her teaching career including the Cambridge suite of exams (KET,PET and FCE), ESOL City and Guilds at various levels and Business English. Recently she has also been an examiner for the ESOL City and Guilds speaking and listening exams. She loves teaching and getting to know students from around the globe and enjoys an excellent rapport with learners which she believes brings out the best from them, increases their confidence and fosters a co-operative friendly atmosphere in which learners can flourish. She is also a strong believer in student centred well-structured lessons using a variety of teaching methods to suit the varied student needs and preferences and most of all she believes that learning should be fun!!

When not teaching, Chrissie enjoys travelling, learning languages, reading historical novels and visiting places of historical or geographical interest. (She is a keen member of the National Trust). Chrissie looks forward to welcoming you to the ELC and can assure you that your learning experience will be a rewarding and enjoyable one!

Paul

Paul

Teacher

Paul holds the Cambridge DELTA and DTLLS, as well as a Joint Honours degree in English and Drama. He has been teaching English since 1993, and in that time has been Director of Studies for one of the largest language schools in Turkey, and lecturer and Programme Leader at Reading College. As well as teaching at ELC, he also lectures at Reading University. He has also presented at ELT conferences on a wide range of topics, from the theoretical to the practical. Paul’s main interests in language teaching are materials design and blended and distance learning using online education platforms.
Paul speaks fluent Turkish, having taught himself, and has a wide interest in other languages. Outside of teaching, he is a Voice Artist, making recordings of audiobooks, elearning, gaming and adverts for clients around the globe. He has also returned to performing on stage in recent years, and has been in several stage and film productions.