Our leaders, values, and policies
Here to guide, inspire and support
Ben Toettcher
Director
Ben has 25 years experience of teaching and management in English Language, National Curriculum, and IB schools. He has a CELTA and DELTM (Diploma in English Language Teaching Management) and loves meeting families from all over the world to learn more about their culture.
Principal
Connor is committed to ensuring teaching at SKOLA is of the highest possible standard. He develops our teachers' expertise and makes sure classes at SKOLA are informative and fun. He has a TEFL qualification, a BSc in Psychology in Education, an MA in Education, and a PGCE. He is our designated safeguarding lead.
Connor Middleton
David Stephenson
Gloucester Gate Centre Manager
David is the Centre Manager and Director of Studies at SKOLA Gloucester Gate. He has a wealth of experience in English language teaching and summer schools. He is a trained Callan teacher and is leading the introduction of Callan into SKOLA, starting with SKOLA Gloucester Gate.
Welcome
Welcome to SKOLA,
SKOLA has provided education for children, adults and families for 50 years.
From the start, our founders, Niels and Ann Toettcher, placed students at the heart of everything they did. They wanted to grow their student's sense of identity by developing their confidence to communicate.
They believe this only comes from great teachers on exciting courses with enriching experiences. We continue with that philosophy today.
Ben Toettcher
School Manager
Company details
The company behind SKOLA is Progressive Tours Ltd. The full trading name is SKOLA English in London.
Registration Number: 00450807 | Registered Office: 46 Bois Lane, Chesham Bois, Bucks HP6 6BX
SKOLA's Mission, Rules and Values
Our Mission and purpose of our summer school
At SKOLA you will Learn English and discover British culture. We hope this will help you understand yourself and the world around you better. Not only will you learn about British culture from our teachers but also about the cultures of other students on the course.
Our Rules are the principles that our culture is based on and are visible in day-to-day interactions.
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To be ready: for our staff to be ready to teach and students ready to learn
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To be kind, to ourselves, each other, and our environment
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To be safe: to mitigate risks so we can be adventurous and open to new ideas.
Read how we are becoming more ready, kinder, and safer in 2025 here.
Our Values are what we hold dear and that which bind our community together.
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Skill – we value skilled educators and learners linking skills and knowledge
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Kind - we value being kind to ourselves, each other, and our environment
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Open – we value being open-minded and welcome different perspectives
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Language – we value clear and concise spoken, written, and visual communication
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Adventure – we value exploring new ideas and new places, safely.
Our Priorities for 2025 are what we will do in the year ahead and are based on our values.
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As we value skills, we will develop our induction for our teachers this year.
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As we value kindness, we will nurture our relationships with our families and agents, and reduce the paper we use this summer.
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As we value openness we will develop safer practices for our staff and student pick-up.
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As we value languages, we will develop our curricula and use ChatGPT to help us create even better lesson plans.
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As we value a spirit of adventure, we will offer our parents a lecture series and offer them more advice to help them in London.
Our Priorities for 2024 were:
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As we value skills, we will develop our training programmes for our teachers this year.
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As we value kindness, we will nurture our relationships with our families and agents, and investigate how to reduce the climatic impact we have on the world.
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As we value openness to new ideas, we will discover and implement new ideas in teaching and learning in our next summer school.
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As we value languages, we will develop our knowledge of English as well as commit to learning other languages to communicate better.
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As we value a spirit of adventure, we will look to develop our 10-17 course with sessions in exploring and leadership to better prepare our students for the modern world.
School information and policies
Safeguarding. We are dedicated to ensuring our students are safe whilst studying with us. Our staff and leaders are also trained in safeguarding. Please see our Safeguarding Policy. We also risk assess all activities and ensure measures are in place to reduce highlighted risks.
Special Educational Needs. We are not a special education needs school and do not have teachers with specific training for most special education needs. Please read our SEN Policy.
Complaints. We welcome feedback at SKOLA. If you have a complaint do speak to a manager to try to resolve it. Please see our Complaints Procedure.
Technology. Classrooms in SKOLA Regent's Park have 88in interactive whiteboards which help the teachers bring lessons to life. We also use AI to develop our curriculum, recruit teachers and plan lessons.
Malgosia Konieczna
SKOLA Regent's Park
Explorers Director of Studies
Gosia has over 30 years' experience is English language summer schools, International Baccalaureate schools and English language schools. She has worked with SKOLA for over 10 years and is the pedagogic leader in the team.
SKOLA Regent's Park
Leaders Director of Studies
Lana has worked in English language summer schools, International Baccalaureate schools, and English Prep schools for over 30 years. She develops our curricula bringing a creative spark to help engage students. She supports our teachers in delivering excellent lessons.
Lana Edwards
