info@donegallanguageschool.com

English only Information Pack

Firstly, we would like to thank you for choosing us for your English language holiday. Please find below further information on your stay.

What to bring

As much as we love our green country the weather can be unpredictable so we recommend the following items:

  • Water Bottle – It is possible to drink the water from the taps in Ireland
  • Waterproof jacket
  • One towel
  • Warm clothes i.e. jumpers, jackets
  • Three pin plug adaptor for any electrical equipment e.g. mobiles, cameras etc.
  • Photocopy of your passport (please keep separately from your passport)
  • A white t shirt/baseball hat (for drawing/spraying graffiti on)
  • Pocket money approx € 50 per week (maybe a little more if you want to buy some presents
  • Damage deposit of €50 per person in cash (see below)*

For Class & School

  • A copybook and pens
  • A device – some classes are digital so please bring a phone/laptop

General Information

Contact

Students and group leaders can be contacted on 0035 387 051 85 92.  Students can be contacted from 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm each evening.

Residential Address: Donegal Language School, Portbeg, West End, Bundoran, Co Donegal 

Allergies

We cater for all allergies. Due to an increasing volume of students with nut allergies, we do not allow nuts on campus.

Host Family

Host families want you to be a member of the family. They will appreciate your efforts to integrate, your active participation in family life and activities. Your smile, your gratitude and enthusiasm will be the best reward for the host family efforts and encourage the success of your stay.

You must always pay your share during an extra-curricular activity with your family. Please use your own mobile or an international calling card when using the host family phone

If not within 5 minutes walking distance, host families will bring you to school each morning and the school bus or host family will take you home every evening. You will have a warm lunch Monday to Friday at the school, a packed lunch on Saturdays and on Sundays you will have lunch with your family.

On Monday, Thursdays and Saturdays, host family students will partake in evening activities on campus, during these evenings you will have dinner on campus and return to your family afterwards. On Friday evening, you can have free time to go into town. If you wish for your son/daughter not to go into the town centre unaccompanied, please contact us.

As we are 3 hours and twenty-five minutes by bus from Dublin airport, students who are staying in host family and have an early departure (before 2 pm) may be asked to stay on the residential campus the night before. We will notify you on the Friday before departure if you will be moving into residential accommodation. If this is the case, the family will drop you to the residential centre @ 9.15 am on Saturday morning before the excursion with your bags. You will be allocated your room on return from the excursion.

Insurance

It is compulsory to have a European Health Insurance Card. This is free for all European countries and will cover any doctor or hospital appointments in the case of any medical issues. It is also compulsory for all clients to have travel insurance. For all non-European citizens, you must take out private medical and travel insurance. We can arrange this for you or you can arrange it yourself.

*Damage deposit

Junior Students, please note a damage deposit of €50 per person is due in cash on arrival. This is refunded on departure, on the condition that no damages have been made.

Laundry

Laundry is included in the programme. We collect the laundry every Thursday/Friday and it is returned to the students every Friday/Saturday. 

Internet Access

There is free WIFI at the school.  We also have WIFI at the residential accommodation in three houses.  The other houses do not have WIFI access.  The students in these houses can use the WIFI in the common area at the main house or at the school.  Most host families have WIFI. 

Safe

There is a safe in the coordinators room in each house for the residential students to put their valuables and money in. Their ID and money will be placed here on day of arrival. They will have weekly access to their money. We recommend that the students place their money here.

Mobile Phone Usage

Please note that in order to encourage English language use and a more interactive language learning experience, phone use is restricted to 5.15 pm – 10.00 pm during the week for residential students. Students are allowed to use their phones on Fridays and at the weekends. Occasionally during the week, students will use their phones for some class room activities. Students in host families will not have their phones during the day 9.00 am – 5.15 pm approximately, Monday to Thursday.

For any emergencies, please contact 00353 87 051 8592. 

Covid Guidelines

Covid 19

We HIGHLY recommend all students to come to Ireland fully vaccinated. If students are unable to be vaccinated for health or other reasons, they must take an antigen test before arrival and only come into the country if this test is negative.

All students should bring at least 3 antigen tests with them to Ireland in case of a suspected case of Covid 19. If a student has Covid 19 symptoms they should remain in their room alone and take the antigen test brought with them from their home country.

If a student tests positive for Covid 19 while with us, they will remain in isolation in their host family until they test negative. The same rule applies to host families, if a member of the host family tests positive for Covid 19, the student must remain in the same host family and continue to attend school unless they test positive.

The above is based on Irish government HSE guidelines and these are the guidelines that we will be following. You can see up to date information from the HSE here: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/close-contact/

Bank Holidays

On Bank holiday Mondays (17 March, 13 April, 4 May, 1 June & 26 October 2020), there will be no English classes, students are offered an excursion/activity in place).  On August 03rd, the school is open as normal.

Residential

The residential centre is within three minutes’ walk of the school.  Students are housed in four bedroom houses with 8 – 11 students per house and one coordinator.  The students will have their breakfast in the house, lunch and dinner is at the language school.

Important Travel Documents

Here is important information when travelling to Ireland with children under 18.  Please click here.

Please ensure that your son/daughter/student is travelling with the necessary documents.

Transfers

If opting for collection from Dublin airport

We are based 3 hours and 25 minutes by bus from Dublin airport.  For this reason, we group transfers together.  Typically, we have 2/3 buses at the airport on Sundays, this depends on arrival and departure times and number of students arriving.

The shared transfers are based on arrivals between 11 am – 6 pm and departures between 11 am – 6 pm.  Students will typically have a 1 – 3 hour wait before the bus leaves the airport.  These times may vary if there are flight delays, lost luggage by airlines etc.

Please also note that for departures, if you flight is before 1.30-2 pm, you will leave Bundoran around 4.30 am in the morning, this allows for adequate check in time at the airport (you need a minimum of three hours check in time in the summer) and then 3.25 hours to reach Dublin. 

Collection: On entrance of arrivals in Terminal 1 please make your way over to the right.  You will see a sign saying Meeting point.  Under or around this sign will be a Donegal Language School representative waiting to meet you with a Donegal English Language School Sign(see below).

 

If you are flying into Terminal 2 (Aer Lingus) please make your way to the right and one of our representatives will be there to meet you.

They will have a sign showing the DELS LOGO

 Airport sign will look like this:

 

Baggage: Each airline has individual baggage weight restrictions.

Please adhere to and leave room in your bag for presents going home.  We have had experiences of students paying up to €100 for excess baggage and don’t wish to see this happening again.  Excess baggage is the responsibility of the student. 

Note:

We have noticed student’s bags being delayed by a few days, particularly in summer time.  If this happens, the bags are typically dropped to the centre within 3 days. Before leaving, please ensure that you:

  1. Take a picture of your bag before leaving in case the bag does get lost
  2. Put your name and  something distinguishable on your bag, so it is easily identifiable
  3. Carry a change of clothes and toothbrush in your carry-on bag.

If opting for collection from Knock airport 

  • Collection: On entrance of arrivals please make your way to arrivals. A DELS representative will be waiting to meet you with a Donegal English Language School Sign. 

If opting for public bus from Dublin airport

There is a direct bus from Dublin airport to Ballyshannon every two hours. To arrive at the bus stop, walk out of arrivals from terminal 1 and cross the road, go through the tunnel and you will see a spar shop on your left, walk outside and to the left is the bus stop. Please go to zone noted beside Dublin Airport on this link. We then offer free transfers from Ballyshannon to Bundoran between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm daily. For transfers outside of these times we can arrange a taxi for you. The taxi fee is around € 15

If we are collecting you from the bus in Ballyshannon, please send us an SMS to 0035 387 600 82 05 once you get on the bus in Dublin and then again when the bus reaches Enniskillen. It is really important that you do this as sometimes the bus is late and it ensures that our driver is not waiting a long time to collect you.

Boarding Cards
Please set your son/daughter up with the airline app and they can then check in online prior to arrival and departure.  If you need boarding cards to be printed, please email activity@donegallanguageschool.com before 6 pm on Saturday evening.

Please note that the office email addresses are not manned after 5 pm on Friday evening and activity@donegallanguageschool.com is not manned after 6 pm on Saturday.

If arriving by car

The address of the camp is Donegal Language School,  1 Portbeg, West End Bundoran.  You can find directions here

Arrival is anytime after 4 pm.

Good Conduct

Students must not be disrespectful or act in a threatening manner to fellow students or staff of Donegal English Language School or any members of the community. This includes raising their voices, using foul words or foul gestures, broadcasting music with explicit lyrics, being argumentative towards others or being disruptive in class. Discrimination based on sexual preference, race, physical or mental ability, religion, age or ethnicity is not tolerated. Items which promote or encourage discrimination or illegal activity will be confiscated. Smoking and chewing gum is not permitted in the school buildings. Food and drinks are not permitted in classrooms.

The student is responsible for any damage he or she may cause to buildings, furniture, fittings, individuals, host family property etc. while registered with DELS. Should a student behave in an unseemly and/or inappropriate manner that may bring the school or its agent into disrepute or cause damage to its reputation or standing in any way, either real or imagined, he or she will be asked to leave.

Should a student break other school rules or behave badly he/she may be withdrawn from activities until behaviour improves.

If gross misconduct occurs, i.e. bullying or breaking an Irish law (including drinking of alcohol, stealing or drug taking), the student will not be welcome to participate further in the course and will be removed immediately from the programme).

Parents must make arrangements for the students to leave the campus/host family promptly/within 2 days. 

Free Time

Students will be walked to town and allowed to go to the different shops, amusements or supermarkets for one hour one evening per week. Students must go as part of a group. No student is allowed to go alone without prior permission from the coordinators. If you do not wish for your son/daughter to do this, please let us know in advance of their stay.

For residential students only – there will be free time on Sunday. Students are allowed to visit the town unaccompanied between 10 am – 3 pm. Students aged 11 will be accompanied, students aged 12 + will be unaccompanied.  If you wish for your son/daughter not to go to the town centre unaccompanied, please contact us.

Excursions

Students will visit a place of cultural interest and have some free time shopping. Students over 12 will be unaccompanied during the free time shopping. If you wish for your son/daughter not to be unaccompanied, please contact us.

What happens on my first day?

Arrivals for students are generally on a Sunday.  All students are welcomed to and shown to their accommodation followed by a short introductory meeting. This meeting will go through the first day and any questions that may arise. On the first day of school, students take a test covering reading, writing, listening and speaking to ensure that they are placed in a level most suitable to them.

If the students have opted for one of the activity packages, their chosen sport takes place in the afternoon/morning depending on their age and level. Student Coordinators are on hand to help and assist all students through their first day.

Please click on the links to log on to facebook or instagram for regular updates on campus life @ DELS.

Parents hereby commit to undertaking full financial responsibilities if their son/daughter is dismissed early from the programme in the event of bad behaviour.