Mini-Stay Groups 2024
School & Tour Groups
Our Ministay Short Stay Programmes run from September to June and attract school and tour groups from all over the world. We believe in working closely with teachers and leaders pre-arrival to ensure we have the correct syllabus and programme in place to provide a rewarding and enjoyable experience for your students.
Malahide is a safe, coastal village just 20 minutes from the city centre, giving your students the opportunity to see the best of Dublin while living a safe, less populated area. We meet all groups at Dublin Airport with a friendly face to start your journey of a thousand welcomes in Ireland.
With over 30 years of experience in providing English language mini stays, we understand the importance of providing academic and activity programmes specifically tailored for your group and have developed our programme to offer the best possible experience.
*Our School video (as shown here) can be used to promote your Groups to potential parents and give them an impression of our school. The Video shows our Summer Camps which is similar to our closed groups from Sept to June.
Tailored Group Programmes
Design your Programme
As part of our continuous efforts to maintain high-quality classes and to enhance our students’ experience, we work with schools or leaders before arrival to design the syllabus and activity programme around your students’ needs.
You can choose our standard programme or we can offer a range of programme options or work with you to design a programme to meet your needs.
Our teachers are highly qualified and experienced and we can cater for groups from beginners to bilingual students.
Tailor your standard syllabus programme:
- Add extra hours of English classes
- Focus on exam preparation
- Beyond Fluent Irish literature and culture
- Project-based classes
- Design your own programme
Tailor your standard activity programme:
- Choose your activities
- Add evening activities
Perfect Location
The Irish College of English has been in the heart of Malahide for over 25 years. Situated on Dublin’s coastline, Malahide’s many attractions include Malahide Castle, a beautiful Seaside Village, Marina and Coastal Walks. Our location offers students the best possible experience of Dublin. Students enjoy Dublin city’s highlights while living in a safe residential area. Uniquely, our juniors can either walk to school or are a very short bus journey away in surrounding neighborhoods.
Sample Programme
15 hours English Tuition per week: Mon – Fri 9.00am – 12.15pm
Packed Lunch at School: 12.15pm – 12.40pm
5 Half-Day Activities per week: 12.40pm – 5.00pm
1 Full Day Saturday Excursion Outside of Dublin: 09:00am – 5.00pm
General Information
Perfect Locations
Our Malahide Location allows students enjoy the benefits of seeing the highlights of Dublin, but living in a quieter seaside area which is less populated and benefits from a perfect location. Our school’s Dublin Coastal Town location of Malahide, is ideal as a safe place within easy reach of Dublin, offering parents and students and leaders peace of mind.
Malahide, Dublin
Our Ministays are held in Malahide, Dublin. Malahide is on Dublin’s coastline and one or Ireland’s most picturesque and affluent towns. Our school has built its reputation on the quality of our home stays all of which are within walking distance/very short bus journey away from the school. Students experience Irish life in a safe friendly town with easy access to Dublin City for our sightseeing tours.
The Irish College of English has been in the heart of Malahide for over 25 years. Situated on Dublin’s coastline, Malahide’s many attractions include Malahide Castle, a Beautiful Seaside Village, Marina and Coastal Walks. Our location offers students the best possible experience of Dublin. Students enjoy Dublin City’s highlights while living in a safe residential area. Uniquely, our juniors can either walk to school or are a very short bus journey away in surrounding neighborhoods. Malahide is just 22 minutes by Dart to Dublin City Centre and 10 mins from Dublin Airport making it a great option for a Junior stay.
Recognition & Reputation
We are recognised by ACELS, a service of Quality and Qualifications Ireland, for English Language Education. We have also been locally and internationally recognised for the quality experiences we offer and continue to receive excellent parent and student feedback.
Award Winning School
We were delighted to be awarded Best Language School 2024 at The Education Awards. In 2019, we were voted Best Language School in Ireland by the Education Stars Award, based on Google and Facebook reviews. The Fingal Business Excellence Awards named us finalist for Business of the Year 2023. The Education Awards also shortlisted us for Best Language School in 2023, 2022, and 2021. In 2015, we became the first language school in Ireland to be shortlisted for the Study Travel Magazine Star Awards – Junior Course Under 18’s Global Industry Award. We have also been honoured by Malahide Chamber of Commerce with the Service Excellence Award for a clear demonstration of excellent and consistent customer service and with Organisation of the Year Award.
Professional English Classes
We have a specially designed Junior Syllabus to encourage your students’ progression and confidence. We can adapt our syllabus to cater for your students’ needs and offer a wide range of possible lesson plans. We believe in real materials and growing to love the language by living it. Classes are closed and have a maximum of 15 students per class. 15 full hours tuition per week and use of text book is included (Classes 9.00am to 12.15pm each day with a 15 minute break). As part of our continuous efforts to maintain high quality classes and to enhance our student’s intercultural experience, we have weekly lessons called the Intercultural Teenage Programme. Irish, teenage students will join lessons to lead an exercise alongside teacher which allows our students the opportunity to connect with Irish teenagers, their peers and we have had an incredibly positive response to this programme.
Choosing Dates
We are flexible regarding arrival and departure days and times and we accept stays from 4 nights to 4 weeks. We meet all groups at Dublin airport and operate professional airport transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Group Size
We cater for groups from 15 plus students and can cater for groups up to 140 students at any one time.
English Classes – Building Fluency
The Irish College of English is recognised by ACELS, a service of Quality and Qualifications Ireland, for English Language Teaching. Progression is our focus and we aim to develop a love of the language in our students. As part of our academic policy, students are evaluated pre-arrival and placed in the correct level. On completion of their course, students receive a progress report from their teacher and a certificate of attainment.
Lessons are held every morning, from Monday to Friday and each course is supported by its own carefully planned syllabus and course book. Lessons focus on developing the core language skills, with specific emphasis given to speaking and listening. We use highly interactive exercises and task-based projects to refine and amplify our students’ communication skills. We will work with you to design the syllabus that suits your students. We are flexible and adaptable.
As part of our continuous efforts to maintain high-quality classes and to enhance our students’ experience, we have introduced the Intercultural Irish Teenage Programme. Each week Irish teenagers join lessons to lead an exercise alongside our teachers giving your students the opportunity to connect with Irish teenagers. We have had an incredibly positive response to this programme.
Home Stays Nearby
All our students stay in carefully selected home stays either in Malahide or surrounding areas, so that they can walk to school or take a very short bus journey. Our hosts are the highlight of the experience and have quality assurance procedures in place, ensuring great stays for all our students.
What's Included
All Inclusive – Standard Programme with Activities
When you choose our standard programme with activities everything is included, there are no extra charges for registration or administration. All activities, travel passes, entrance fees and meals are included.
Classes
Tuition
We have a specially designed Junior Syllabus to encourage your students’ progression and confidence. We believe in real materials and growing to love the language by living it. Classes are closed and have a maximum of 15 students per class. 15 full hours tuition per week and use of text book is included (Classes 9.00am to 12.15pm each day with a 15 minute break).
Student Report & Certificate
Students receive a Certificate of Attendance and Attainment at the end of their course and also an individual hand-written teacher report on their progress.
Accommodation
Accommodation – Home Stays
All our accommodation is in home stays in Malahide within walking distance/very short bus journey from our school. We guarantee one nationality per family or you can place your students in pairs. Our hosts typically take 2-3 students at a time with a maximum of 2 students per bedroom. Hosts will do students’ laundry as part of their normal home routine. We carefully match students with hosts.
Meals
Hosts provide breakfast, packed lunch and evening meal. Meals are nutritious and we can cater for special diets on request.
24/7 Support
All our students and group leaders have our emergency number which is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Our team is always available and ready to assist.
Activities
Weekday Activities
If you opt for our activity programme students have a full schedule from 9am – 5pm each day from Monday to Friday. Classes in the morning and activities & tours in the afternoon. You can opt to add an experienced Irish Leader to accompany your group on all activities (for an additional cost). Our students go to Dublin City Centre at least twice a week and have an engaging fun programme of tours, sports, shows and leisure activities.
Full – Day Trips
If you opt for our activity programme each Saturday your group will have a full-day trip to see the best of the surrounding areas. Examples of Day Trips are Glendalough, Kilkenny, Belfast, Dublin Zoo.
Travel Pass
With our activity programme students and leaders receive a Dublin Travel Pass for unlimited public transport for the duration of their stay, students use the travel pass for the activity programme and travel within Malahide/surrounding areas.
Airport Transfers
We collect all groups from Dublin Airport and from here you will take a private coach to Malahide which just takes 10 minutes. You will be met by your host families to begin your experience.
Ministays - Photo Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
Students are woken by their hosts, have a shower and eat breakfast. Students are given a packed lunch for the day. Students walk to school and return home at about 6 pm after their tuition and activity programme. On returning home, students have dinner with their hosts and chat about what happened that day. Students may spend the evening relaxing and chatting with the hosts or meet up with friends in the locality. A strict curfew applies when all students must be home. Students and hosts have 24 hour access to an emergency phone number and a member of our team is always on duty to help.
Our ministay stay programme operates closed groups. This means that your group will be split into classes based on maximum of 15 students per class e.g. Group size 28 students = 2 Classes. We generally will have a few different groups in the school at any time. So there will be students in the school of different nationalities and also in the home stay but classes are closed. We operate a closed system as groups generally have different educational and level requirements and it makes for the best academic experience.
We base a 1 week stay on 7 nights accommodation, 2 weeks on 14 nights. Groups can arrive any date of the week with stays from 4 nights upwards. We are very flexible as to arrival/departure time so please book best available flights and we can organise airport transfers.
There is a maximum of 15 students per class with on average 13 students per class
Leaders stay in home stays specificially for leaders and adults and have single room full board. Guest house options are also available.
All our teachers have a Bachelors Degree and a further Teaching English Qualification and all our teachers are recognised as qualified English Language Teachers under ACELS.
We test students on arrival and monitor their progress including weekly tests so students are able to move levels should we feel they are not in the correct level.
We can offer all level of class and can also include elements designed specifically for what your group requires e.g. project work, culture, literature, Cambridge exam work, fluency training etc
we will agree this with you pre arrival, but it is generally 9pm.
Yes, we offer a 24 hour emergency contact number and are always available to help.
Hosts will show students to school. On arrival they will be given welcome information and shown to their class.
Yes, we provide letters for all students coming from outside the EU who need a visa to enter Ireland.
Deposits are non refundable, for cancellations made 21 days or more pre arrival , the remainder of fees will be refunded.
Yes typically once a week by the host.
Yes you will receive a pack list and student handbook pre arrival.
No, students are not allowed to leave Malahide/Portmarnock without written consent from their parents and we would advise parents not to encourage students travelling to Dublin City alone.
No, you will need to book your own flights
Approximately half of our students are individuals and the other half come with organised groups. Individuals will all be together for afternoon activities and are separated by age so it is easy to make new friends.
Our age range is from 11 to 17 years of age, however students in the group who are 18 and over can attend adult classes.
Yes, all students and group leaders receive a Handbook and Packing List pre arrival.
You will receive your host family profile including a map of their location 3 weeks pre arrival.
Yes, their email address will be on their profile.
We are always here to help and will move a child to a new home stay or class and assist in whatever way we can to ensure your child is happy.
Yes, on our homestay programmes students are often unsupervised e.g. going to and from school, in the evenings, during free time etc.
We have a member of our staff wait for your group at the airport. We will have a coach waiting who will take you the short journey to Malahide (10 mins) where your host families will be waiting for the group.
All our hosts are from our locality which means they are all within walking distance of our school or a very short bus journey away. This ensures they are members of the local community which we feel is very important. We visit all hosts and ensure they and their homes are suitable for hosting students. We also ensure all family members are garda vetted and continually monitor feedback to ensure we work only with welcoming caring hosts.
Hosts normally accommodate 2 or 3 students at a time. You can choose to place our students in pairs or one per family and there will probably be another nationality student in the home also attending our school with another group.
No, we guarantee one nationality per house unless your students wish to stay in pairs etc.
Student either walk to and from school (within a 30 minute walk) or take a short bus journey. As students have a travel pass with most programmes they can also take a local bus for a few stops if they prefer not to walk.
Yes, they are all English Speakers.
Sunday is a relaxation free day, we ask both hosts and students to spend at least half the day together taking part in the normal family routine, students are also free to meet up with friends but must stay in Malahide/Portmarnock.
Yes we can cater for some special diets within reason, just check with us pre-booking and sometimes a supplement will apply.
Your students will receive a certificate of attainment and attendance and also an individual teachers report on their progress.
The CEFR is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which was developed to provide a common basis for the explicit description of objectives, content and methods in second/foreign language education. All of the programmes at ICE are aligned to this scale. For more information on the CEFR and levels within ICE, please click here.
Yes, all of our programmes are aligned to the CEFR and we offer levels from A2 to C1 e.g. Beginner to Advanced Learner across our programmes.
Your end of our course Certificate will record the number of hours you have studied at our school and it will note that you have progressed with reference to the CEFR descriptors at a certain CEFR level.
E.g. Sofia Rodrigo has attended an English Language Course for 40 hours and has progressed with reference to the CEFR descriptor at Upper Intermediate Level (B2)
