The posting
Support Educator – Lower Primary - Full-time | Starting August 2026 | Budapest, Hungary
Join a future-making school
Years 3–5 / Grades 2–4 (ages 7–9)
Full-time | Starting Immediately 2026 | Budapest, Hungary
Are you a warm, capable educator who loves being outdoors with children and wants to do more than support a classroom — to actually help shape what learning can look like? Do you want to work alongside teachers who treat children as people with ideas worth taking seriously, and who spend a full day every week outside, working with the land? If so, read on.
The role
In this role, you will work alongside our lead educators in lower primary, supporting the learning of children aged roughly 7 to 9. You will help bring our Dream to Reality (D2R) programme to life — a blend of immersive project-based learning and rigorous academic instruction — while ensuring every child can access what is happening in the classroom and feel they belong.
Every Wednesday, the lower primary spends the day in nature. The children are not just visiting — they are working on regenerating it. You will be alongside them in all weathers, helping them learn through doing: planting, observing, building, repairing, looking after a place over time. This is one of the most distinctive parts of our week, and it asks something real of the adults in it. You need to genuinely love being outside, in cold and rain as well as in sun, and to find a day in the woods or on the land more energising than tiring.
Day to day across the rest of the week, you will support individuals and small groups, help children who are still developing their English access the learning, prepare materials and the learning environment, and be a steady, attentive presence with the children throughout the school day.
You do not need to be a PBL expert. We will train you. What you must bring is genuine warmth with children, a love of the outdoors, strong communication skills, and a real desire to grow as an educator.
About REAL School Budapest
REAL School is an international school for changemakers — a place where about a hundred students from over 25 nationalities, ages 5–14, learn through real life, real projects, and real relationships. We follow the English National Curriculum for academic mastery, and our D2R programme puts that knowledge to work: students identify real problems, design real solutions, and present them to real audiences.
We describe ourselves as a regenerative school. For us, that means education that doesn’t just sustain the world as it is, but actively works to repair and improve it — starting with how we treat each other, how we relate to the natural world, and how we help children see themselves as people who can make things better.
We were inspired by Green School Bali, where our founding team previously worked, and we’ve built something distinctly urban and European in the heart of Budapest. We run as a TEAL organisation — with distributed leadership, high trust, and very little hierarchy. If you’ve been waiting for a school where your voice actually shapes things, this is it.
Our mission is to inspire and empower the next generation to dream and build a beautiful world.
Tech and AI in lower primary — what this means for you
Lower primary is a deliberately tech-free environment for children. There are no devices and no AI tools in the children’s hands at this stage. We believe young children learn best through real materials, real conversation, real experience in the natural world, and real relationships with the adults around them. Protecting that is part of our job.
For you as an educator, however, AI and digital tools are part of how we work behind the scenes:
- You will use AI tools to prepare and adapt materials, differentiate resources for individual learners, and reduce the administrative load — so your time with the children stays focused on the children
- You will work in a school that has thought carefully about why and how AI fits into a child’s education, including when it doesn’t
- You do not need to arrive as an AI expert. You need to arrive curious, open, and keen to grow — and we will grow together
Key responsibilities
Supporting teaching and learning
- Work alongside the lead educator to deliver inclusive PBL experiences across literacy, humanities, science, and environmental understanding
- Provide individualised support to children, adapting to their unique learning styles and needs
- Support children who are developing their English so they can fully access the learning
- Help prepare materials, resources, and the learning environment so each lesson can run well
- Support small groups and individuals to understand content and complete tasks
- Help maintain high expectations through positive, restorative classroom management
Outdoors and regeneration
- Spend every Wednesday in nature with the children, in all weathers, supporting their learning and care of the land
- Co-lead learning excursions and community-based experiential learning throughout the year
- Help children build a real, working relationship with the natural world — not just an idea of it
Collaboration and growth
- Participate actively in our team meetings and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
- Collaborate across our core programmes: D2R, Regeneration, Wellbeing, and Literacy
- Take part in professional development, including in PBL, AI-integrated teaching, and regenerative education
- Contribute to projects that emerge from our distributed leadership culture
Children and community
- Build warm, trusting relationships with children, families, and colleagues
- Help foster belonging, reflection, and social-emotional growth in everyday classroom life
- Supervise children indoors, outdoors during breaks, and on excursions to ensure their safety and wellbeing
- Model REAL School’s regenerative ethos through authentic practice and reflection
Qualifications and experience
Essential
- Fluent English
- EU citizenship or a transferable residency and work permit for Hungary
- Experience working with children aged 5–9, ideally in a school or NGO setting
- A genuine love of the outdoors and a willingness to spend a full day in nature each week, in all weathers
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organisational skills
- A natural ability to build strong, positive relationships with children and parents
- Patience, kindness, compassion, and a strong sense of humour
- Commitment to inclusive, student-centred, experiential learning
- Alignment with our school values, including support for our plant-based meal approach, a commitment to equity, and a genuine care for the environment
Desirable
- A degree in education or a teaching qualification
- Experience as a teaching assistant or support educator in an international primary school
- Outdoor education, forest school, gardening, or land-based experience
- English as an additional language teaching experience
- A Montessori, Reggio Emilia, or other progressive child-centred background
- PBL experience, or experience with restorative practices
- Fluent Hungarian, or any additional language
- Passion for and experience in environmental sustainability, social equity, impact entrepreneurship, science, or the arts
- Music, creative, or other artistic skills
Personal qualities
- You live the values of Passion, Equity, Authenticity, Care, and Excellence (PEACE)
- You are an empathetic, reflective communicator who builds real trust with children, families, and colleagues
- You are adaptable, growth-oriented, and genuinely excited by the opportunity to co-create something new — not just deliver something already built
Safeguarding and inclusion
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. REAL School Budapest is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including references from previous employers. An International Child Protection Certificate or equivalent will be required for all countries lived in prior to taking up the role.
We champion a culture of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging (DEIJB). REAL School is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.
What we offer
- A genuine opportunity to contribute to progressive education in an ambitious, values-driven school
- Fair compensation in a city where the cost of living is significantly lower than in Western Europe or the Gulf
- Free plant-based meals every day from our on-site canteen, the Planteen — the first plant-based canteen in Europe
- A working culture built on trust, distributed leadership, and professional autonomy
- Ongoing development in PBL, outdoor and regenerative education, and AI-integrated teaching
- A small, international team of educators who are here because they believe in this
- Membership of a community of changemakers — students, families, and colleagues included
Why Budapest?
Budapest is one of Europe’s most liveable cities. In 2024, the Economist Intelligence Unit named it the most liveable city in Eastern Europe, as well as one of the top five most improved cities on the planet.
A rich cultural life, excellent food, and easy access to the rest of Europe are all part of everyday life here. The city has a growing international community, a vibrant arts and tech scene, and a warmth that surprises most newcomers. It is safe, beautiful, and endlessly interesting. Many of our team came for a year and are still here.
How to apply
Click Apply Now, upload your CV, and share an unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link to a short video (up to 4 minutes) telling us why this role excites you and what you would bring to it. The video is important to us — it is the fastest way for us to get a sense of who you are.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The closing date is when the position is filled.
For questions, reach out to us at [email protected].
