Programme and Philosophy
Based on our many years experience in British, American and International Schools, and mindful of recent advances in education, we have organised a language programme for primary children, which is appropriate and meaningful for each child in the Section. Using both British and American teaching materials, this allows for a variety of approaches, styles and a wider exposure to language and vocabulary in general. The programme has been designed to fit into a six-hour per week school programme and is appropriate to an International School environment where students have a wider range of educational backgrounds and experiences. Allowances have also been made to accommodate second language English students alongside native and near-native speakers.
However, we are not solely concerned with the simple acquisition of language skills. In all classrooms there is an environment of sharing and cultural exchange and this is even more true in our Anglophone classrooms where students are encouraged to talk about their different backgrounds and to learn from the experiences of others. In addition great emphasis is placed on lessons on creative and imaginative work and at all levels students are encouraged to express their own ideas and responses in a variety of ways, with confidence and enthusiasm. In this way primary classrooms are stimulating, child-centred places of learning where concern for the tolerance of each other is encouraged and where each child is able to participate and progress at an appropriate level.
It must be remembered that we are working in a bilingual situation: English lessons take up only 6 hours of your child’s weekly school time. Consequently it is of absolute importance that out of school children are given every opportunity to develop their English skills and are given as much contact with English (through story cassettes, videos, au pairs, holidays, etc.) as possible if they are to make significant and continued progress in English.
Parental Support
We cannot over stress the importance of parental involvement if we are to offer as interesting and valuable an educational experience as we would like. Parents could help enormously by:
- encouraging your child to see learning English as worthwhile and enjoyable;
- providing as great an exposure to English as possible (regular reading, holidays, au-pair, etc.);
- seeing that homework assignments are completed on time and to a standard appropriate to your child’s ability in English;
- seeing that children come prepared for lessons (see materials);
- communicating to your child’s teacher(s) should any problems or concerns arise;
- offering to help (in the classroom, for social events, trips and clubs, etc.).