We have noticed that not every EAL student brave enough to try out GCSEs in the UK is automatically ready for A level when the time comes. Simply getting through a full suite of GCSEs in a foreign language (ie English) takes amazing stamina. For students with the energy, but not necessarily the experience to make it to the next stage, we are putting in place the "foundation year". During the year, students will be exposed to a wide variety of experiences, and the focus is going to be very firmly placed on developing the language skills, the reporting skills and the critical thinking skills needed to thrive in UK A levels.
It is an experiment, and we'll probably try out things that don't work so well, alongside the things that we expect to deliver really good results. This is fine; education needs to be about experiment, and everyone involved in delivering this course is really excited about the freedom it offers to be creative. We have set up this blog as a running journal that the students themselves can maintain to chart their progress. It will include short written entries, a few nice 'photos and perhaps even the odd segment of video.
Great idea. I look forward to seeing what the students are getting up to in and outside the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis Saturday we will visit the Steam fair in Murton Park and will hopefully gain an useful insight in what to do in York at the weekend.
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