Four of our students, who are teachers in their home country of Thailand, had the chance to visit a local primary school for students aged 4-7.
Pink, Pound, Yok and Nut, from Chulalongkorn School in Bangkok, visited Fair Oak Infant School to see what a British primary school is like, and to learn about the similarities and differences between the two schools.
They each visited classes, met the deputy headteacher, had a tour of the school, sampled a school lunch, learnt about the curriculum from teachers who teach the same subject as them, and of course spoke to the children. Some of the children learnt some Thai words such as ‘sawatdee’ (hello)! They were all very impressed by the school, as well as the children’s politeness and eagerness to learn.
All the teachers found the visit very beneficial. Pink, who teaches science, really appreciated the opportunity to visit a UK school, as it gave her the chance to compare it to her school in Thailand. Pound, a history teacher, really enjoyed learning about the curriculum and came away with several ideas that she could adapt for her classes. Yok, who teaches maths, was particularly interested in the way different ability levels were handled in the class. For example, all students studied the same topic, but children were seated on tables according to their ability and given different exercises according to their level. She also really liked the idea of the ‘Star of the Week’ award as it motivates students (we do something similar at Lewis School!). Nut, who teaches physical education (PE), found the lessons quite similar to his school in Thailand, but was interested to see how the teaching assistants here were used to support children with particular needs.
We would all like to say a special thank you to all the staff at Fair Oak Infant School for their kindness and their very warm welcome, and especially to Lauren Trumble, Deputy Headteacher / Curriculum Leader, for organising such a wonderful day.
Pink, Pound, Yok and Nut attended our General English course. Find out more here >
We also provide teacher training courses. Find out more here >
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