English Department

Vision

Thinking Pupils, Confident Communicators

Mission

Read Extensively, Listen Attentively, Speak Confidently, Write Effectively

Introduction

In line with the 2010 English Syllabus, the English Department places emphasis on experiential lessons in English, particularly for the Primary 1 and 2 pupils, as well as the development of oral skills of the pupils. The school also places an important emphasis on the BEAR (Be Enthusiastic About Reading) programme.

In addition, parental workshops are also conducted so that parents are well-informed of the various programmes.

Level Programmes

Primary 1 and Primary 2

STELLAR (STrategies for English Language Learning and Reading) lessons are carried out for the Primary 1 and 2 pupils. Pupils are engaged in cooperative learning strategies an they learn to work in groups. Learning Centres also play an important part in the teaching and learning of English.

Oral Skills

The Primary 1 and 2 pupils are also engaged in oral proficiency development lessons. Phonics lessons are conducted by the teachers. These lessons will amount to a yearly performance put up by the Primary 1 and 2 pupils. The focus is as follows:

Primary 1 – Rhymes Day

Primary 2 – Choral Reading Day

Since 2008, these two days have been combined to form “It’s Showtime!”.

In conjunction with “It’s Showtime!”, a STELLAR Art Exhibition is also put up. This features pupils’ artistic reproduction of the STELLAR book covers.

Learning Support Programme - Primary 1 and 2

The Learning Support Programme supports pupils who are weak in English through emphasis on Phonics and reading skills.

A trained Learning Support Coordinator supports the teaching and learning of this group of pupils.

Primary 3, 4, 5 and 6

In line with the focus of having experiential lessons, board games are incorporated into the lessons for the various levels, for example,

Primary 3 – Junior Spellers Competition

Primary 4 – Scrabble Competition

Primary 5 – Upwords Competition

At the Primary 6 level, a number of games has been set aside for the pupils as post-PSLE activities.

Primary 6 – Taboo, Pictionary Mania, Cluedo, etc.

In the area of the development of oracy skills, pupils in the upper primary are given various platforms to perform.

Primary 3 – Readers’ Theatre
Primary 4 – Radio Play
Primary 5 – Public Speaking
Primary 6 – Debates

In the area of ICT for English, the English Department, together with the Chinese Department, set up a PERFECT (Poi Ching’s Educational Radio For English & Chinese in Tampines) Station.

Primary 3 – Podcasting
Primary 4 – Young Reporters
Primary 5 – Roving Reporters

BEAR Programme

BEAR (Be Enthusiastic About Reading) is a new programme introduced by the department in 2010. Pupils and teachers are encouraged to engage in Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading before school and during the Reading period each week.

Parental Workshops

The department conducts a number of Parental Workshops in a year. Some of them include:

STELLAR Sharing for P1 parents
Learning Support Programme (LSP) for parents of LSP pupils
PSLE English Oral Workshop for parents
Cloze Passage Workshop for parents