Pt. England Primary & Intermediate School
Monday morning I arrived nice and early to the school to begin the day. I started off in the teacher’s lounge (the warmest room in the building) before heading to Team 5’s block. There are five classrooms connected by a large common area that the students call “The Street.” The students gather together at 8:30 every morning on “The Street” to sing and pray together before the days announcements. They are arranged in rows and sit cross legged, one behind the other, quietly. If they are really squirmy, they are asked to reconvene over and over until they can assemble quickly and quietly.
There is a lot of emphasis on obendiant, respectful behavior and the teachers talk regularly about being leaders to all the younger students. I appreciate that there is very little coddling; the instructions are very no-nonsense. Expectations are clear and firm.
After the morning assembly, the students head to their “home rooms” for attendance and daily instructions. Shortly after the teachers organize their classes, the students switch rooms to attend their maths, literacy, or reading classes. There is a lot of shuffling around between the block 5 students as they collect their chrome books and sort into the appropriate group. The fluidity and self-directed nature of the program lends itself better to some students than others. Some students are responsible and motivated to complete their tasks (which are primarily online) and others are not. A lot of the boys are taking advantage of the lack of supervision to listen to music, play around with each other, or mess around on the internet. There are small explicit lessons to go over basic concepts, but the majority of the time students are expected to manage their own learning. All of their lessons and practice is on a school website. I think that the website itself is a valuable, comprehensive resource with a lot of valuable activities.
The days are spent cycling through the different subjects, except on a Tuesdays and Thursdays; on Tuesdays and Thursdays the years 7 and 8 split up and one whole class will walk down to the local “college” (high school) to have a tech class while the other class stays back for activities of their own.
I attended a cooking class and a “hard materials” class where we made chocolate muffins and pewter pendants, respectively.
There is a lot of emphasis on obendiant, respectful behavior and the teachers talk regularly about being leaders to all the younger students. I appreciate that there is very little coddling; the instructions are very no-nonsense. Expectations are clear and firm.
After the morning assembly, the students head to their “home rooms” for attendance and daily instructions. Shortly after the teachers organize their classes, the students switch rooms to attend their maths, literacy, or reading classes. There is a lot of shuffling around between the block 5 students as they collect their chrome books and sort into the appropriate group. The fluidity and self-directed nature of the program lends itself better to some students than others. Some students are responsible and motivated to complete their tasks (which are primarily online) and others are not. A lot of the boys are taking advantage of the lack of supervision to listen to music, play around with each other, or mess around on the internet. There are small explicit lessons to go over basic concepts, but the majority of the time students are expected to manage their own learning. All of their lessons and practice is on a school website. I think that the website itself is a valuable, comprehensive resource with a lot of valuable activities.
The days are spent cycling through the different subjects, except on a Tuesdays and Thursdays; on Tuesdays and Thursdays the years 7 and 8 split up and one whole class will walk down to the local “college” (high school) to have a tech class while the other class stays back for activities of their own.
I attended a cooking class and a “hard materials” class where we made chocolate muffins and pewter pendants, respectively.
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