Great success, meeting invitation and curriculum events in the Summer Term
by Petr Pospíšil
On the very last day of April I was informed by one of our students who joined the school exactly ten years ago in September 2009 as a preschool child that he had managed to secure for himself the first place in the national secondary school entrance examinations. What a great result! This excellent outcome stands in clear contrast to a number of assumptions parents often make about the prospects our students have when re-entering the Czech system. So If I set aside my personal opinion about the way in which the local highly selective secondary schools teach and what curriculum they offer I think that such an outcome is a real success. It clearly shows that a child who demonstrates some academic talents, which are needed for successful study at the type of schools the local Gymnasiums are, can for ten years follow an international programme in English and still achieve such results in the Czech national examinations delivered only in Czech language.
One could argue that this is an exceptional case and children who may be performing less well within the required cognitive set of skills tested by the national examinations can be handicapped when sitting the exam, since they were not exposed to the Czech curriculum that much. It is true; however, especially with the 8-year secondary programmes taking into account the difficulty level of the national entrance test and the number of applicants children who succeed are in the top ten percent range. If children score at this level then it actually does not matter if they studied maths in English or had a very limited number of Czech first language lessons. Regardless of their previous schooling it is almost certain that they will achieve highly also in the Czech national entrance examinations. All this above is obviously mostly relevant mainly to children coming from Czech families, although we had a case in the past where the same applied also to a child from a mixed family background.
It is all quite fascinating. It shows that there are a number of strong factors that determine how well children may score in the national entrance test. Looking back at the historical exam results, our diagnostic data, the individual cases we have had and also thinking about the questions from parents we often get I need to say that, in light of the information mentioned above, the school, it’s curriculum or even the language of instruction are often overestimated as the strongest factors that impact on the achievement in the national tests. A child’s cognitive abilities or parental support in this case would be at least as important as the role of the school, with the cognitive abilities being, I believe, the strongest predictor of success.
In summary, if you really think of Gymnasiums as the next step for your child, then come and talk to us and we can give you some idea about what the chances are; do not expect, however, that the school can do much about this. Success will always depend on how much support you give to your child too and on whether or not the child has the correct potential, especially for the national entrance examination, since these focus on a fairly narrow realm of abilities.
If you are interested in knowing more about your child’s cognitive abilities it does not matter if your child is in preschool or primary. Thanks to our state-of-the-art diagnostic tools called PIPS and InCAS we can give you a pretty good picture.
Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to announce one important date to you. An important decision has been made recently regarding the future of the school and I would like to present it to all parents personally at a meeting that will take place on Tuesday 21st May 2019 at 5.00pm at our school.
Finally, I would like to ask all parents to carefully take note of the events planned for the III term. We are once again preparing great activities for the children. There will be a number of curriculum events including again the Sports Day on Friday 7th of June which will be followed by our Annual Dinner the following Friday, 14th of June. We are excited about this as these events take our programme to the next level rea
They will gain perfect knowledge of English.
Your child will become a global citizen with wide understanding of local and international topics.
We put a strong emphasis on the development on subject specific skills rather than on acquisition of knowledge.
Emphasis on skills development (not just memorising).
Individual approach; school’s ability to motivate for improvement.
Your child will be excited to come to school.
You are not buying success, you are paying for the school to monitor your child’s progress to their goals and motivate them to fulfil their potential.
We are not a selective school: we believe that everybody can be successful.
Jolly Phonics is an engaging way to teach children pre -reading and pre -writing skills using phonics. Phonics is the teaching of the sounds that letters make, rather than the names of letters that are taught in the alphabet, because it is the sounds that are useful for reading and writing, not the names. These sounds are taught in a systematic way, alongside all of the skills needed for being a fluent reader and writer in future. Jolly Phonics also teaches all of this in a fun and engaging way, through characters, stories, actions, songs and games! To read more about Jolly Phonics, clickhere.
ORT is a reading scheme which has been developed to help children learn to read from the age of 4. This scheme is used by a vast majority of preschools and schools in the UK and around the world.ORT includes popular characters and illustrations such as Biff, Chip and Kipper, Floppy, Wordless Stories and easy regular word books to capture children’s imagination and interest and help them develop their pre reading skills. It is an excellent way to practise the skills learned through the Jolly Phonics Programme..
Cambridge Primary ENGLISH promotes an enquiry-based approach, developing learners’ confidence, creativity and intellectual engagement. Learners develop English skills that they can apply to a range of different purposes and audiences in everyday situations and in study.
We teach English as a first language. Pupils that are only starting to learn English or need some additional support are allocated to our intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) programme.
More about Cambridge Primary EnglishCambridge Primary MATHEMATICS focuses on principles, patterns, systems, functions and relationships so that learners can apply their mathematical knowledge and develop a holistic understanding of the subject. Knowing your times tables facts without practical application and without developing alongside some good problem solving skills is not that helpful - in our school, we make sure our pupils know why they are learning it and how they can use the specific knowledge and skill.
More about Cambridge Primary MathsThis subject develops the skills of research, analysis, evaluation, reflection, collaboration and communication. We focus on developing pupils’ transferable skills that will be essential for success in their other subjects, higher education and work life. Pupils work on ‘challenges’ throughout the year. These can include but are not limited to topics such as:
Ty mohou mimo jiné zahrnovat témata jako například:
For more information about each subject, please see here.