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With just under 9 weeks to go before we welcome students to Whitgift Summer School, May sees us enter another busy month at Summer School HQ here in south London.

For all our General English students their Whitgift Summer School experience started last week! This is because we test our students’ reading, listening and writing skills before they even arrive here at the school.

We do this so that we can get a very clear idea of each student’s English level and place them in the appropriate class. Importantly, this means that their first day of lessons is not wasted undertaking a placement test: students go straight into lessons at Whitgift Summer School on Monday morning at 09:00am! Also, by testing students before they arrive, we can analyse exactly what each learner requires and make appropriate plans for their learning experience with us.

We use a Cambridge Assessment online test in reading and listening and we ask parents to ensure that their child undertakes the test in a quiet and comfortable environment, away from distractions and without cheating!!! I can assure all parents that if a student has cheated on a reading and listening test, we will find out very quickly in the first lesson of the course here at Whitgift! We also ask students to complete a written test, which should be completed away from a computer, and under exam style conditions, i.e. no help! Our Director of Studies will mark each test, and, along with the reading and listening mark, will put students in the right class in terms of English level.

The speaking happens here at Whitgift. The first three hours of lessons on the first Monday are heavily focused on speaking and getting to know one another in the classroom. Our expert specialist TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teachers will be able to see if a student’s speaking level matches their writing, reading and listening. So, in that first lesson students need to communicate as much as possibles, and lessons are designed ensure this happens naturally and in a safe environment. Importantly, a placement test often meets the expectations of learners, and they understand why we are doing it. For us, the test is a fair and standardised way of ensuring we can compare student results.

During their stay with us, students are informally assessed during the week, so that we ensure students are in the correct class, and also so we can provide important feedback to families. By assessing students during the week through mini-tests, speaking exercises, and at the end of the week a more formally assessed classroom task, we can really offer feedback on a students progress and English level.

This also helps our teacher create a report for each student. Each week, students receive a Weekly Report, or if they are leaving, an End of Course Report. This informs parents of what their child studied, and advice for future study.

We think this provides a clearer picture of student progress as it enables us to focus on a wide variety of work: speaking, listening, reading, writing, group work, pair work, accuracy in grammar etc. It also means students are “kept on their toes” in that they know we will be providing regular feedback based on everything they do with us in the classroom! We also think it is a much fairer way of assessing a student, rather than just focusing on one single test at the end of the week.

We also provide each student with a workbook each week. This enables them to make personal notes about work undertaken in the classroom. They are a useful tool for “self-assessment” – when students learn themselves, outside the classroom. They also provide students with the chance to write down, and refer back to, the work they did with us at Whitgift….that is if they don’t forget to pack them in their suitcase when the leave Whitgift!!!

Can students learn from the friends? Absolutely! Under the guidance of teachers in the classroom, students can help to mark each other’s work and compare their answers. It’s a brilliant way for students to learn more about themselves as learners and is all undertaken in a positive and safe learning environment. The ultimate example of learning with classmates is in our project based work, which is undertaken alongside English speaking students from Whitgift School and Croydon High School for Girls. You can find out more about this unique full-immersion programme here Student Ambassadors - Whitgift School