Important term dates
Last weekend of term 1: 16 and 17 March
First weekend of term 2: 23 March and 24 March
Re-registration
If you would like your child to continue studying with us in term 2, please make sure you register as soon as possible. All students should have received a green re-registration letter from their teacher (please speak to the teacher or Customer Services if you have not received it).
Registration will be open to the public February 25 so please make sure you have re-registered before then to guarantee your child’s place for next term.
Primary Speaking Competition
February 13 is World Radio Day, so we are encouraging our primary learners to create a short radio broadcast (e.g a 30-second to 1-minute). To do this project, we would like learners to record their voice while reporting individually or interviewing a friend or a family member. The theme is ‘Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace’ and learners will receive suggestions related to the theme from their teachers. However, to encourage participation entries with the learners’ choice of topics will be acceptable. All recordings will be emailed by parents to the British Council. If you would like your child to participate, please send your recording to events.bcdamansra@gmail.com by Friday, 8 March.
Secondary Speech Competition
We are having a new Speech Competition at the Damansara teaching centre!
Is your child able to speak confidently? Or would you like to inspire them to speak more naturally? Then join this new challenge. Open to all students, for primary, the challenge is for students to record short (30-second to 1 minute) report or interview. Secondary students write and give a 4-5 minute presentation in pairs or groups of three. Teachers (or classmates) choose a group winner and those students are entered into the live finals in the final week of Term 1 (March 16 to 22).
Parent workshops
We had a very successful Parent workshop in week 4 and thank those of you who were able to attend.
The second workshop, in week 8 (2 and 3 March) will be on the topic of How to help your child learn through fun games at home. We will provide you with useful tips on how you can help your child learn outside of the classroom in a fun and motivating way. This workshop is suitable for all parents.
The workshop will take place 12:45-13:30 and space is limited, so we recommend parents arrive on time to get a seat.
We also have another workshop on the topic of Introduction to Phonics on 3 March 12:45-13:30 which will demonstrate the importance of phonics and how we teach it in our classes.
Holiday Courses 2019
Good news! We’re running three-day intensive Holiday Courses on 27 – 29 March.
Our Holiday Courses are designed to be engaging, exciting and fun, and combine the highest quality English instruction with this year’s topic:
- Speak and Write Like a Pro
- Our 10 - 12 year olds will develop their creative writing abilities by analysing well-loved stories and breaking down the writing process. Working in teams they will have a chance to perfect their presentation skills by collaborating on a topic of their choice. This will help them develop key sub-skills, such as researching and organising ideas and understanding how to stage and use signposting words to better engage their audience.
- Our 13 - 17 year old students will explore various essay writing styles and develop the necessary tools to successfully communicate their ideas in different medias, including newspaper articles and discursive texts. There is also a particular focus on helping them to become better public speakers by equipping them with various tips and techniques.
To learn more about our 2019 Holiday courses, and to book your place, click here.
Article: Practice Makes Perfect
Everyone knows the expression “Practice makes perfect.” But what does that mean? It means making mistakes is a necessary part of learning.
You may think “How can my child learn if they aren’t corrected?” Learning comes best when your child is confident and this can be easily lost if they are constantly corrected. The important thing is to not make them feel like they’re continually being tested, and judged at home. So how much correction is enough?
- Build Up Their Confidence
How you correct your children will have an impact on how they learn. If you interrupt them to correct them, you might lower their self-confidence. It’s better to allow them to complete their thought, responded to it, and then you can point out the language error gently.
For example, if your child says, “Yesterday, I go to school.” avoid the temptation to stop them mid-sentence. Instead, after they’ve finished, say “Oh, so what did you study when you went to school?”
You’re doing two things with this type of correction. First, you’re modelling the correct form without doing so in an embarrassing way. Second, you’re giving your child a new task to focus on, so they don’t linger over the error.
2. A Way Forward
Create situations where you child can use English. Try to make talking in English at the end of the day feel natural.
Begin with asking simple questions: How was your day? What did you learn today? Did you have fun? This can become a predictable routine, which is good for your children. If they know it’s coming, they can plan answers. Don’t correct mistakes, but when you reply, do so using the correct grammar or word.
Once you’ve done this routine for a while, change it by asking for their opinions: Who is your best friend? Why? Who is your favourite teacher? Why? These questions will allow your child to experiment with English more. Practicing is very important.
3. Be Patient
Children who are afraid to make mistakes won’t learn. Try to make an environment where ‘doing’ is better than ‘being perfect’ because in the long run, all of that doing leads to fluency and comfort with the language. Parents need to learn to be patient with mistakes, encourage speaking (along with reading and writing) so that their children will be as fearless in speaking as they are in playing.