English as a Foreign Language

About 12% of the pupils at Caterham School are from overseas. They come from a wide range of countries, such as China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Russia, Germany, France and Georgia. The EFL department provides English language classes for these international students. These classes aim to support the students both linguistically and culturally, helping them to raise their communicative ability and to adapt to school in an English-speaking environment.

We aim to build the students' confidence and ability to communicate effectively. By raising levels of both fluency and accuracy, pupils will achieve higher standards in other curriculum areas and benefit from the ability to interact more successfully with native speakers both in and out of school.

The courses focus on developing both the productive and receptive skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading) by analysing language at text, sentence and word level. The courses adopt a lexical approach looking at the phrasal nature of our language and the use of features such as collocation and phrasal verbs. The approach in class is based on the language needs, interests and learning styles of the students, selecting from a range of language teaching methodology. It is primarily communicative, developing the students' ability to express themselves confidently and accurately.

In years 1, 2 and 3 the students follow a General English syllabus, moving on to exam classes in years 4 and 5. In the sixth form students prepare for the IELTS exam, the results of which are critical for entering tertiary education in England. Despite the classes being exam orientated, we aim to ensure that the classes are fun, relevant and interesting, realising that language is best acquired in a relaxed environment where pupils can explore their language potential.

Biographies

Sally Dall'Oglio BA Ed (Hons) Sally has recently returned from teaching English for the British Council in Seoul. Whilst in Korea she obtained a diploma in English Language Teaching achieving a distinction in all 3 components. She has taught English to a range of students at all levels from beginner to advanced from a variety of countries throughout Europe, South America and Asia. She obtained her BA(Ed) from the University of Exeter where she studied Primary Education and Art. She holds the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and Young Learners (CELT-YL) and the Diploma (DELTA). Sally loves learning about new cultures and languages through travel and has spent time in South America, Africa, Australia and Asia.

Jim Seymour BSc (Hons) Senior Teacher and Head of Boarding Jim is a University of Hull graduate with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Biology. He has been at Caterham School since September 1972. He was previously Head of Biology and Head of Science. His is now Senior Teacher and a member of the Senior Management Team. His responsibilities include being the Head of Boarding, the Educational Visits Co-ordinator and he is playing an active role in the planning of the future building developments at Caterham.