Be ready to speak about the system of education in Britain

Education in Britain

▪ The education system

Most children under 5 receive pre-school education.Some go to playgroupsseveral times a week. Others go to a nursery schoolor to the kindergarten of a school and parents often have to pay for it.

Children must be in full-time education from 5 to 16. Different areas of Britain have different school systems. In some areas children receive their primary educationat aprimary school. At about 11 they begin their secondary educationat a secondary school.Some pupils when they are 16 stay at school for the sixth form.

Most children go to state schools. Secondary schools and larger primary schools are grant-maintained. These schools are run by a board of governorsconsisting of parents and members of the public. In Scotland and Northern Ireland most schools are run by local authorities.

Some children go to independent schoolsfor which their parents have to pay fees. A few go to public schools,such as Eton and Harrow.

Young people are expected to show respect for their teachers and obey school rules. Pupils who misbehave may be punished, e.g. by having to stay behind after school. Corporalpunishment was ended many years ago. Sometimes students get into more serious trouble, e.g. by being violent or through using drugs, and risk being expelled.

The British education system aims to help each child develop his or her personality. Most primary and secondary schools offer a range of extra-curricular activities. Secondary schools also give careers adviceand arrange short periods of work experiencewith local businesses to prepare students for a job.

▪ Standards in education

The National Curriculum sets the education standards. Children have to study the coresubjectsof English, mathematics and science, and the foundation subjectsof technology, geography, history, art, music and physical education. Older children take a foreign language. The National Curriculum doesn’t apply in Scotland. Children do standardassessment tests(SATs) at ages 7, 11 and 14. At 16 students take exams for GCSE(General Certificateof Secondary Education).Some may take GNVQs(General National Vocational Qualifications) in work-related subjects. Some students go on to study for A levelsin three or four subjects.

Parents and the government watch standards at individual schools closely. Independentinspectors visit schools regularly.

▪ Further and higher education

Many students go to university and study for a bachelor's degree.Others study for a certificate or diploma at a college of further education. Most courses at these colleges train people in a particular skill and combine periods of study with work experience.

Vocabulary:

nursery school	ясла	expelled	виключений
kindergarten	дитсадок	corporal punishment	тілесне покарання
primary	початковий	personality	особистість
secondary	середній	extra-curricular	позааудиторний
grant-maintained	утримуються на гранти	community service careers advice	громадська робота профорієнтація
board of governors	рада директорів	work experience	досвід роботи
run	керувати	the National	державна програма,
local authorities	місцева влада	Curriculum	навчальний план
pay fees	вносити плату	assessment	оцінювання
public schools	закриті приватні школи	Vocational Qualifications	професійна кваліфікація
show respect	виказувати повагу	obey	підкорятися
bachelor's degree	ступінь бакалавра	misbehave	погано поводитися
A levels (Advanced levels)	екзамен, необхідний для вступу до університету

Translate:

1. At a primary school children are taught all subjects by a class teacher and don’t usually have homework.

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2. At a secondary school pupils have different teachers for different subjects, wear uniform and get regular homework.

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3. Some pupils, especially those who hope to go to university, stay at school for the sixth form.

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4. Extra-curricular activities include sports, music, community service and trips to places of interest.

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5. Schools in Scotland don’t usually follow the National Curriculum: they are free to decide how much time they devote to each subject.

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6. Independentschoolsarerun by private organizations.

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7. State schools receive money direct from central government.

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8. Schools whose pupils are not making adequate progress or in which discipline is poor risk being closed down.

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Questions:

1 What stages of education are there in Britain? Speak about each. 2 Speak about different types of schools. (age of pupils / receive money from… / run by…) 3 Speak about school rules. Are they the same in your country? 4 What is the National Curriculum?

Be ready to speak about the system of education in Britain.

Grammar: The Past Perfect Tense – Минулий перфектний час (2)