English learning is closely integrated with the Official National Spanish Curriculum in Uruguay, as far as topics is concerned. Some aspects of history, geography or sciences that students are supposed to learn in Spanish, are taught and assessed through English.

English
Children are encouraged to develop a broad range of skills in speaking and listening, reading and writing. Reading is a fundamental skill and we encourage parents to join in the excitement of their children learning to read. Through our Reading Project we match children to books that will best develop their skills and interest. Every class has its own book corner with a variety of titles suited to a particular age group and the school has an annual subscription to www.readinga-z.com where children can read and do lots of associated activities in graded reading material in both fiction and non-fiction topics on the Internet.

Because of other demands on children’s time, homework is restricted to periodical simple and short assignments considering that when the number of assignments becomes overwhelming, students will surely have negative attitudes about school and learning. More demanding work should be left for the classroom.

Homework provides opportunities to practice and improve skills or gain further knowledge or understanding. Home assignments also teach lessons that cannot be measured, such as self discipline, perseverance and time management.
Doing homework teach students how to begin a task, complete it and be responsible for the final product.
If they are short, interesting and easy to complete, home assignments can be an important tool to assess the attitude of students towards learning.

The amount and type of homework our pupils receive will vary depending on what they are studying and which year group they are in.

Since we also value the extra activities that children become involved with outside school, we do not over burden our pupils with unnecessary homework.

Initially homework tends to be reading and practical exercises moving to more demanding tasks as your child progresses through the school.

Student Assessment focuses on students’ analytical skills, ability to integrate what they learn, creativity, ability to work collaboratively and oral and written expression skills.
In this authentic assessment, student gradually do experiments, understand and write stories and reports, read and interpret literature, solve math problems that have real-world applications and have a position in a classroom debate.

The expectations of the Lester House English Department for students in their final level of instruction (Post-Intermediate Level – 6th Grade) are aimed to assess how well they have mastered concepts and skills. Students are asked to interpret, describe or predict. They are also required to evaluate their own participation, process and products.
Assessment emphasizes process and performance and encourages students to practice critical-thinking skills.

The assessment of students’ progress and achievement in all levels is carried out in a manner that does not cause anxiety in the students. As new EFL curricula have moved in the direction of developing communicative skills through the integration of language and content, the traditional paper-and-pencil tests no longer cover the variety of activities and tasks that take place in the classroom.

Assessment is needed to help teachers make decisions about students’ linguistic abilities, their eventual need of extra help to reach expected levels, and their achievement. The success of any assessment depends on the effective selection and use of appropriate tools and procedures as well as on the proper interpretation of each student’s performance. Assessment tools and procedures, in addition to being essential for evaluating students’ progress and achievement, also help in evaluating the suitability and effectiveness of the curriculum, the teaching methodology and the instructional materials.

Young learners are notoriously poor test takers. The younger the child being evaluated, assessed, or tested, the more errors are made and the greater the risk of assigning false labels to them. Traditional classroom testing procedures can cause children anxiety that affects their language learning as well as their self-image. Therefore, children need to learn and be evaluated in an anxiety-reduced environment. This can be achieved if children perceive assessment as an integral component of the learning-teaching process rather than an independent process whose purpose is to judge their abilities in relation to their classmates.

The Lester House English Department uses formative assessment techniques requiring students to perform authentic tasks using oral and/or written communication skills. These assessment techniques are integrated into daily classroom activities, such as oral reports, group work and problem solving activities, and give a comprehensive picture of the students’ abilities, progress and achievement.

At the early stages of learning, before the emergence of speech, children are assessed through the use of physical performance responses and pictorial aids. As an assessment technique, this type of response help to lower the level of anxiety normally associated with evaluation, as students see it as a natural extension of learning activities.

In oral interviews students are asked to choose pictures to talk about, and the teacher’s role is to guide the student by asking questions that require the use of related vocabulary. The use of role-play combines oral performance and physical activity. Children of all ages, when assessed through this technique, feel comfortable and motivated, especially when the activity is seen as a fun way of learning.
Oral presentations are also important because they provide a record of students’ abilities in oral performance. They give the teacher some information about student’s interests, work habits and organizational abilities.

Assessment of the written communicative abilities of children is normally performed through authentic tasks, such as writing letters to friends, writing and responding to invitations, giving personal views, creating stories or narratives that relate to personal experiences, etc.

In the Post-Intermediate level portfolios and individual written reports are used to demonstrate the extent of a student’s communicative competence in writing. It is a written record of a student’s work over time and in a variety of ways including revisions and drafts of the various tasks.

Up to Basic Level (5 years old) detailed comments about the student’s performance in English are reported to parents.
As from 6 year-old students onwards, assessment is reported assigning numerical grades and a concept on different items.

Upon the teacher’s or parents’ request, the teacher will show parents whether or not a student is meeting expectations, or progressing towards them, in a teacher-parent conference.

First, Second and Third Forms engage in a guided reading programme. Guided reading is a systematic and gradual process in which children are introduced to different books. When a child is involved in guided reading, he/she is being exposed to the most frequently used words in English as well as vocabulary specially selected for their age and interests. In this way, children build on their language knowledge, fluency and comprehension while developing reading skills and confidence.

At their selected level, children read with teacher guidance. As they progress and move on to different levels, children gain confidence and independence to choose and read previously read titles.