English schooling Topical Vocabulary

Types of schools: maintained (state), county, voluntary, nursery, primary, infant, junior, secondary, grammar, secondary modern, technical, comprehensive, all-through, two-tier, first, middle, upper, mixed (co-educational), single-sex, special, independent (fee-paying, private), pre-preparatory, preparatory, public, sixth- form college, tertiary college.

Stages of education: compulsory, pre-school, primary, secondary, further, higher.

Education policy: administration, schooling, full-time education, part-time education, tripartite system, class-divided and selective system of education, to sustain inequality of opportunity, to go comprehensive, the Department of Education and Science, Local Education Authorities (LEAs), to be responsible for national education policy, to run a school, to prescribe curricula or textbooks, the provision of schools, to provide maintained school education.

Management: Head Teacher (Master), Principal, Assistant Principal, Acting Head Teacher, staff, governing body, to have responsibility, to employ teachers, provide and maintain buildings, supply equipment, provide grants, appointment and dismissal of staff.

Admission: to admit, to allocate, to apply for admission, selective procedure, intelligence tests, substitute for the abolished 11 + exams, to measure inborn abilities, to have a time limit, to coach for, catchment area, without any reference to a child’s ability or aptitude, to transfer (promote) from one class to another.

Curriculum: broad curriculum, academic course, non-academic course, vocational bias, foundation course, foundation subjects, to meet special interests, common curriculum, simplified curriculum, education with a practical slant for lower-attaining pupils, to be encouraged to do smth., the three R’s, subject teaching, specialist teacher, to have set periods, remedial teaching.

Examinations: GCSE (exam); to sit for an exam; “A” level exam; Common Entrance Exam; to be set and marked by ... ; to hand the papers out; examining board; grades, pass” grade; resits and retakes; unsuccessful pupil; to repeat the year; to pass an exam, to keep up with the group; to fall behind.

Punishment: corporal punishment, detention (after school or during the dinner hour), lines, exclusion from normal routine, exclusion from privileges (loss of privilege), collection of litter, suspension from school, withdrawal from lessons, setting extra work, putting on report”, telling the parents.

Exercise2. Compare the educational system of the UK and Kazakhstan.

Exercise3. Make up dialogues, using Topical Vocabulary.

Suggested situations

1. A Kazakh student and a British student are exchanging information on systems of higher education in their countries.

2. Two students of the English department are discussing their university life. One of them is enthusiastic about everything, the other is a dissatisfied.

3. A strict father is demanding an explanation from a son after a failure in a college exam. The son is giving all kinds of lame excuses speaking about “overcrowded syllabus”, injustice of teachers and bad luck in general.

Exercise4. Argue the pros and cons of: Students` uniform

Exercise5. Speak about the English Department at your University (use Topical Vocabulary).

Exercise6. Single sex schooling Some educationalists think that the solution to the gender question in the UK is to separate boys and girls into single-sex schools. Divide these arguments into ‘For’ or ‘Against’ single sex schools.

• Girls are more likely to choose Science subjects if there are no boys in their class.

• Boys are distracted by girls during lessons and cannot concentrate Girls and boys learn to cooperate with each other if they study together.

• Girls feel worried that the boys will think they are swots so they do not answer questions.

• What do you think?

  • Is it the same for your country?

  • Are schools coeducational or single sex?

  • Which do you prefer?

  • Why?

Exercise7. Writing practice: Give free translation of the text below.

CAMBRIDGE Cambridge is one of the best known towns in the world and it can be found on most tourists’ lists of places to visit. Cambridge is famous for its university, which started during the 13th century and grew steadily, until today there are more than twenty colleges. The oldest one is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284. And the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. But the most famous is King’s College, because of its magnificent chapel. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is well known all over the world. The Universities were only for men until 19th century when the first women’s college was opened. Later the doors of colleges were opened to both men and women. Nowadays almost all the colleges are mixed.

To the north of Cambridge is the Cambridge Science Park, the modern face of the University. This park has developed in response to the need of universities to increase their contact with high technology industry. It is now home to more than sixty companies and research institutes. The whole area is in fact very attractively designed, with a lot of space between each building. The planners thought that it was important for people to have a pleasant, park like environment in which to work. Every year thousands of students come to Cambridge from overseas to study English.

FOCUS the British education system

All state schools in Britain are free, and schools provide their pupils with books and equipment for their studies.

Nine million children attend 35.000 schools in Britain. Education is compulsory from 5 till 16 years. Parents can choose to send their children to a nursery school or a pre-school playgroup to prepare them for the start of compulsory education. Children start primary school at 5 and continue until they are 11. Most children are taught together, boys and girls in the same class. At 11 most pupils go to secondary schools called comprehensives which accept a wide range of children from all backgrounds and religious and ethnic groups. Ninety per cent of secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales are co-educational.

At 16 pupils take a national exam called 4G.C.S.E. * (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and then they can leave school if they wish. This is the end of compulsory education. Some 16 year olds continue their studies in the sixth form at school or at a sixth form college. The sixth form prepares pupils for a national exam called A level (advanced level) at 18. You need A level to enter a university. Other 16-year- olds choose to go to a college of further education to study for more practical (vocational) diplomas relating to the world of work, such as hairdressing, typing or mechanics.

Universities and colleges of higher education accept students with *A* levels from 18. Students study for a degree which takes on average three years of full-time study. Most students graduate at 21 or 22 and are given their degree at a special graduation ceremony.

Seven per cent of British schoolchildren go to private schools called independent schools. There are 2.400 independent schools and they have been growing in number and popularity since the mid-1980. Parents pay for these schools, and fees vary from about 250 pounds a term for a private nursery to 3.000 pounds a term or more for a secondary boarding school. Most independent schools are called prep (preparatory) schools because they prepare the children for the Common Entrance Exam which they take at the age of 11. This exam is for entry into the best schools.

The most famous schools are called public schoo1s and they have a long history and traditions. It is often necessary to put your child’s name on a waiting list at birth to be sure he or she gets a place. Children of wealthy or aristocratic families often go to the same public school as their parents and their grandparents. Eton is the best known of these schools.

The majority of independent secondary schools, including public schools, are single-sex, although in recent years girls have been allowed to join the sixth forms of boys’ schools. Independent schools also include religious schools (Jewish, Catholic, Muslim etc.) and schools for ethnic minorities.

In England and Wales compulsory school begins at the age of five, but before that age children can go to a nursery school, also called play school. School is compulsory till the children are 16 years old.

In Primary School and First School children learn to read and write and the basis of arithmetic. In the higher classes of Primary School (or in Middle School) children learn geography, history, religion and, in some schools, a foreign language. Then children go to the Secondary School.

When students are 16 years old they may take an exam in various subjects in order to have a qualification. These qualifications can be either G.C.S.E. (General Certificate of Secondary Education) or O level (Ordinary level). After that students can either leave school and start working or continue their studies in the same school as before. If they continue, when they are 18, they have to take further examinations which are necessary for getting into university or college. Some parents choose private schools for their children. They are very expensive but considered to provide a better education and good job opportunities.

In England there are 47 universities, including the Open University which teaches via TV and radio, about 400 colleges and institutes of higher education. The oldest universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge. Generally, universities award two kinds of degrees: the Bachelor’s degree and the Master’s degree.