In his book Visible Learning, John Hattie, a world-renowned researcher in education, writes: “Collaborative learning is more effective with multi-level and multi-age groupings.”
This is the guiding principle of academic language teaching and learning at Balmoral Hall School. In each of half a dozen classrooms, you will find 10-15 international boarding students expanding their knowledge as English language learners for at least two hours on Saturday mornings. These BH girls, from grades 6 to 12, are preparing for their chosen post-secondary pursuits.
Diligently, they practise reading, writing, and speaking, as they must complete an assessment by International English Language Testing System (IELTS) within two years of admission to Canadian and American universities or colleges.
IELTS assessments are conducted at Balmoral Hall annually in February, April, and November.
As they further their education, and, eventually, advance their careers, international students – in particular, those for whom English is a second or additional language – must be able to consider the following with confidence:
How does learning English enable me to contribute to a global society?
How can communicating in English support my teamwork, creative problem solving and critical thinking to better the world?
How can I communicate in English to represent my ideas?
“Developing the skills for success as they achieve their academic and professional goals is the overarching throughline of academic support services like ours,” says Centre for Learning Director Rita Trautmann. “English language learning is dynamic, never static.”
In their academic language teaching on Saturday mornings, educators facilitate reading comprehension tasks, essay writing workshops, and lively class discussions.