YEAR 5 & YEAR 6

STAGE 3 - EXTENSION CLASS (Advanced English + Thinking Skills)

The Stage 3, Year 5 and Year 6 programs include English (Vocabulary, Comprehension, Writing, Grammar) and Thinking Skills. Maths is not offered in this class. It is an advanced English course. Selective High Schools (Year 7 placement) and Scholarship preparations are the main focus for this class.

Every week, students are given a list of specific and challenging vocabularies to study. Students learn their meanings and apply these new vocabularies in Reading, Writing and Thinking Skills. Students complete their weekly online activities and practise writing sentences to show their understanding of the new vocabularies.

In Comprehension, students independently read and view an extensive range of complex texts and visual images using a comprehensive range of skills and strategies. They explore texts critically, evaluate content, differentiate between fact and opinion, analyse and identify points of view, consider and appreciate cultural expressions. Comprehension strategies are taught regularly for students to tackle all comprehension tasks.

In Writing, students learn about Persuasive text, Imaginative text and Informative text under the requirement of the syllabus standards. They learn different types of writing which includes narrative, poetry, essay, letter, advertisement, book review, article, news report and advice sheet. Students deal with complex topics, issues and language features. Students select information and ideas from personal, literary and researched resources, and adapt imaginative ideas and situations from literature. They apply expanded vocabulary, growing knowledge of grammatical patterns, complex sentence structures, cohesive links and literary devices for their written texts.

Grammar also plays a vital role, as it shapes the quality of any writing piece. Students are to practise different grammatical concepts and are taught the basic rules to help them understand how Literature is formed.

In Thinking Skills, students are exposed to a mixture of questions that they may receive in the Selective High School Placement Test. There is a strong link between our English program and the Thinking Skills program. Students are required to use the techniques learnt in English to solve the new styles of Thinking Skills questions such as Reasoning, Strengthening, Weakening, Flaw and Assumption. Drills are frequently given to students to consolidate their understanding in specific areas such as coding, anagrams, analogies and patterns. Through our English programs, students become proficient and strong in Thinking Skills.

Class Info: Service

YEAR 3 & YEAR 4

STAGE 2 - ACCELERATION CLASS (English, Thinking Skills, Maths)

The Stage 2, Year 3 & Year 4 programs include English (Vocabulary, Writing, Comprehension, Grammar), Thinking Skills and Maths. However, 80% of the lesson time covers English. Maths is offered as a supplementary subject only. We mainly provide Maths materials for students to complete at home. Students also prepare for Opportunity Class in this course.

Every week, students are given 30 new vocabularies based on the context of the comprehension and the writing program. Students learn and apply these new vocabularies in their modelled, guided and independent reading and writing. Students complete their weekly online activities and practise writing sentences to show their understanding of the new vocabularies.

In Comprehension, the programs extend student’s vocabularies and knowledge of the world, develop their knowledge of English grammar and their decoding skills, accelerate their reading fluency and extend their ability to comprehend what they read and view from the literal level to the inferential and critical levels. Comprehension strategies are taught regularly for students to tackle all comprehension tasks.

In Writing, students learn about Persuasive text, Imaginative text and Informative text under the requirement of the syllabus standards. They learn different types of writing which includes narrative, poetry, argument, book review, information report and recount. Students are to create well-structured imaginative, informative and persuasive texts in terms of topic, purpose, audience and language by drafting, proofreading and editing for different audiences. They learn a variety of different language techniques to help them explore and expand their imagination. Our Writing programs adopt modelled, guided and independent writing practices.

In Maths, students use efficient mental and written strategies with increasing fluency to solve problems. They are exposed to content that relates to Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, Statistics and Probability. The central role is to teach students the process of Working Mathematically via Communicating, Problem Solving, Reasoning, Understanding and Fluency.

In Thinking Skills, students are exposed to a mixture of questions that they may receive in the Opportunity Class Placement Test. There is a strong link between our English program and the Thinking Skills program. Students are required to use the techniques learnt in English to solve the new styles of Thinking Skills questions such as Reasoning, Strengthening, Weakening, Mistake and Assumption. We also teach students how to analyse visual information and solve problems using visual reasoning. We expose students to word problems, spotting letter sequences and cracking letter and number based codes at an accelerated level. The aim is to improve students’ critical thinking, problem-solving and ultimately, intelligence. Through our English program, students become confident and improve in Thinking Skills.

Class Info: Service

YEAR 1 & YEAR 2

STAGE 1 - FOUNDATION CLASS (English, Thinking Skills, Maths)

To succeed in the future, students will need to know how to analyse, collaborate, and innovate. Our goal for the Stage 1 students is to build them a good solid foundation, one that gives them what they need to succeed.

The Stage 1, Year 1 & Year 2 programs include English (Vocabulary, Comprehension, Writing, Grammar), Thinking Skills and Maths. However, 80% of the lesson time covers English. Maths is offered as a supplementary subject only. We mainly provide Maths materials for students to complete at home.

Every week, students are given 30 new vocabularies based on phonological awareness which is critical for learning to read the alphabetic writing system. Building a strong phonological awareness is essential for young children before they can begin learning to read and write. Without phoneme awareness, students may be mystified by the print system and how it represents the spoken word. Students complete their weekly online activities and practise writing sentences to show their understanding of the new vocabularies.

In Comprehension, students learn to read with a purpose, discuss the texts to grasp meaning before they are asked to attempt any written questions. Comprehension drills are given to competent readers for classwork and homework. Comprehension strategies are taught regularly for students to tackle all comprehension tasks.

In Writing, students learn about Persuasive text, Imaginative text and Informative text under the requirement of the syllabus standards. They learn different types of writing which includes story, description, recount, argument and sentence formation. Students learn to write with a purpose. They are encouraged to discuss their thoughts and structure their writing with teacher’s assistance through the use of scaffolding techniques. Our Writing program adopts modelled, guided and independent writing practices.

Grammar is embedded within the Writing program. It plays a vital role, as it shapes the quality of any writing piece. Students are to practise different grammatical concepts and are taught the basic rules to help them understand how Literature is formed. This includes the introduction of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. It also includes understanding the importance of basic punctuation features such as full stops, commas, exclamation marks, question marks and speech marks.

In Maths, familiarisation of the four operations – Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division is the key to help students accelerate in their Maths skills. We use concrete materials effectively to develop students’ understanding of key concepts in Maths. Students begin to work mathematically to solve difficult questions.

In Thinking Skills, students are introduced to logical thinking, recognition of visual patterns and vocabulary analysis. We teach Thinking Skills step by step from the very basic level, as this is not a curriculum-based skill set, so your child will not be taught these techniques at school. While the questions may make sense once they have been explained (and practised), at first glance, they can still be baffling. Some students have a knack for Thinking Skills, but for others, it does not come so naturally. It is not just about being ‘good at literacy’ or ‘good with numbers’. In fact, students who are proficient in English and Maths may still struggle with Thinking Skills questions. Therefore, this foundation class teaches students to read questions carefully and to follow directions exactly (which can be an issue for those who tend to rush or skim-read). With practice, students can improve this skill set in the long run.

Class Info: Service