Education in Britain

ГОУ СПО «Кунгурское педагогическое училище»

Education in Britain

Реферат по английскому языку

студента группы М-31

Салимова Юриса

Галиулловича

2008

Contents

Introduction 3

§1. Secondary education 4

§2. Primary education 5

§3. Private education 7

§4. Life school 8

Conclusion 11

Literature 12

Appendix 13

Introduction

Great Britain does not have a written constitution, so there are no constitutional provisions for education. The system of education is determined by the National Education Acts.

Schools in England are supported from public funds paid to the local education authorities. These local education authorities are responsible for organizing the schools in their areas.

Secondly, education in Britain mirrors the country's social system: it is class-divided and selective. The first-division is between those who pay and those who do not pay.

Education in England is not is perfect as we, foreigners think. There are plenty of stereotypes, which make us think. That British education is only Oxford and Cambridge. But there are also many educational problems. During the last fifteen years or so, there have been unprecedented changes in the system of education in England and Wales. I'll try to explain the changes and the reasons for them. In my work I will also give a description of the system of education, which differs from that in Russia very much.

There are three stages of education: primary or elementary education, secondary education and higher education.

Secondary Education

Secondary education embraces the children from 11 years of age to 16 years of age. Until recently there were three main types of secondary schools: grammar schools, technical schools and modern schools. Children were sent to one of these three types of school still exist, but their number is decreasing. They are being replaced by the so-called comprehensive schools. After the age of 11, most children go to comprehensive schools of which the majority is both boys and girls. About 90 per cent of all state-financed secondary schools are of this type.

Comprehensive schools were introduced in 1965. The idea of comprehensive education, supported by the Labour Party, was to give all children of whatever background the same opportunity in education.

At 16 students in England and Wales take GCSE examinations. In 1988 these examinations replaced the GCE and O-levels which were usually passed by about 20 percent of school students. GCSE examinations are taken by students of all levels of ability in any of a range of subjects, and may involve a final examination, and assessment of work done by the student during the two-year course, or both of these things.

Some comprehensive schools, however, do not have enough academic courses for sixth-formers. Students can transfer either to a grammar school or to a sixth-form college to get the courses they want.

At 18 some students take A-level GCE examinations, usually in two or three subjects. It is necessary to have A-levels in order to go to a university or Polytechnic.

But some pupils want to stay on at school after taking their GCSE, to prepare for a vocational course or for work rather than for A-level examinations. Then they have to take the CPVE examination which means the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education.

In Scotland students take the SCE examinations. A year later, they can take examinations called Higher after which they can go straight to a university.

Secondary education in Northern Ireland is organized along selective lines according to children's abilities.

One can hardly say that high quality secondary education is provided for all in Britain. There is a high loss of pupils from working-class families at entry into the sixth form. If you are a working-class child at school today, the chance of your reaching the secondyear of a sixth-form course is probably less than that for the child of a professional parent. Besides, government cuts on school spending caused many difficulties.

Primary Education

Primary education is given to children between 5 and 11 years of age. A primary school is subdivided into an infant school for children aged 5 to 7 and a junior school for children aged 7 to 11. In small country places both the infant department and the junior department may be combined under the roof of one school. In some areas of England there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. Some children between two and five receive education in nursery classes or in infants classes in primary schools. Many children attend informal pre-school play-groups organized by parents in private homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and students in training. There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o'clock in the morning till 4 o'clock in the afternoon - while their parents are at work. Here the babies play in safety with someone keeping an eye on them.

For day nurseries which remain open all the year round the parents pay according to their income. The local education authority's nurseries are free. But only about three children in 100 can go to them: there aren't enough places, and the waiting lists are rather long.

Most children start school at 5 in a primary school. A primary school may be divided into two parts - infants and juniors. At infants school reading, writing and arithmetic are taught for about 20 minutes a day during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modeling from clay or drawing, reading or singing.

By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read and write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.

At 7 children go on from the infants school to the junior school. This marks the transition from play to `real work'. The children have set periods of arithmetic, reading and composition which are all Eleven Plus subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study? Art and Music, Physical Education, Swimming are also on the timetable.

Pupils are streamed, according to their ability to learn, into A, B, C and D streams. The least gifted are in the D stream. Formerly towards the end of their fourth year the pupils wrote their Eleven Plus Examination. The hated 11 + examination was a selective procedure on which not only the pupils' future schooling but their future careers depended. The abolition of selection at Eleven Plus Examination brought to life comprehensive schools where pupils can get secondary education.

Private Education

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's.

Parents pay for these schools, and fees vary from about 250pounds a term or more for a secondary boarding school. Most independent schools are called prep schools because the 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 schools» 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 other go to the same public school as their parent 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 and schools for ethnic minorities.

Life at School

The school year is divided into terms, three months each, named after seasons: autumn term, winter term and spring term.

Them autumn term starts on the first Tuesday morning in September/ In July schools break up for eight weeks.

Life at school is more or less similar everywhere. Each group of 30 pupils is the responsibility of a form tutor. Each school day is divided into periods of 40 - 50 minutes, time for various lessons with 10 - 20 minutes breaks between them. It might be interesting for you to see the `Bell Times' at Lawns wood school in Leeds.

Bell Times

8.40 a.m. - School begins

8.45 a.m. - Registration

8.50 a.m. - Assembly bell

9.00 a.m. - Pupils move to lessons

9.05 a.m. - Lesson 1

9.45 a.m. - Lesson 2

10.25 a.m. - Lesson 3

11.05 - a.m. Break

11.25 - a.m. - Pupils move to lessons

11.30 a.m. - Lesson 4

12.10 p.m. - Lesson 5

12.50 p.m. - Lunch time

1.40 p.m. - Afternoon school begins

1.45 p.m. - Registration

1.50 p.m. - Lesson 6

2.30 p.m. - Lesson 7

3.10 p.m. - End of normal lessons

3.10 p.m. Start of additional lessons, clubs, societies, team practice, detentions, etc.

On important occasions such as end of term or national holiday, called in English schools speech-days pupils are gathered in the assembly area or hall.

Most of the pupils' time is spent in a classroom equipped with desks and a blackboard, nowadays often called chalkboard because normally it is brown or green. The desks are arranged in rows, the space between the rows is called an aisle.

In addition to classrooms there are laboratories for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Technical rooms are for Woodwork, Metalwork and Technical Drawing. There are rooms for computer studies. Many young people use them for school exercise. They are now able to write their own games as well. The Physical Education lessons are conducted at the gymnasium, games-hall or at the playground in front of the school building. There are also language laboratories and housecraft rooms. Every school has a library and a school canteen. In student common room boys and girls can relax during the breaks and lunchtime. The Staf common room is for teachers. In case of illness a schoolchild may go to the sick room.

Pupils at many secondary schools in Britain have to wear a school uniform. This usually means a write blouse for girls, with a dark-colored skirt and pullover. Boys wear a shirt and tie, dark trousers and dark-colored pullovers. Pupils also wear blazers - a kind of jacket - with the school badge on the pocket. They often have it wear some kind of hat on the way to and from school - caps for boys, and berets or some other kind of hat for girls. Shoes are usually black or brown. And no high heels!

Young people in Britain often don't like their school uniform, especially the hats and shoes. Sometimes they do not wear the right clothes. Schools will often give them a warning the first time that this happens but then will punish them is they continue not to wear the correct uniform. Senior student don't have to wear their school uniform.

It sounds logical to say that the school's function is to train a pupil's mind and his character should be formed at home. Teachers would be pleased if the problem could be solved so easily. But children don't leave their characters at home when their minds go to school. Many of them have personality problems of one kind or another.

The pupils who violate various school regulations may be punished in the following ways: for lateness, truancy they may be reported to the Headmaster or named in school assembly. They may be detained in school after ordinary hours.

Corporal punishment has recently been banned in state schools. But in most public schools it is still allowed. Caning is the usual punishment for serious misbehavior in class, damage and vandalism. Many teachers remark that standards of discipline have fallen since corporal punishment was banned by the government.

You may want to know whether there are any rewards and prizes for the best pupils. Of course, there are. Each school has system of rewards: medals and prizes.

Conclusion

Education was the central theme of the new Labour government. It promised a huge range of improvements: high-quality education for all four-year-olds whose parent wanted it and lower pupil - teacher ratios, in particular those children up to the age of eight children would never be in classes of over 30 pupils. It also declared that all children at primary school would spend one hour each day on reading and writing, and another hour each day on innumeracy, the basic skills for all employment. When Labour took office only 57 per cent of children reached national literacy targets by the time they left primary school, and only 55 per cent reached similar targets in moths. The government pledged to raise these proportions to so per cent and 75 per cent respectively. It also established a new central authority responsible for both qualifications and the curriculum, to ensure that these were, in the governments own words, high quality, coherent and flexible. It warned that it intended to replace. A-levels and vocational qualifications, and possibly to reflect a broad range of study rather than the narrow specialize of the A-levels system.

The government also promised to improve the quality of the teaching staff with a mandatory qualification for all newly appointed heads of schools, to improve teacher training, to establish a General Teaching Council, which would restore teacher morale and raise standards, and to introduce more effective means of removing inefficient teachers.

Literature

1.Английский язык. 600 устных тем для школьников и поступающих в ВУЗы / И.Ю.Баканова, Н.В.Береговая, Н.Г.Брюсова и др.- 3-е изд. стереотип.- М.: Дрофа, 2001. - 608с.

2.Выборова Г.Е. Easy English: Базовый курс: Учебник для студентов неязыковых ВУЗов.- М.:Аст - Пресс, 1999 - 384 с.

3.Голицынский Ю.Б. Вуликобритания. - СПб.: КАРО, 2004.-480 с.

4. Кубарьков Г.Л. 1000. Сборник новых тем современного английского языка. - Ь.: ЗАО «БАЩ-ПРЕСС», 2004._1184 с.

Education in Britain