Single-sex schools (to Lesson 3 Unit 3 Form 10)

Третий урок третьего раздела учебника 10 класса посвящён системе образования Великобритании. Все эти термины: independent school, public school, private school настолько запутаны, что хочется вообще уйти от них подальше. Чтобы объяснить ученикам разницу, нужно потратить немало сил. Зачем?

All schools in Britain can be divided into state and independent. Among independent schools there are public and private.

All public schools are private but not all private schools are public.

Remember that public schools are the oldest, the most expensive and the most exclusive. They are selective and the academic level of education there is very high. Eaton, Harrow, Rugby School, Westminster School, Winchester College are examples of public schools. Of course, they are open for public but the word public doesn’t imply this. In fact they belong to one of the public school associations — HMC (Headmasters’ Conference). That’s the main reason.

Private schools are normally primary and secondary schools. They are fee-paying and some of them are boarding.

If you are interested in how much the fee in private schools is, read the article in «The Independent» (the figures are published there). See the link below. Approximately from 1,000 to 10,000 pounds a term.

And enough with this for pupils. I guess it would be more interesting for them to read the following:

Another decision faced by many parents is whether or not to send a child to a single sex or mixed school. Here, theories abound in favour of both approaches, but among the most forthright of cases is that put by the Girls’ Day School Trust, an organisation affiliated to the ISC but which represents 26 all-girl independent schools, mostly taking girls aged three to 18.

The trust’s chief executive, Helen Fraser, thinks that an all-girl environment can help break down feelings of underlying insecurity which can exist within many girls. “When girls are educated in single-sex schools, they are the leaders: head of school, captain of games, leader of the debating society. They find their voices, and they get used to the challenges of leadership,” she argues. It’s the same in the classroom: girls can take intellectual risks, ask questions or make judgements without worrying about ‘looking stupid in front of boys’.”

“In science lessons it’s the girl tackling the boiling test tube and the Bunsen burner; in school plays it is the girls who do the casting and directing; on the sports field it is the girls who plan the strategy and score the goals.”

*ISC — Independent School Council

Источник

And then ask your pupils which school: a single-sex or mixed school they would like to choose. Practise Conditionals alongside.

If I were a parent/an English pupil I would choose/like to go to…

PS: Tomorrow will be my first day at school after a too long break. And I am getting ready.