Asher attended two terms of Primary 3 English Enrichment Class at the British Council branch at Toa Payoh Hub. You can read our previous review here on the class details.
After two terms, what takeaways did Asher gain?
His English grades definitely gotten better. From only 13/20 for composition in August, Asher managed to pull up his socks and scored 17/20 for composition for his Semestral Assessment in October.
On the personal development front, we posed to him the questions of what he learned from his British Council classes and what he enjoyed the most. Here are his answers in his own words.
Things I learned from my British Council Classes – by Asher Lim, 9
“I love British Council as it completely exposed me to new things I would probably not learn in school. For example, we learned how to write things like diaries, news reports and fantasy compositions. The latter requires us to be very creative in order to create a strong that was original, fantastical and magical.
They also taught interesting new topics like magic, escapologists and a teensy bit of the history of Earth’s creatures’ evolution. These are topics which are not available in school and expanded my horizon.
I love the fact that British Council usually teaches us by playing games that test and slowly increase our knowledge of vocabulary.”
Things I enjoyed at my British Council Classes – by Asher Lim, 9
“I always enter the class expecting an extremely fun lesson and British Council never fails to meet my expectations. In fact, I can probably say they surpass my expectations.
Our teacher is friendly and engaging. She always makes sure the class is fun and exciting while also ensuring we learn. She is also very patient and will guide me if I have any questions, big or small.
I especially like the fact that we are able to make friends and do work as a group of three. This helps me with learning the importance of teamwork and collaborating with others. Due to Covid-19, we are unable to have group work in school last year, but British Council allows us to interact and learn with friends, with our masks on and classroom layout has been adjusted as part of the safe distancing measures.”
Turn curiosity into confidence. Turn mistakes into triumphs.
Some people may not know that the British Council is actually a non-profit organisation. It is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities and are on the ground in six continents and over 100 countries, bringing international opportunity to life, every day. Running English enrichment classes are just a means to an end of their corporate goals and missions.
British Council’s core values include turning curiosity into confidence and mistakes into triumphs. The former is clearly demonstrated in Asher’s learning journey with them, as he built up stronger confidence over his English language ability to tackle his school work as well as expand his general knowledge.
For the latter, Asher is by nature, a little shy. It took him a while to warm up to his classmates to enjoy the team work together with them in their class exercises. On his first lesson, Asher caused a minor hiccup by being unresponsive during class exercises and not interacting with his classmates. After his teacher conveyed her feedback, we had a word with him and was able to get him to change his attitude, under the patient guidance of his teacher over the subsequent lessons. By the end of his two terms, Asher bonded so well with his classmates that they became friends.
Developed by the world’s English experts, the British Council’s enrichment courses for Nursery 1 up to Junior College are student-centred and aligned to the syllabus set by the Ministry of Education.
All the teachers at British Council are internationally qualified to provide a safe, supportive and dynamic environment to help students succeed at every stage of their academic journey whilst developing the essential skills and proficiencies to be able to thrive in the fast-changing world
Nurturing Children to Become Creative thinkers and Confident Communicators
A holistic enrichment class should not be just able grades and training students to be book smart. It has to broaden their horizon, expand their creativity and instil confidence in them as communicators.
The Lower Primary courses at British Council are designed to be in line with the syllabus set by the Ministry of Education to help students succeed in school whilst nurturing a love for learning. Students will focus on literature, helping them to grow as passionate readers and build on their written and communication skills through targeted individual and group practices. These were reflected in Asher’s own testimonial.
Through a safe and nurturing environment at British Council, children are able to build confidence to enjoy learning new concepts and to express themselves by asking questions and applying their creativity when solving problems so they may be ready to face challenges in-and-out of the classroom.
Other Details
Class duration: From 1 h 30 min – 2 h (depending on level)
Levels: Nursery 1 to Junior College
What to bring: Writing materials, a notebook, a sweater, water bottle and student concession card to check in (if student doesn’t own a smartphone)
The British Council
Tel: 6473 1111
The British Council has four branches in Singapore:
1. Napier Road Centre, 30 Napier Road, Singapore 258509
2. Marsiling Centre, 1 Woodlands St. 31 #04-01 Fuchun Community Club, Singapore 738581
3. Tampines Centre, 11 Tampines Concourse, #01-02/03/04, Singapore 528729
4. Toa Payoh Centre, 480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, #09-01 HDB Hub East Wing, Singapore 310480
