English

Department Heads and Members

Key Approaches

STELLAR (Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading) is an English Language instructional programme adopted at all levels in Frontier Primary School. The STELLAR 2.0 vision is to nurture children who love reading and have a strong foundation in the English Language. This will be achieved by:
      1. strengthening our students’ language and reading skills
      2. promoting a positive learning attitude

Students are immersed in language learning and are exposed to a variety of genres that are engaging and age-appropriate. The use of different strategies and pedagogies with explicit instruction, as well as enriching language experiences, allow our students to appreciate the language within and beyond the classrooms.

As students progress across the levels, they learn to make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. They are eased into reading silently as well as reading longer texts without visual support. Teachers continue to provide students with guidance in the processes of planning, writing and reviewing before they apply these skills in writing independently.

Students are also given differentiated support at various points of instruction to optimise their learning. Teachers carry out Differentiated Instruction by designing appropriate activities to support, reinforce and extend their learning. They also harness e-Pedagogy design learning experiences that enhance student engagement, subject mastery and help students acquire and strengthen their 21^st Century Competencies.

EdTech in EL

The EL department harnesses and leverages technology to enhance teaching and learning. The teachers use the Think, Tech, Grow @ Frontier schoolwide learning approach to:

1. promote and deepen students’ thinking process;

2. design tech-enabled learning experiences; and

3. provide feedback to students for their growth in learning

We aim to build strong fundamentals in our students with digital literacy and technological skills to prepare them for a technology-transformed world.

Departmental Highlights

Read@Frontier - Young Readers Programme

The Young Readers Programme aims to encourage and excite our students to be confident and avid readers. Students will participate in Extensive Reading activities such as Speech and Drama, Show and Tell and Frontopia, to explore and appreciate different book genres.

Students will also get to participate in termly thematic activities during their recess at the Exploring English Corner. These reading-related activities include quizzes, storytelling sessions and gaining new knowledge through information on the noticeboards and reading good writing pieces on display.

Buddy Reading Programme

This programme supports emergent readers in Primary 2 to help them improve their reading skills. A group of Primary 4 Frontierers with good reading and speaking skills, driven by their interest to serve and contribute, will engage and motivate their juniors in reading twice a week in the morning before the flag-raising ceremony. These Primary 4 Frontierers exercise student agency by acting responsibly and contributing actively to help improve the reading proficiency level of their juniors.

Write@Frontier - Inkredibles Creative Writing Competition

The EL department organised the inaugural The Inkredibles Creative Writing Competition 2023 during the June school holidays in 2023 to encourage and inspire our Primary 3 to 5 Frontierers to unleash their creativity and showcase their flair in writing. This competition aims to provide a meaningful activity during the school holidays for the students and promote student agency in them. A total of 15 Frontierers were affirmed for their excellent pieces of writing.

Excel@Frontier – English Language Stretch Programme

The English Language Stretch Programme aims to develop our students to become empathetic communicators, discerning readers and creative inquirers. Selected Primary 4 and Primary 5 students participate in challenging activities in Oracy, Writing and Literature to hone and sharpen their language skills. This programme also provides our students opportunities that allow them to challenge themselves further through the participation of external oratorical and writing competitions and assuming the role of an emcee during school events. Some of them will also participate in a Cluster Partnership programme where they will be able to exchange ideas and learn from like-minded students from schools within the cluster.

The lessons in this programme are developed with a focus on: Multiliteracies Meta-cognitive strategies and Inquiry through Dialogue

Debating lessons during EL Stretch Programme

10th Anniversary Celebrations Student Emcees

Wits & Words – Inter-school Debate Championship 2023
The team demonstrated resilience and determination to learn and improve through winning and losing in the various rounds of the competition. One of our debaters was also the Best Speaker of the House in the second round. Well done, debaters!

1. Learning Support Programme
The Learning Support Programme (LSP) is an MOE-initiated programme which aims to provide early intervention and support for selected Primary 1 and Primary 2 students in their learning. The objective of LSP is to equip students with basic literacy skills so that they can access learning in the regular classroom. These lessons are conducted in small groups daily during school curriculum hours by a trained Learning Support Coordinator (LSC).

2. School-based Dyslexia Remediation
The School-based Dyslexia Remediation (SDR) programme aims to provide support for Primary 3 and Primary 4 students who have been identified through a systematic screening process for dyslexia conducted at the end of Primary 2. This programme seeks to enable the selected students to acquire coping strategies in reading so that they will be better able to cope with their learning in school. Teachers will use a systematic set of strategies and activities which have been carefully designed by MOE in this programme.

3. Reading Remediation Programme
The Reading Remediation Programme (RRP) aims to provide support for Primary 3 and Primary 4 students who face consistent difficulty in reading despite having completed the Learning Support Programme in Primary 1 and Primary 2. This MOE-initiated programme exposes students to a range of strategies for reading comprehension which will enable them to recognise words and read grade-level texts with fluency and comprehension.