The Global Scale of English (GSE) Partner School program by ɫèAV stands as a beacon of innovation and excellence. This initiative is not just about enhancing English language ability: it's about transforming the educational journey for both teachers and students. Today, we celebrate the success stories of two institutions: Batari School and Maitreyawira School, both of which have embraced the GSE Partner School program with inspiring results.
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Since joining the ɫèAV GSE Partner School program, Batari School in Medan has witnessed a remarkable transformation in its approach to English language education. With students from diverse backgrounds, the GSE framework has empowered teachers to tailor their teaching methods to align with each student's specific language level. This personalized approach has not only improved language proficiency but also built confidence and competence among students.
Bapak Feliex Lee, a teacher at Batari School, talks about how the GSE Toolkit makes lesson planning easier and helps create quality, level-appropriate lessons for students. This tool reduces teachers' workload so they can focus more on student growth. The ɫèAV English Journey program, with its courses, tests and certifications, guides students to reach fluency efficiently.
The results speak for themselves. Batari School has reported measurable progress in students' language skills, with average gains of 5.9 points on the GSE scale between grades 11 and 12. This success shows how effective targeted support and a clear plan are for learning a language. Before joining the GSE Partner School program, teachers worked with varied methodologies, leading to inconsistencies. Now, with regular tests, teachers can find out where students need help and give the right support to improve their English.
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At Sekolah Maitreyawira School in Deliserdang, the GSE Partner School program has been a catalyst for change. The school wanted a reliable international way to measure students' English skills. The GSE framework provides that, helping teachers set clear goals and customize lessons for each student.
Ibu Hera Feitra Lubis, an educator at Maitreyawira School, emphasizes the value of the training provided by ɫèAV. This training has equipped teachers with the skills to set goals using the GSE Learning Objectives, integrate them into lesson plans, and focus on the critical language skills needed for proficiency. The digital assessments have further empowered teachers to measure progress and support students according to their individual needs.
Maitreyawira School has embraced the GSE program to not only teach English but to enable students to live it. The program ensures that every student develops real communication skills, equipping them with the tools needed to thrive in the world. The GSE's data-driven approach has personalized learning, resulting in increased student engagement and motivation. With clear learning objectives at every point on the GSE scale, teachers can design the best learning pathways and work towards achieving specific goals.
The impact has been strong, with students at Maitreyawira School improving their GSE scores by an average of 5.4 points. This shows how dedicated the teachers are and how effective the GSE curriculum is. The school's overall approach helps students become confident global citizens.
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Both Batari and Maitreyawira Schools show how the GSE Partner School program transforms educational practices. By offering a structured and consistent framework for teaching and assessment, these schools have boosted both student results and the quality of English instruction overall.
Teachers now have the tools to deliver effective, level-based lessons, while students enjoy a clear understanding of their progress and the steps needed to achieve their goals. This alignment has brought consistency to teaching practices, raised proficiency levels and encouraged a collaborative environment among educators.
The success of these institutions highlights the importance of equipping teachers with the necessary tools, training and support. As educators gain confidence in delivering skills-based teaching, students become more engaged and motivated, paving the way for future success.
The stories of Batari School and Maitreyawira School are a testament to the dedication of educators and the transformative potential of the ɫèAV GSE Partner School program. By aligning teaching practices with internationally recognized standards, these schools are preparing students for global opportunities and a brighter future.
The GSE Partner School program extends beyond curriculum improvements; it acts as a driver for educational excellence. Empowering teachers and motivating students sets the stage for a future in which learners are not only skilled in English but also confident in seizing opportunities.
Read our posts 'Planning for success with the GSE' and 'Real-world English: How GSE Job Profiles bridge learning and work'.
When you’re teaching English to young learners, you might find that there are a few students in your class who are struggling. But sometimes it can be hard to tell why. Is it because their language level is low? Or are they finding classroom work difficult because of a general cognitive difference, like dyslexia?
Do you ever find it hard to keep students focused and on task? Young learners get easily distracted and it can be hard to find ways to keep them engaged.
So what can we do to get, and more importantly, keep our students’ attention? Here are our five top tips.
Young learners have relatively short attention spans. In the classroom, it is rare to have the whole class fully engaged in something for a long time, since the children will have different interests and levels, so it is essential to plan a number of activities for each lesson.
The more variety you can include in the activities and tasks you plan, the easier it is to provide something enjoyable and relevant for each child. Choose short tasks and try to have a couple of extra activities up your sleeve if something you planned doesn’t work well. However, don’t worry if you don’t have time to do them all – you can always save them for a future lesson.
Another way of keeping students engaged is to mix up the classroom dynamics, having a combination of individual heads-down work, pair work, group work, and whole class discussions or games. When planning your lesson, consider how your students might feel at each stage. After doing some reading or quiet work, students may start to become restless, and this is the ideal time to get them up and moving about.
While you are in class, pay close attention to the mood of the class. When you sense that students are becoming distracted or bored, change the dynamics of the activity.
Ever notice that students become lethargic and show a lack of interest? Why not try introducing brain breaks at strategic points in your lessons? Brain breaks are short physical activities or games designed to get the blood flowing and to re-energize students to help them get ready for learning. They range from short activities that last a couple of minutes, to longer breaks that may be suitable if your lessons last more than an hour.
We can vary different aspects of the lesson using the previous strategies, but one thing that rarely changes is the role of the teacher! One way of keeping students involved is by giving them more responsibility and allowing them to take a more active role in their learning.
Peer teaching completely changes the classroom dynamic and has students teach their peers while you take a step back. For primary classes, ask one or two students to take charge of a ready-made activity, e.g. one from your course book. They should give instructions, demonstrate, monitor as necessary, and check answers.
When students are used to doing this, you can start to have them work in pairs or small groups to plan their own activities to use in class.
Of course, nobody is perfect and there will be times when you lose students’ attention and they are not on task. For these occasions, you can use a wealth of classroom management strategies to regain the class's attention. Here are a few techniques:
Finally, if we want our students to be motivated and engaged in our lessons, we must show enthusiasm for what we are teaching. The more lively and animated you are about the lesson, the more the students will want to join you and learn.
There is a strong link between well-being and friendship, which is just as accurate for children as it is for adults. that children with stable friendships are happier, more able to cope with stress, and have higher self-esteem. Moreover, too, and children who experience friendship adjust more easily to school and perform better academically. School friendships are also a valuable way of learning social skills like sharing, resolving conflict, and engaging with peers positively.
Having friends is an important part of school life, and teachers can play a significant role in creating a positive classroom culture and helping children and young people to form friendships. How can you promote friendships between your students? Here are some ideas:
If there is an example of a good friendship in a book you are reading with students or in your lesson materials, draw your students’ attention to it. For instance, The Jungle Book is an excellent example of a story about friendship. Encourage your students to think critically about the friendships that they read about. You can ask questions like:
By discussing friendship regularly in the classroom, your students will learn about the behavior and characteristics of being a good friend.
You can create lots of opportunities for students to build friendships with one another during class time. Design activities that call for pair or group work, and include at least one or two in every lesson. Focusing on a common goal or problem is a great way to encourage your students to bond with one another.As a bonus, this collaborative way of working promotes important 21st century skills like communication and problem-solving.
Another way of promoting friendships between different groups of students is moving them around. Adjust your seating plan regularly to ensure that all your students interact with and work alongside different classmates, to promote positive, friendly classroom vibes.
Friendship is a social skill that children need to learn – and you can help by teaching them. Be explicit about exactly what you expect from them. Saying, “Be kind” is an abstract, vague concept that children might struggle to put into practice. Instead, give them concrete examples of behavior, such as:
When you see a student engaging in these behaviors, draw attention to them and praise them.
But to really convey the importance of school friendships and kind behavior, it’s not enough to tell them. As the teacher, you must model the behavior you’d like to see in your students. Be consistently positive and upbeat in your interactions with students, thank your learners when they offer help with something, and try to refrain from sounding impatient (even when you are!). All these steps will help to build a positive classroom culture where students feel secure, supported and happy.
Conflict is an inevitable part of school life, but you can help students to navigate arguments and other difficult situations in the classroom. If two students argue, you can help them to resolve it with the following steps:
Following these simple steps teaches children a framework for resolving conflict and gives them the tools to process strong emotions.
An excellent way to promote a positive classroom culture is to do friendship-focused activities with your students:
You could do a Venn diagram activity, where students work in pairs to discuss and write down things they have in common and areas of difference. It’s good to pair students who don’t spend much time together for this activity.
Another positive activity is a 'Honey Roast'. Give students enough squares of paper to have one for each of their classmates. Get them to write their classmates’ names on the paper, and then, on the other side, write down a compliment or something they like about that person, for example, “I like your handwriting”, or “You always use kind words”. Collect the pieces of paper and read out some nice examples to the class. Alternatively, give them directly to the students to read to themselves.
