English

English

The vision of the English Language department is for our students to become future global citizens who are articulate and effective users of the English Language. This is in alignment with our school’s student learner outcome of ‘Effective Communicator’ and MOE’s C2015 student outcome of ‘Confident Person’. 

The English Language curriculum in Temasek is designed to lay a strong foundation for the learning of core language skills as well as develop in our students a love for the language. Students continue to gain mastery of these skills as they participate in the learning of language in authentic and meaningful contexts of use. 

Key Programmes

STELLAR (STrategies for English Language Learning And Reading)

STELLAR is an MOE (Ministry of Education) initiative to develop children who love reading and have a strong foundation in the English Language. Through STELLAR, the department aims to focus on oral communication and enjoyment of the language by introducing students to a variety of print and non-print resources as well as literature texts to promote appreciation and use of the language. 

At Primary 1 and 2, our students learn to read for understanding and enjoyment and are explicitly taught language items, structures and skills through the Shared Book Approach (SBA). In the Modified Language Experience Approach (MLEA), students are engaged in fun and interesting shared experiences. Students are encouraged to talk about their experiences as a class and then write about them. From Primary 3 to Primary 6, students are explicitly taught language items, structures and skills through strategies like Supported Reading, KWL and Retelling.

STAGE IT (Share and Talk about Anything in Good English In Temasek)

To fulfil the schools student learner outcome of ‘Effective Communicator’, the pupils engage in ‘STAGE IT’ where they work collaboratively with their parents and teachers on their speech before presenting to their classmates. Feedback from the teacher and peers is then given through the use of rubrics.

Reading Programme – Take the Lead, Start to Read!   

In Temasek, we believe that reading is the foundation for effective language literacy acquisition. We aim to build a community of avid, lifelong readers through fun and exciting programmes. All students are expected to engage in silent reading before the start of each school day. Each class is assigned a collection of books to increase their exposure to recommended reads. To instil a love for reading among students, platforms are provided for Primary 1 to 6 students to share and promote books that they enjoy reading to their peers during their English lessons.

W2iT (Write Well in Temasek)

Our writing programme aims to increase the engagement of our students in writing and develop writing competence. Adopting the Writer’s Workshop approach at Primary 1, students are encouraged to write about their personal experiences. The writing process – idea generation, writing drafts, revising, editing and finally publishing their writing, is explicitly taught and continues to be emphasised at Primary 2. The teacher acts as a mentor author, modelling writing techniques and conferring with students as they move through the writing process. Direct writing instruction takes place in the form of mini-lessons that focus on a range of topics.

From Primary 3 to 6, a customised writing package is used to develop in our students the essential skills of writing personal recounts based on a given structure to suit the purpose, audience and context. At Primary 5 and 6, we equip our students with the necessary writing skills using a comprehensive and detailed writing package which includes effective Writer’s Workshop strategies, writing resources from ELIS, exemplars, checklists and other resources. We hope that with the availability of such a package, our pupils will become Passionate Learners, Effective Communicators, and Critical and Creative Thinkers in the future.

Each class is assigned a collection of books to increase their exposure to recommended reads. To instil a love for reading among students, platforms are provided for Primary 1 to 6 students to share and promote books that they enjoy reading to their peers before the morning assembly. The department also involves our parents as ‘mystery readers’ to read stories to our Primary 1 and 2 pupils during their recesses.

Drama in Temasek

Drama helps our students to express themselves through verbal and non-verbal ways. Drama activities conducted as part of the English language curriculum develop our students’ confidence in speaking, improve oral communication skills and promote teamwork. Our students also develop social skills and empathy as they take on the perspectives of different characters in stories. In Temasek, drama is an integral part of the English Language curriculum and drama activities are designed to complement the STELLAR units covered in the English lessons. Through the use of drama, our young learners are engaged in critical thinking and perspective taking.

LiT (Literature In Temasek) 

LiT is a customised school-based curriculum differentiated to meet the needs of the Primary 3 to Primary 6 students in Temasek. Students are actively engaged in various activities such as character analysis and comparison, role play and debate to promote an appreciation of English Literature and a love for reading. The LiT programme will be based on the following texts:

Junior Reporters

The Junior Reporters Programme was implemented for the Primary 2 students in 2021. It provides a platform for students to hone their oral communication skills by using the English Language in an authentic setting. In this programme, students learn basic interviewing skills and how to write a basic interview report before presenting their findings in front of an audience. 

Support Programmes