Unit 4. School education system

Facts about schools 1.Children start Grade 1 when they are 6 years old.. Schools in which all children can attend without paying tuition fees ___ e.. The examinations children sit at t

I Before you read

Read the facts below and decide whether the statements about schools in Vietnam are true (T) or

false (F) Then compare your results with your

partners’

Facts about schools

1.Children start Grade 1 when they are 6 years old

2.Schooling is compulsory from the age of 6 to 16

3.The school year generally begins in September

and ends in late May

4.The students do not have any examinations

when they finish secondary school

5.A school year consists of two terms



x x





- academic/ ,ækə'demik /(adj) thuéc gi¶ng d¹y

vµ häc tËp

- academic year = school year : n¨m häc

- parallel / 'pærəlel / (n) : song song

- core / k :(r) /(adj) = main : chÝnh, chñ yÕu

- compulsory / kəm'pʌlsəri / (adj): b¾t buéc

- category / 'kætəgəri / (n) : lo¹i, h¹ng

- curriculum / kə'rikjuləm / (n) : ch ¬ng tr×nh m«n häc

-tuition fees / tju:’isn fi:z / : häc phÝ

-certificate/ sə’tifikət /: chøng chØ, giÊy

chøng nhËn

c

II While you read

Task 1 Match the words or phrases in A with their definitions in B.

1 compulsory

2 term

3 curriculum

4 secondary education

5 primary education

6 state schools

7 core

8 the General

Certificate of

Secondary education

(GCSE ).

_ a A stage of study for children

aged from 5 to 10 _ b A stage of study for children

aged from 11 to 16 _ c Put into force by the law _ d Schools in which all children

can attend without paying tuition fees

_ e The examinations children sit

at the end of compulsory education

_ f A detailed plan for a course of

study offered in a school or college

5 4 1 6 8 3

Task 2 Answer the questions

1 When do children in England start their compulsory education

at school?

- From the age of 5

2 How many terms are there in a school year in England?

- 3 terms (Autumn Term, Spring Term and Summer Term).

3 What are the two school systems in England?

- The state school and the “independent” or “public” school

system

4 Do children have to pay fees if they go to “independent” or

“public” school?

- Yes, they do

5 How many core subjects are there in the national curriculum?

- There are 3 core subjects (English, Maths and Science)

6 When can students take the GCSE examination?

- When they finish the secondary school

Read the text once more and fill in the diagram with correct information taken from the reading text.

ENGLAND

SCHOOLING (1) _ year (2) _term (3) _term (4) _term

(5) _school 93% of the pupils (6) _school fee paying (7) school (8) _school

GCSE

GCE “A” Level  University

State school 93% of the pupils Public school fee paying

Primary school Secondary school

Tell the others one of the most difficult school subjects you are studying and what you would like your friends and your teacher to do to help you learn that subject more effectively.

Ex : I find history very difficult It’s too long to remember all the historical events I would learn it better if the teacher could help with a short description of each event.

III After you read

 Prepare speaking lesson

Where do children from 1 year old

to 3 years old learn?

Where do children from 4 years old to 5 years old learn?

X

2

Lucky

number!

Where do children from 6 years old to 11 years old learn?

You are unlucky!

You’ve just lost half of your points!

Where do children from 12 years old to 15 years old learn?

Where do children from 16 years old to 18 years old learn?

Where do you want to learn

after upper secondary school?