Ten Ways to find the best schools

Read through the following newspaper article about the problems British teachers are faced with and the ways they are going to solve them.

Reading one

Starter activity

Translate the sentences using your functional vocabulary.

Give synonyms of the following words. Use your functional vocabulary.

Fill in the gaps with the right particle or preposition where necessary.

Explain the meaning of the italicized words and phrases.

Match the wirds with their definitions.

Self check test 3

1) conscientious	a) difficult to achieve
2) elusive	b) showing a lot of care and attention
3) preposterous	c) unable or unwilling to believe sth
4) incredulous	d) having very high moral standards
5) chaste	e) completely unreasonable, absurd

1. Many women in Central Asia shun newly arrived European fashions.

2. In some countries, if a newlywed bride fails to produce a dowry sufficient to satisfy her husband she may be killed.

3. At least 20 % of women say they have been physically assailed by the man in their current relationship.

4. The participants of the conference overwhelmingly adopted a resolution denouncing sexual abuses.

5. Many women think there is a stigma to being simply a housewife.

6. Finances in their family were touch-and-go and all the teenage children had to have some part-time jobs.

1. His poetry is full of allusions … other works of literature.

2. Pilots must abstain … alcohol for 24 hours before flying.

3. They could hear the children romping.. upstairs.

4. She cast … all her natural modesty.

5. Sometimes marriages … convenience turn out to be a greater success than love marriages.

1) advice,

2) careful,

3) behaviour,

4) to increase sharply,

5) scorn, disdain.

1. Во многих странах женщины имеют право на оплачиваемый декретный отпуск.

2. Докладчики в своих выступлениях привели примеры вопиющей дискриминации женщин во многих странах мира.

3. Участники встречи единодушно осудили такие проявления угнетения женщин, как сексуальное насилие, убийство женщин из-за приданого и др.

4. Ежегодно от 25 % до 50 % женщин оказываются жертвами насилия в семье.

5. Ее очередной роман закончился неудачно, и она чувствовала себя угнетенной и подавленной.

6. Многие женщины рассматривают работу и карьеру как способ реализовать себя.

7. Постоянное– такова судьба женщин во многих странах третьего мира.

Unit IV. Educational Challenges

Section 1. Are Schools doing their job?

Why might school days be referred to as the best days of your life? Do you agree? Were they for you? What type of school did you go to? Did you enjoy your school days? Did you ever play truant from classes? Why?

The mystery of how to choose a good school could soon be solved, thanks to a Whitehall checklist being drawn up by officials.

It will take into account points such as the marking of homework, the amount of graffiti and the number of expulsions, junior education Minister Angela Rumbold told a conference in London.

Head teachers must tell the truth about truancy, bullying and the number of school leavers who end up on the dole, she added.

“Nothing could be more important than everyone's $64 000 dollar question: What makes a good school?” Mrs Rumbold told the Industrial Society in Bloomsbury.

She said a nationwide investigation had resulted in her officials drawing up a checklist to help the public decide.

The factors showing the quality of the country’s 26 000 primary and secondary schools are called Performance Indicators.

Mrs Rumbold added: “Schools have for many years set out their purposes, often in clear and helpful statements of aims and objectives. But they have not always turned these into definite targets”.

But she insisted the checklist must carry a Government Health Warning. “Considered in isolation it is open to misinterpretation and misuse and can seriously damage the health of a school”.

And she said the biggest danger is that a school will be judged solely by its poor exam results when, taking into account the IQs and background of the pupils, it was doing remarkably well.

The Performance Indicators, compiled after tests in 40 schools, will play a crucial part in education. They will, she said, enable heads, teachers and governors, as well as parents, decide whether a school is up to scratch.

She added: “They will only ever tell part of the story and should therefore not be overrated. But neither should they be undervalued.”

The suggested checklist could include:

· Pupils’ performance in tests and exams.

· How many pupils come from homes where English is not the first language?

· What proportion of leavers go to university or college, or register as unemployed?

· Does the school communicate efficiently with parents?

· How much vandalism is there – and is it growing or decreasing?

· Did a majority of parents make the school their first choice?

· How many pupils were suspended or excluded last year and are these numbers growing?

· What does the school do about graffiti?

· Is pupils' homework set and marked effectively?

· How much bullying is there and what does the head do about it?

Bruce Kemble. News Week. 2002

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