English as a Second Language (ESL)

     Welcome to the ESL site 2009-2010

The ESL department at UWC Maastricht is the hub of the international school. The reputation of this well established department has attracted many families to this school and the ESL department provides over a hundred children each school year with the gift of another language, English.

The term English as a Second Language is used because the school’s language of instruction is English and this name emphasizes the academic level of language that your child will be working towards acquiring.

The teaching is implemented by four specialist ESL teachers who are dedicated towards providing a quality program for the ESL children attending UWCM Primary and Preschool.
In addition to the standard teaching qualification all members of the ESL team have a TESL qualification, one teacher has a Master’s degree in Education and one teacher is half way through a Master’s study in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching. You can rest assured that your child will have the opportunity to learn English with educators who are highly qualified and who have their fingers on the pulse of ESL issues in the international field.

The English as a Second Language department strives to ensure that every child succeeds in gaining sufficient knowledge of the English language in order for them to pursue their potential within the school curriculum and community.

The ESL department has become an integral part of UWCM Primary community where the specially trained staff offer expert advice and support to the class teachers to enable your child to reach their full potential here at UWC Maastricht Primary and Preschool.

At UWCM Primary and Preschool we aim for intelligible speech and this can be achieved without losing the charm of the Mother Tongue accent! Only children aged from 2-4 years might experience accent change. For children above this threshold the accent from the first language is usually established.

The ESL program and curricula are specially designed to meet the needs of each age group and each ability group. There is a good balance between the use of up to date published ESL programs and in-house developed programs to offer your child a tailor made program to meet their needs as an English language learner and as an emergent bilingual speaker. The program is based upon a contextualized approach which enables your child to acquire English through ‘real life’ topics such as ‘Greetings and Introductions’ and ‘Families.’ Each topic is rich with subject specific vocabulary and grammar concepts.

Your child’s progress in English will be carefully monitored through regular in-house evaluations to assess English language skills, vocabulary acquisition and the application of grammar skills. The ESL team meets on a formal basis three times a year with the class teachers and other specialist teachers to make this assessment and tailor instruction to meet individual student needs. Your child will receive an ESL report 3 times a school year.

On a more informal level you will receive a digital weekly overview at the end of each week. This gives you a detailed description of the concepts that have been covered in ESL that week with your child’s group and it provides you with a great tool with which to initiate conversations with your child about their ESL lessons. Communication with the ESL teachers is encouraged and we are always happy to respond to your queries and comments: esl.dept@uwcmaastricht.com

There is no routine ESL homework because we know that acquiring another language is very tiring and we feel that it is important for your child to have space to adjust to their new school and life here in The Netherlands. It may also be surprising for you to know that the best way for your child to learn English is to maintain their Mother Tongue! Recent research by Linguists such as Jim Cummins, Steven Krashen and Ethnie Gallagher support this theory. Please visit the Mother Tongue page of this website to find out more information about the promotion of Mother Tongue throughout the school.

During ESL lessons we do not have an ‘English Only’ policy. We encourage children to rely on their Mother Tongue because by ignoring the child’s first language we would be limiting them from tapping into the wealth of knowledge that they bring with them to the school! We find that the children gain a lot of comfort, confidence and pride from using their Mother Tongue and these positive feelings boost their English language acquisition!

We anticipate that your child will receive ESL support for approximately two years however this is a guide and your child might need more or less support. You will be kept informed of any changes made regarding their support. We offer two levels of support: Level 1 for children who are new to English and Level 2 for children who are becoming confident English speakers.

The Level 1 children receive 3 hours a week of specific ESL instruction from the specialist teachers in the comforts of the full sized, well resourced ESL classroom. Alongside this your child will also receive 3 hours a week of specific ESL instruction from their Class Teacher when the rest of their class mates attend their Dutch as an Additional Language lesson. One of these sessions will be delivered by the ESL In Class specialist teacher who is there to support the ESL children and the Class Teachers in the mainstream classroom. This extensive amount of support, 6 hours a week in total, offers your child an excellent foundation in English. Not forgetting the fact that your child is being exposed to English from the minute they walk through the school door every morning!

The Level 2 children receive one hour of specific ESL instruction per week. By this stage your child is able to access the majority of the mainstream curriculum so the ESL support aims to fine tune those English language skills! At the end of this level your child will graduate from the program and your child will be classed as an English Language Learner* Following the graduation your child’s progress will be monitored during the formal Class Discussions procedure for a period of 6 months.

*It is important to keep in mind that it takes up to 7 years to become a ‘native-like’ speaker so the journey towards becoming a confident user of English to a literate level is long but at UWCM Primary and Preschool we aim to ensure that the journey is also fun!

We wish you and your family an enjoyable, rewarding and unforgettable stay here in The Netherlands.