Intercultural Bilingualism
At Prescott, we educate promoting openness for exchange and integration within cultural diversity, based on the identity, through bilingual education in English as the lingua franca for the global world and with a special emphasis on the new information and communication technologies.
Learning a second language allows children and adolescents to develop creativity, be open to new cultures, be prepared to learn other language, but above all, it helps them to increase the understanding of their own language.
Preschool
At Prescott, learning English starts at the age of three and increases in complexity year by year. Learning a second language at an early age is a natural process since children are at the sensitive period to achieve that goal.
At his stage, learning English takes place through ludic and exploratory activities, allowing them to acquire both expressive and comprehensive vocabulary to later on start using more complex structures. Through games, songs, poems, rhymes, and use of audiovisual material and technology, children learn more naturally, trying to communicate without much fear
The activities planned are significant at all times for the students, promoting learning in a relaxed and enjoyable setting.
Elementary School
Learning English takes place in a more intensive manner from 1st to 5th grades. The aim is to look for setting the foundations necessary for our students to consolidate their learning in higher grades.
At this stage, learning English happens through activities that cover all the aspects of the language, grammar, literature, reading and listening comprehension, and oral and written production. Exposure to English through games, writing, conversation, use of audiovisual materials and technology.
In Elementary School several courses are offered: Science, Social Studies, Grammar, Reading, Listening and Speaking, which are developed in a collaborative manner integrated to the development of the Inquiry Program.
We prepare our students to sit Cambridge Examinations in YLE (Starters, Movers y Flyers), KET and PET.
Middle School
Language acquisition in Middle School has English as a fundamental subject in the curriculum. Besides formal and academic learning of class hours, the students interact with the language during ceremonies, debates and various other activities. We seek that the use of the language is habitual. We have two courses in parallel to the above: Language & Literature in 8th and 9th grades, and Science from 6th to 8th grades; the students explore the world of science in a laboratory, using English as a means of oral and written communication.
Bilingualism is complemented with international mindedness, the philosophical foundation of the International Baccalaureate, from the planning of the topics to be covered in the course, leading the students to a global focus of the reality around them.
We motivate and prepare our students to take Cambridge Examinations in the levels of KET, PET and FCE for Schools and even CAE, an exam intended for more advanced adult speakers.
In this stage, learning English takes place through activities that cover all aspects of the language, with a communicative approach: literature, Reading and listening comprehension, oral and written communication. According to the guidelines of the International Baccalaureate for Language B, the focus is mainly on language acquisition and the development of linguistic skills through the study and use of several oral and written materials. Such materials cover from daily oral exchanges to literary texts, and they are all related to the Anglophone culture, considering several countries where the language is spoken not only as a mother tongue, but also as a lingua franca. The chosen materials allow the students to improve the use of their linguistic skills for understanding, production and interaction and to develop intercultural understanding (Language B Guide, IB 2020).
Thanks to the linguistic competence acquired at this level, many of our students have met the requirements necessary to pass Cambridge Examinations in FCE, CAE, and even the highest level, CPE.