The primary, middle and high schools have separate Foreign Languages departments. In the High School, the department incorporates English, French and German teachers. In the Primary and Middle Schools German, French, and Spanish are taught from Grade 4, and, integrated into a single foreign language department with the English teachers. All three schools work together to develop their curriculum into a continuum for the language development of students from Pre-K to 12.
Primary School and Middle School
The Primary and Middle Schools (Pre-K to 8) currently have a total of 30 members in the English departments, both local and international staff. There are three separate teams, viz. Pre-K and K, 1-4, 5-8, which work closely together to develop the curriculum, exams, and approaches at their levels, but which link up regularly to discuss whole department issues.
PreK and K are housed in a separate wing of the school, a facility designed for younger learners, with the school preferring to employ qualified class teachers to teach English in an immersion programme shared with Turkish and other subjects (45 periods total).
The nationally specified curriculum integrated with the MYP framework forms the delivery system in Grades 5-8, with particular importance attached to English. Students are grouped according to level, with frequent opportunities to pass from level to level based on performance. Grade 5 has an intensive English programme of 17 periods per week which has proved effective in advancing English levels, built on effective learning in the primary school and effective methodology. In the 2019-20 academic year there will be a preparatory programme prior to entry to the High School. Entry to the High School will require an appropriate level of English.
The majority of middle school students (over 75%) prefer to continue into high school from where, once again, a majority of them select Bilkent University as their destination of choice for their university studies. This is understandable: Bilkent is one of the top universities in Turkey, and was recently placed in the top of 250 in world rankings by the Times Higher Education survey, and much higher in the rankings of universities newly opened in the last 50 years.
High School
The High School employs teachers with an EFL/ESL or English literature first degree, and teaching certification, with at least two years experience of teaching EFL/ESL to adolescent learners whose first language is not English. Experience of IB is a distinct advantage and, where no IB prior training has been undertaken, eventual appointees should be prepared to become familiar with and put into practice the IB philosophy and systems. The school provides training to its staff, and sends IBDP teachers for specialist workshops. The High School is currently preparing for the MYP programme which will be introduced fully ot the high school in 2019-20, although currently training and curriculum development have been undertaken and many subject areas have already developed MYP units.
Teachers work in a small department team of both local and international staff. The Department of Foreign Languages currently has 9 staff: 7 English teachers, 1 French teacher, and 1 German teacher.
Duties include, amongst other tasks: teaching classes, at least two grade levels, for 20 to 24 forty-minute periods per week; supervision of students outside of class in activities, breaks, etc.; setting and marking homework; writing, setting and grading exams; attending required meetings; contributing to the creation of a positive school ethic and atmosphere; planning and developing the curriculum; taking part in training, particularly International Baccalaureate Diploma training, as and when required.
Classrooms are subject-based, i.e. students move around between different lessons, and each department is allocated classrooms for their department’s sole use. Staff have their own work place in the departmental teachers room kitted out with desk and space for papers, etc., plus internet connections and computer access.
