Bridge School of English: About the School

About the School

The Bridge School of English began in 2003 as an informal Saturday class in the home of Rob Rawlins. It has grown and relocated twice, with 200 students having passed through. Currently, the school is located in Hither Green Baptist Church, where teaching staff run classes on two mornings and two evenings a week during term time.

The staff are members of local churches, for whom the school is a "bridge" to serve the local community. Our aims are in line with the foreword to the Department of Education and Skills' Core Curriculum for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages):

People who have a first language other than English have an important role to play in the country's economy and in all other aspects of life. If Britain is to fulfil its aim of being an ethnically diverse but fully inclusive society, everyone should have the skills to participate and be successful at work, at home and as citizens. This means that good quality English language provision must be available to support people who have a first language other than English. We must also make sure that provision is suitable. People need to access learning in many different places, including community, adult and voluntary settings, learning centres, further education colleges, trade union education programmes, at work or at home.

Bridge students are adherents of a variety of faiths, including Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, or of no faith at all, and the school's curriculum is entirely within the framework of the national core curriculum for ESOL.

Aims

To serve members of the local community with a first language other than English.
To enable students to develop skills and confidence in the use of English for participation and success in work, as citizens and at home.
To provide high quality teaching in a friendly and inclusive environment for adult learners who require a local setting for their learning.
To provide a means of social inclusion and a bridge to the Christian community for any students who are interested.

Values

The Bridge school is founded on the belief that all people are made in the image of God and therefore have unique value, significance and potential.
Service to "neighbours" through the means at our disposal is required by scripture, and essential to the practice of the Christian faith.
In the long tradition of Christian service in public education, the school exists to serve those seeking help with English irrespective of race or creed.
As the key to increased opportunity and inclusion, we recognise a particular obligation to promote social justice through teaching and learning English.

Curriculum

The ESOL core curriculum offers a framework for English language learning. It defines in detail the skills, knowledge and understanding that non-native English speakers need in order to demonstrate achievement of the national standards. It provides a reference tool for teachers of ESOL in a wide range of settings, including further and adult education, the workplace, programmes for the unemployed, prisons, community-based programmes, and family learning programmes.

The national standards for adult literacy and numeracy are specified at three levels: Entry level, Level 1 and Level 2. Entry level is further divided into three sub-levels: Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Entry level has been set out in this way to describe in detail the small steps required for adults to make progress. This sub-division also signals a clear alignment of the skill levels with levels 1, 2 and 3 of the National Curriculum. The three levels of the national standards for adult literacy and numeracy also correspond to the levels of demand of qualifications in the national qualifications framework.

The Adult ESOL core curriculum has been organised by level across the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Teaching at the Bridge School covers the following areas:

Grammar and vocabulary appropriate to students' needs
Development of skill in speaking, listening, reading and writing appropriate to students' needs
Introduction to British life and culture through class teaching, visits and other activities.

Assessment and examinations

Students are assessed on entry to the school and allocated to groups differentiated according to language level. Plans are in progress to offer Skills for Life examinations for students wishing to gain recognised qualifications. As part of the Government's Skills for Life strategy, a new set of qualifications has been approved, known as Certificates in ESOL Skills for Life. These qualifications are fully aligned to both the adult literacy and the adult ESOL core curriculum. They allow for progression across the levels of the national qualifications framework at entry levels (1, 2 and 3), level 1 and level 2.

These qualifications reflect the skills, knowledge and understanding in English needed by people who are living, working and studying in England. ESOL learners will be able to obtain nationally recognised qualifications that record their achievement in speaking and listening, reading and writing. Each qualification is organised in units to allow learners to achieve at a different level in different modes (speaking and listening, reading and writing), or to build up units towards achieving a full qualification.

Development

At present, the school has capacity for up to 50 students, in two classes of 15 students and two classes of 10 students, at the premises of Hither Green Baptist Church. Presently, General English classes are offered on Monday and Thursday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings during term-time. The Bridge school is a not-for-profit organisation, in the process of applying for registration as a charity by the Charity Commission. It is also planned to apply for accreditation as a UK English language centre by the British Council, under the English in Britain Accreditation Scheme.

Fees

Lewisham Council funds the classes, so they are provide free. Students only have to pay a registration fee of Ł15 each term. They may also have to buy a course book. Morning classes are 2.5 hours (1000-1230) and evening classes are 2 hours (1900-2100).

Staff

Principal: Rob Rawlins MA (Cantab) FE Cert (ESOL)
Trustees: Paul Jeffery MSc BSc(Econ) Cert Ed CELTA; David Kimmins MA BSc PGCE (EFL) Dip TEFLA; William Dalziell
Teaching staff: Rob Rawlins MA (Cantab) FE Cert (ESOL); Joy Rawlins BA (Hons) FE Cert (ESOL); Alan Morrice BTH PGCE CertTESOL; Francis Critchlow-Hughes CELTA