During Thursday and Friday Field Days, a group of Senior School pupils took part in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course run by UK-TEFL, gaining an introduction to the skills and techniques involved in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

Led by instructor Tony Bruce, the course began with a Mandarin lesson, giving pupils first-hand experience of learning an unfamiliar language from scratch. Through gestures, interactive games and practical activities, they learnt vocabulary for different fruits and practised introducing themselves, all without their instructor speaking a word of English.

Over the two days, pupils explored a range of techniques for planning and delivering effective lessons, working in pairs to put their learning into practice. They also presented short lessons to the group, each built around a central topic. For example, Lizz B and Holly M, delivered a lesson focusing on verbs.

The course proved to be an engaging and rewarding experience, equipping pupils with valuable skills and offering an insight into the possibilities of teaching English as a foreign language.