English is a global language. It is estimated that over 85% of all international organizations use English as at least one of their official languages. English is probably the most pervasive language in music, film, and television; business and finance; computing, information technology, and the Internet.
It is for this reason that St. Lorraine believes in the importance of learning English. In our society where many children's mother tongue is Chinese, we believe that it is imperative for students to become proficient in English before their acquisition of language is locked into the grammar rules of their first language.
Our language curriculum is geared towards helping children improve their English without losing proficiency in their first language. In kindergarten, we do this by incorporating the Letterland programme, a unique phonics-based literacy programme used all across the United Kingdom to help children read, write, and spell. Furthermore, unlike other schools that only teach English as an individual subject, our English programme is fused across the curriculum to help children make linguistic associations with their everyday lives.
As the children progress through each year, we encourage everyone to challenge themselves by taking the Cambridge Young Learners' English Tests (CYLET) administered by the University of Cambridge. Very often, our children will enroll in English exams taken by students at least 2-3 years older and do very well, given the linguistic advantage and early exposure that they enjoy over children from other local schools. In July 2021, 96% of our students in the lower classes of our school got full shields in the speaking part of the Starters Level of Cambridge Young Learners' English Tests, which are excellent grades among their peers.
