Dare to Dream in EnglishMay Newsletter 2021
News from Anglia HQWelcome to the May newsletter for Anglia Examinations. Words from Alice Osman, Chief Examiner: "As we head towards one of our busiest periods of the year in terms of examinations, it is also a time of intense preparation, training seminars and standardisation. Within the past week, seminars have been held for the Anglia team in Latin America, and for the TESOL Colombia IV event. Speaking assessor training is ongoing worldwide, and we are preparing our team of markers, who are getting their pens ready for the main marking session in July. While the events of the past 18 months have affected us all, the workload has actually increased. With online exams now in demand and multiple smaller sessions, a new website, new YL products and Exam Preparation books being finalised, the Anglia team at HQ in Chichester is working at full stretch. I’d like to take this chance to acknowledge the incredible efforts of the Anglia HQ team, who have been working tirelessly to keep the wheels turning. Thank you. A huge thank you also goes to all of you worldwide, for your ongoing resilience and commitment in keeping Anglia the collaborative and supportive company that it is. We very much look forward to the time, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, when we can meet again face to face." UCASGood News! As many of you may have heard already, successful candidates can now gain tariff points for UCAS applications from the Anglia Examinations Mastery level. As of May 2021, students successfully completing the AIM Qualifications Level 3 Certificate in ESOL International (Anglia Mastery), will be awarded tariff points, which can count towards their university application. You can check your tariff point allocation on the UCAS site. Simply type the word "Anglia" into the box entitled "My Qualifications" and enter either "P", "D" or "M" depending on whether your achieved a pass, merit or distinction. “UCAS recognition of the Anglia Mastery exam is a tremendous milestone for Anglia exam takers all over the world. Many of our students have grown up with Anglia, starting with our First Step or Junior exams as young children and progressing through the levels using our Step-by-Step approach. The fact that our highest level now provides points towards university applications means that Anglia Exam takers have a clearer learning destination to aim for as they master the English language.” - Steve Bannister, CEO WebsiteIn the next couple of weeks Franchise partners will be receiving their logins for www.anglia.org. This means you will have special access to all the resources you need, including The Operations Manual with all the procedures, Marketing materials and templates and extra past papers. News from EuropeAnglia NetherlandsPIE for.. Charlemagne College Eijkhagen and Platform user #1,000! Just an ordinary classroom? Not at all! Earlier this week, these students at Charlemagne College Eijkhagen in Landgraaf, the Netherlands, took part in the Anglia Exam Preparation Webinars. One of them is the 1,000th user on the Anglia platform in 2021. Because teacher Jenny Sterk registered her students as one group, we don't know exactly who is number 1,000, so that is why the entire group gets a pie: our monthly Partners in English (= PIE) pie. In June, the students will take part in Anglia Examinations including the Speaking Test. The Anglia webinars consists of two short webinars in which we discuss the most important elements of the Anglia exam. In the webinars we also explain how we mark written composition with our CAT/CART/CARAT marking system. Participants are also asked to do a writing assignment on which personal feedback will be given. Good luck to all students, and many thanks to teacher Jenny Sterk and Anglia Coordinator Jay Jongen at Charlemagne College Eijkhagen. Summer Schools from 21 June till 17 September with instant computer feedback Summer 2021 will offer new opportunities for students to catch up their English in an active way. Get instant computer feedback on your compositions, record your stories, ‘speak your grammar’. Goal is also to connect students around the world to learn English together. Seven core countries: NL, Greece, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine and England. England is new in the group: they will assist in the BreakOut Rooms. Registration for Summer School 2021 starts today. Standard price €95,- for 15 hours. Scholarships available. Group registrations from around the globe are welcome, contact summer@anglia.nl for more information. BOR Moderators wanted! Now that our Platform is increasingly popular, we need more BOR (BreakOut Room) Moderators. If you can guide small groups of 5 to 8 international pupils in 10 to 15 minute sessions in the BreakOut Rooms, you are welcome to join our team. Training sessions will be held on 1 and 3 June, you need a camera, a microphone and a good sense of communication. We will give you credits that you can use to learn more, or travel around the world to our network partners. Register before 28 May on www.anglianetwork.eu/bor. Anglia exams & Speaking Tests: Successful session in May Thanks to the efforts and support of Anglia Coordinators, students in over 60 schools took part in the Anglia exams and Speaking Test on the 20th of May. Building Bridges bigger in next school year Positive feedback from participating partner schools around the world has changed the Building Bridges plans for next school year. We will offer more levels and more Live Meetings will also be an option. Standard format will be 2 Live Meetings, with preparation on our Platform and Video shoots, taking place between November and April. Some schools have indicated they would like more regular meetings, minimum 5 per school year, so we will try to match schools interested in this premium version. Registration starts in September 2021. Anglia Spain
New Exam Centres The Anglia Family in the country continues growing bigger and bigger, we’re all very happy to say! Our warmest welcome to Academia Luar from Miño, La Coruña - Academia Suman2, from Aguadulce, Almeria - A Casa Das Linguas, from Santiago de Compostela, Galicia and Britania Academy, from Girona, Cataluña. We are very happy to have them all on board our boat. Exam Sessions In May Exam Sessions were held in Madrid, Barcelona, Lanzarote, Orense, Malaga, Zaragoza, Granada and Almeria, where students had paper-based exams. Also, we had Online Exam sessions in Caceres, Ferrol and Santiago de Compostela. Very good luck to all our candidates! The exam registration period for the June session is now closed. As June’s is our largest session in the year, we are already finishing all administration issues to make sure everything goes very smoothly. Training Programmes & Webinars An Invigilator Training Course for new Exam Centres was offered at the beginning of the month. The session was also attended by teachers from already-existing Exam Centres. We are glad to keep our Anglia members updated and trained for our forthcoming sessions. Thank you all for your commitment. This past Saturday we had the first of a series of three webinars for our Anglia Members. The rationale behind the creation of these webinars is to help teachers prepare students for all levels of Anglia exams. Alice Osman, Chief Examiner and Academic Director at Anglia Examinations UK, was in charge of the session. Needless to say, we had a full house and the seminar was a complete success. Thank you Alice for supporting our Anglia members and share your experience with all of us. We’re already looking forward to next month’s webinar. As the Information Session we offered in April was really helpful for new as well as potential schools and academies, Isaac Delgado, National Liaison Officer for Anglia Spain, recently delivered another one. Thank you all for attending. Our Annual Standardisation Meeting for Speaking Assessors also took place this month. Alice Osman, Chief Examiner at Anglia Examinations HQs, delivered this practical and very useful session so our staff of Speaking Assessors continue to perform up to standard. Massive thanks to all our examiners for attending and hats off to Alice for such a professional input session. Last but not least, we also trained new Speaking Assessors this past month. Our Examiner Training Programme was carried out with ten new trainees and it was fantastic to see how well they all performed during the sessions. Guadalupe Rodriguez, Operations Manager at Anglia Examinations Ibero-America; Natalia Kunz, Senior Examiner, and Yanina Parada, Senior Examiner, delivered the course, which proved to be a total success. Language & Culture Exchange Programme Students from Escuela Municipal de Tabernas, an Exam Centre based in Almeria, participated in the 4th Language & Culture Exchange Programme organised by Anglia Examinations Ibero-America. This time, the programme gathered students from Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Spain. All virtual meetings were monitored by Estefania Krogulec, International Liaison Officer at Anglia Examinations Ibero-America. Thank you, Estefania, for assisting all teachers involved in the programme and for your true professionalism. Anglia GreeceFirst Exam Session for A.C.E. Qualifications We have completed our first exam session! We booked a 5* hotel in Athens (Athens Marriott) and we accommodated 100 candidates from Primary to Pre-Intermediate levels. Anglia CyprusSpeaking tests are going on at the moment all over the island following all testing procedures and safety protocols. Tests will continue in all districts until the end of June. On 29th May the written exams took place in our exam centres in Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and Paralimni. Well done to all the candidates! You and your teachers should be very proud of yourselves, especially after the challenging year we have been through. Also, a big thank you to our team of oral assessors and invigilators for delivering the sessions in the most efficient and professional way. Best of luck to the students who are taking their exam in June. Keep calm and do your best! News from Latin AmericaAnglia Ibero-America’s Central Exams Office keeps working hard to provide our Members and Centres with the best possible service, despite the current restrictions and lingering uncertainty. This month, we give our warmest welcome to Centres and Members from Formosa, Chaco and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Professional Development Webinars for our Teachers and Examiners This month, Alice Osman, Chief Examiner at Anglia Examinations England, will bring the first of three webinars on exam preparation. Anglia Examiners as well as Anglia Members from several countries within our network have been invited to participate in all sessions. The Fourth Anglia Language & Culture Exchange Programme Students from Colombia, Peru, Spain and Argentina are currently sharing a series of virtual meetings where they have the chance to get to know each other and learn more about their countries and cultures. Employers Recognition Our Recognition Working Group have started their quest of conquering the corporate arena. We are happy to share with you the news that Stefanini Group, a multinational company, already accepts Anglia Certificates as valid proof of English language at Proficiency level. Anglia ArgentinaMay has found Chris Kunz, our President, very busy! On Saturday, 8th May, Chris virtually visited teachers at a webinar organised jointly between Anglia Examinations and the Teacher Training College in Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires, and Saturday, 15th May found him enlightening teachers at a CPD session organised by the Teachers’ Association from San Nicolás, Buenos Aires. During both sessions teachers and advanced students were delighted to learn from Chris’s expertise. Thank you all for coming. Monica Blanco-Kunz, CEO of the Ibero-American Network and Estefanía Krogulec, International Liaison Officer, carried out the second meeting with Anglia Local Agents. This session focused mainly on Anglia Recognition. These meetings are a great opportunity for us all to stay up to date and bring the best to each and every Anglia Member in the country. May Exam Session The May Online and Paper-based Exam sessions have just come to an end in Argentina. We know candidates loved being able to sit their exams. Many schools are looking to hold exam sessions in the coming months, so Guadalupe Rodriguez, our Operations Manager, has been offering information and update meetings for schools and parents. Anglia BoliviaEstefanía Krogulec, International Liaison Officer, recently delivered a presentation and answered questions from very interested students from Smart Step, our Anglia Official Exam Centre in Cochabamba and Oruro. Thank you everyone for joining us. Anglia ChileMay also saw a large exam session in Chile. Those students who were unable to sit their exams in April have now completed their exams. We wish all candidates the best of luck! Also, we have had information meetings with SBS Chile, our Local Agents in the country, as well as with English Language Professionals interested in our exams. Anglia MexicoWords from our Local Agents, Books Services: In Mexico, many schools around the country are embarking on a methodically planned and gradual return to in-person classes after more than a year of online learning. A national campaign to vaccinate the general population began in April, and teachers started receiving vaccines in early May, with many teachers around the country now fully vaccinated. A voluntary reopening of schools began earlier this year in some states, mainly initiated by private schools, and now Mexico City is planning to allow schools to reopen at the beginning of June. Health precautions are required in all instances, including strict protocols for cleanliness, sanitation, and disinfection, and face masks will be obligatory at all times. Many schools will adopt a rotational class schedule in which half the students will attend classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other half on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Days in which students do not attend in-person classes will be devoted to home study. Despite the approaching end of the school year in July, this “trial run” to reopen schools now will allow administrators and government officials to gauge its effectiveness and make any adjustments for when the 2021–2022 school calendar begins at the end of August. For the moment, no ceremonies or large-group activities will be permitted, and the first detected case of COVID-19 within a school will result in its closing until further notice. English teachers, in particular, are excited to return to more social and communicative activities, and are gearing up for more students to get certified through Anglia! Anglia BrazilTeachers in Brazil, interested in finding out more about Anglia exams, recently joined Guadalupe Rodriguez for an information meeting, where they asked all their questions after the presentation. Anglia PeruA reading/writing/listening-only exam session is currently taking place in Peru, for candidates who were expecting to sit their 4-skill exams this past January, but were only able to carry out speaking interviews back then, due to the heavy restrictions imposed in the country. They were all very much looking forward to completing their certifications. Anglia ColombiaTESOL COLOMBIA In May Anglia Examinations participated in TESOL COLOMBIA IV. The conference was virtual and all the sessions focused on “Reinventing ELT practices to meet the needs of the new normal”. Alice Osman, Chief Examiner at Anglia Examinations HQs, delivered a session on Reinventing and Recycling in the ELT classroom. Also, our President for the Ibero-American Network, Chris Kunz, gave a session on Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca in times of pandemic -The need to shift from EFL to ELF. The audiences were truly delighted by both presentations. Thank you, Alice and Chris, for having represented Anglia Examinations at the Conference. We are looking forward to hearing from people who showed great interest in our suites of exams as well as to contacting them and giving them further guidance in the process of adopting our international qualifications. Information Session At the beginning of the month, we delivered an Information Session for potential Anglia Members in Colombia. People showed great interest and asked several questions which were all addressed so they can now make an informed decision and start using Anglia Examinations in the near future. We do hope to welcome all of you to the Anglia Family very soon. Language & Culture Exchange Programme Students from Corporación Universal SAS, an Exam Centre with branches in the cities of Chía, Villavicencio and Bogotá, participated in the 4th Language & Culture Exchange Programme organised by Anglia Examinations Ibero-America. This time, the programme gathered students from Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Spain. All virtual meetings were monitored by Estefania Krogulec, International Liaison Officer at Anglia Examinations Ibero-America. Thank you, Estefania, for assisting all teachers involved in the programme and for your true professionalism. We would also like to thank Carolina Rubio, Local Agent for those areas in Colombia, for encouraging her students to join the programme. Anglia ParaguayIt is a festive month in Paraguay as they celebrate their Independence Day, Mother’s Day and Teacher’s Day throughout the same week. We’re sending our love to all our Anglia members in the country. On a different note, paper certificates have just started their journey from the UK and will be arriving at the local Exam Centres in the next few weeks. Congratulations to all candidates on their hard work and hats off to their teachers for their fantastic job. News from Central AmericaAnglia Central America We have recently delivered an information meeting for schools and language centres in Panamá, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica. It seems that more and more students will start Anglia-ing really soon in these countries and we’ll be happy to welcome them to our growing family. News from AsiaAnglia IndonesiaOn May 2, we commemorate the National Education Day every year. The history of National Education Day cannot be separated from the figure and struggle of Ki Hadjar Dewantara, the father of education. “Everyone becomes a teacher, every house becomes a school. Education does not stop at school buildings, but also at home, on the streets, and elsewhere” is one of the famous quotes of Ki Hadjar Dewantara. In the same month, Anglia Indonesia conducted the second Teacher and Student webinars using our Anglia Online Platform. This series of online webinar are part of our commitment to support the project schools. During the group discussion in the Break Out Room, students shared their experiences using platform for the past six weeks. Listening and speaking were often mentioned as students’ favourite activity from Anglia Online Platform. It enables them to learn and practice English actively and independently at home. “These (listening and speaking) are something that we do not get from school”, one of the students explained. Four weeks left for the students to complete the course, and we earnestly look forward to hear more stories and feedback from students and teachers. |