Curriculum

Last Updated (Tuesday, 25 August 2009 01:06) Friday, 11 January 2008 21:00

 

TSEP HIGHLIGHTS AND CURRICULUM INSIGHTS

 

TSEP PRIMARY LEVEL

Grades 1-6

 

The Curriculum

- A blend between Thai National Curriculum requirements and curriculum of other countries, such as, American curriculum for science, British and American curriculum for social studies, Singaporean curriculum for Math, British curriculum for English and American curriculum for Health.

 

- The above is done by matching the Thai curriculum requirements with the overseas curriculum and picking the objectives that match. Accordingly, books are chosen to match the needs. Students learn from a global aspect and cover more than that required by the Ministry of Education.

 

- Thai teachers teach from the books published under the Ministry’s guidelines. So, students do not miss out on Thai Curriculum requirements.

 

- Students sit for various exams: NT (all core subjects) and Cambridge Young Learners Exams (Starters, Movers and Flyers).

 

- Reading time: Grades 1-4 students read Oxford Reading Tree books and Penguin Readers. Students move up a stage when they finish 9 books in a stage.

 

- Reading time: Grades 5-6 students are broken down into 3 ability groups after the students take a pretest. They are given books according to their levels. Grades 1-6 students have to do book reports throughout each term (6 per term).

 

Activities

- Contests and shows

Speech competition, Spelling Bee, Book Week, Quiz shows, Arts Competition, Dance competition, Crossword competition, Singing competition, Debates, Science exhibition, TSEP Day, School Annual Day (Phai plad Bai) etc.

- Scouts

- English/ Scouts Camp

- Student of the month

- House competitions

- House Sports and House Academic

- Newsletter

- Assemblies

 

 

 

TSEP SECONDARY LEVEL

Grades 7-9

 

The Curriculum

- A blend between Thai National Curriculum requirements and curriculum of other countries.

- Subjects taught, books used and details

 

Subject	Book Content	Details (Matching to Thai curriculum)
English	Cambridge G.7: KET G.8: PET G.9: Pre-IELTS	These are textbooks that gear towards Cambridge exams. (British curriculum)
Science	Exploring Science CD-Rom Worksheets	Divides into Chemistry, Biology and Physics (British curriculum)
Math	Math Insights New Mathematics Counts	(Singapore curriculum) Level higher than that required by Thai National curriculum
Social Studies	World History   Geography Economics   Religion and Citizenship	(British/ American curriculum) (Singaporean curriculum) (British/ American curriculum) Thai National Curriculum (Thai teachers)
Health	Health (Pearson- Longman)	(British/ American curriculum)
Thai	Thai Ministry of Education	Thai National Curriculum

 

- Students sit for various exams: NT (all core subjects) and Cambridge (KET and PET) exams.

- Guidance/ counseling sessions to prepare students for their future studies

- Reading time: Students are divided into various groups of abilities and given same books for each group. They do book reports and projects incorporating different reading skills- summarizing, paraphrasing, predicting, etc.

Activities

- Contests

Speech competition, Spelling Bee, Book Week, Quiz shows, Arts Competition, Dance competition, Crossword competition, Singing competition, Solo and group competitions, Science competitions, Math competition, Dram competition, etc.

- Scouts

- English/ Scouts Camp

- Student of the month

- House competitions

- House Sports and House Academic

- Newsletter

- Assemblies

 

 

 

Grades 10-12

 

The Curriculum

- A blend between Thai National Curriculum requirements and curriculum of other countries. A very uniquely tailored curriculum.

- Program 1: Science- Math, Program 2: English- Math

- Both program focus on:

- IELTS taught at different levels of complexity

- University entrance exam preparation (CU-TEP, TU-GET, CU-AAT, MUIC, TOEFL, O NET, GAT/PAT etc.)

- GCSE A’ and O’ Level exam questions

Fundamental subjects for both Programs are English Language (IELTS), Mathematics, Fundamental Science, Social Studies, Health, Thai Language, Career and Technology and Arts. Textbooks chosen are from Pearson-Longman, Harcourt, Marshall, etc. Textbooks follow British curriculum (GCSE A and O level), American curriculum, Singaporean curriculum, Australian curriculum, etc. Content is chosen based on the requirements of the National Thai Curriculum.

 

English Language

Students in both programs do six English Language courses and six Intensive English courses. By the end of these course, students will have done various IELTS Mock exams in school. The scores of these exams are kept by the assessment department each term and used for comparison and student/parent/teacher acknowledgement.

 

Program 2 students take 6 additional English courses that will help develop their skills further. These courses are:

 

English: Program 2 Additional subjects

Grade	Term	Course
10	1	Grammar and Writing
	2	Critical Reading
11	1	Creative Writing
	2	Public Speaking
12	1	Journalism and Media
	2	English for tertiary level

Mathematics

All the Mathematics courses done by Program 1 and 2, both fundamental and additional courses, are same and students attend the classes together. Both foreign teachers and Thai teachers teach this course, covering different contents set by the curriculum. Thai teachers will expose students to O Net and PAT exam questions for the content covered by both Thai and Foreign staff during a particular term. Foreign teachers will incorporate relevant GCSE O’ and A’ Level exam questions for the assessments.

 

 

 

Science

Students in Program 1 and 2 do not attend the same science classes. Students in Program 1 study Biology, Chemistry and Physics/ Astronomy every term. In the Thai National Curriculum, Astronomy is considered a fourth science component. Although the fundamental science subjects are same for both programs, Program 1 students are taught all the content in depth as courses are merged with additional courses to increase student understanding and long-term memory. Students in Program 2 study all the above courses but in different terms:

 

Program 2 Science Structure

Grade	Term	Course
10	1	Chemistry
	2	Physics
11	1	Biology, Chemistry
	2	Biology
12	1	Astronomy
	2	Physics

 

Both Foreign and Thai teachers teach both Programs, covering separate content and assessing them accordingly. Thai teachers get students exposed to relevant O Net and PAT exam questions covering the Foreign and the Thai teacher’s content.

 

Social Studies

Students in Program 1 and 2 study all the five components of social studies, namely, Geography, Citizenship, History, Economics and World Religion, all taught by both Foreign and Thai teachers. Program 2 students have to take 12 additional courses and Program 1 students take 5 additional courses. Like the other subjects, Thai teachers will be introducing students in both programs to O Net and PAT exam questions. The additional subjects for each Program are as follows:

 

Program 1 Social Studies: Additional subjects

Grade	Term	Courses (Total 5)	Credits
10	1	Buddhism and education	0.5
	2	Law and constitution	0.5
11	1	History, society and culture	0.5
12	1	Buddhism and sustainable development	1.0
	2	Contemporary Affairs	0.5
Total			3.0

 

Program 2 Social Studies: Additional subjects

Grade	Term	Courses (Total 12)	Credits
10	1	Law and Constitution   Buddhism 1	0.5   0.5
	2	Natural Resources and environment   Buddhism 2	0.5     0.5
11	1	History, Society and Culture   Buddhism 3	0.5     0.5
	2	Trade and Investment   Buddhism 4	0.5   0.5
12	1	Contemporary Affairs   Buddhism 5	0.5   0.5
	2	Geographical Relationships   Buddhism 6	0.5   0.5
Total			6.0

 

In the second semester of Grade 12, all the 5 areas of social studies will be integrated.

 

 

Thai Language

Thai Language curriculum exactly follows the requirements of the Ministry of education and students use books published in co-affiliation with the Ministry of Education. Students are required to take mock O Net exams in Grades 11 and 12. Program 1 and Program 2 have an inclusive of 6 core Thai courses that students take together. Program 1 students take 3 additional Thai Language subjects while Program 2 students take 6.

 

 

 

Other Courses

Other courses taught according to the Ministry’s requirements are Career and Technology (includes Computer programs, IT, Home Economics, Finance and Small Business Management), Arts (separated into Arts and Craft, Music and Drama) and Health (and Physical Education). In TSEP, all these courses are taught by foreign teachers only.

Apart from choosing to study in Program 1 or 2, students have another choice to make, that is, to choose between Chinese and EIL. These are parallel courses taught at the same time. Students who do not have strong English language skills or students who are seeking to improve their English language skills will be recommended to choose EIL. This course integrates basic grammar, structure and vocabulary with content areas.

 

 

 

Exam Preparation

IELTS exam preparation in TSEP is very detailed, focused and continuous. IELTS is an exam that is accepted in most of the universities abroad and in all the International programs in Thailand.

The O Net courses (core courses) will be started in Grade 10 and 11 and will increase in number in Grade 12. In these courses, teachers prepare the students for their O Net and GAT/PAT examinations. Students are tutored for all eight subject groups.

Since various subjects are exclusively taught by foreign teachers, students will study specifically for O Net exams for these subjects in order to be familiar with the Thai vocabulary and exam format. These subjects, taught in different terms during Grades 10-12, are Arts (Thai Art, Thai Music and Thai Dance), Career and Technology and Health.

Since direct admission has become a preferred university entrance technique, TSEP tutors students for various university exams and surveys the students’ needs regularly.