A Great Start!
Tim SmithAs we begin week 3 of this first cycle of the new Foundations Intensive Programme, (FIP) it’s timely to look at how the startup has gone.
Great Numbers!
We have around 5700 students in Foundations today, which included around 300 who are taking Maths only to enable them to move into their BAS programmes. This is what we in Foundations predicted, and staffed accordingly. We are still awaiting the appointment of two adjuncts and one full-time teacher and then we should be able to have manageably-sized classes; I know we have already started to collapse sections.
Cycle 2
We expect / hope around 400 of our Level 4 students will gain their IELTS this cycle, and this will mean smaller classes in the next one where, once again, we will be attempting to get as many Level 4 students out of Foundations as possible. We will not be having any new students in English classes next cycle; all latecomers / withdrawals have been deferred until January. We will have a few Maths students join us, but these will fill existing sections or else will sit out until Cycle 3.
Vocabulary Quizzes
The first Vocabulary Quiz went well according to most reports I have had back from the campuses; there were some problems, I know, but these will hopefully be solved by the next time we give an assessment, which will be the Grammar Quiz.
Thank you!
I will be visiting all the campuses over the next three weeks and hope to hear from you at your team meetings your views on what has worked and what hasn’t in the FIP.
I don’t know any other group of teachers who could have handled these massive changes as well as you have. As I said when we met a few weeks ago, we have no idea how well we will do but I do know you will do your very best with our students, and that’s all that can be asked of you.
Many thanks for your excellent efforts at the start of this semester, and I look forward to be seeing you soon.