English school in Russia, Academgorodok, Novosibirsk

Autor: Nina Koptyug (Email), school 130, Novosibirsk, Russia

Novosibirsk, which is called the capital of Siberia, is in the South-West: very cold winters 6-7 months, very hot summers. It's +30 (C) now (May, 16th 2001), everything in bloom, youngsters already started swimming in the Ob river and the so-called sea, the artificial lake which is 15 minutes walk away from my house.
Academgorodok, the Academic Community near Novosibirsk, Russia, was founded in 1957 by the initiative of Academician Michail Lavrentyev. He came to Siberia together with colleagues, friends, disciples with the grand vision of building a scientific research center in Siberia, the land famous for its natural resources, its love of freedom - and its harsh climate! Many young people followed the renowned scientists. Houses, schools, kindergartens were built along with the research institutes, where the greater part of the town's 40,000 population still work. The English-speaking school 130 was founded in 1959, one of the first such language schools in Russia. English is studied at this school in grades 2 - 10 (last), ages 8-17. In senior grades, students study translation and English and American literature, in addition to their basic course of English. There are more than 1,000 students and about 100 staff workers, among them 22 teachers of English. Today, the school is headed by the principal, with the team of eight deputies; the school Council consisting of 16 students and 16 teachers is also elected annually on a rotation basis. Every five years, each teacher is supposed to undergo teacher refresher courses and a re-evaluation process. Teacher training is performed by specialists from the Teacher Training Institute, and by specialists in various fields invited to school. This school year, I am doing the teacher refresher courses in English.

In 1996, I was the first teacher to start the Piloting Program: Heinemann Publishers came to our city from the UK to offer the first sets of British students books, workbooks and teachers books, plus audio cassettes, for free for a class to those teachers who were willing to begin using authentic materials in their daily work. In about two years, all the teachers in senior grades began using such materials. For the last two years, I've also been using Longman Publishers books, audios and videos. I write articles about education and the teaching of foreign languages, make Open Lessons for my colleagues from the whole region. Every year, students competitions called the Olympiads are organized at school, district and city levels in all the subjects. In some subjects, such contests go on to the national level. Our students traditionally take part in the school Olympiads in English; the winners go on to the district competitions in translation, oral skills and English composition. This year, the City Olympiad in English was held for the first time after a many years break. Six star students from school 130 took part in it, five received 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. There were about two hundred participants from the city schools, 18 placements total.
One of the oldest school traditions is called the Festival (Carnival). Every class chooses a country which it wishes to represent. Students write scenarios, make costumes, paint some decorations, arrange rehearsals with teachers and parents. For a week in April, they sing and dance, perform their shows, and the judges evaluate their performances. There are several school awards for best performers and the Grand Prix goes to the class which is considered the best in its representation of a country. One item from every class's show is chosen for the Grand Final, which is often shown in the city's large performance center.

When students finish their 7th year at school, they take examinations and spend the three final years in classes which are formed according to their interests. Traditionally, the physics-maths class is most popular, because many parents work in the Academic Research community's 24 institutes and the university, so the children choose math and science as their future specialization. There is also an economics class, where students study business, management and business English; a humanities class, where students have additional courses of translation and literature in English. A traditional secondary school class is also formed for those who are not sure of their future specialization yet. Many seniors study HTML and Web Design while at school, regardless of their future specialization. Evgenia Guselnikova is the Head of the Internet class and a Web design teacher.
Out of more than a hundred school graduates, about 95 enter a university or college after school annually.
In the 1990's, schools began to suffer from lack of money from the state budget. Teachers salaries are habitually delayed, sometimes for months. Teachers stay at work mostly because they don't want to abandon the children. Many teachers work on the side for a living.
There is a Trustees Committee for the school, and a lot of work is done to raise money for repairs, for new textbooks and equipment.
Last year, the school went through a process called Accreditation. All the aspects of school work were evaluated by the officials from the City Education Board, and the school was accredited, which means that we issue school certificates to school graduates when they leave. This process is repeated every five years.
Articles about school 130 appear in the local press regularly, and sometimes we are shown on TV. Every year, school 130 hosts the Open Doors day for the city teachers of English. Many colleagues come to our lessons, listen to the experienced teachers lectures, and naturally visit the Internet-class. ICT have become very important in recent years, and we are trying to teach others how to use the new technologies. Many students agree that their life has changed due to the easy Web access and the new opportunities now offered. Projects are now included into the traditional school curriculum areas. For example, there are annual district and city contests in English compositions. Students write on various subjects, and then we sort them out and send the students works to different projects. This year, we decided to concentrate on Laws of Life project.
Another good opportunity for students is called Teletesting. Starting in January, students of 10th (last) grade at school take tests in all the school subjects via the Internet. If they are satisfied with the results, the test score is entered into their General Secondary Education Certificate, and they don't have to take an exam in this subject. This year, the regional winner in two stages of the Teletesting went to Moscow for the final stage, to take part in a TV Show called "I Know ALL!" It was a wonderful opportunity for the student and her teacher (myself) to visit Moscow.
I took part in the First National Online Teacher of the Year Contest in 1999 and became a winner. Now I'm teaching some younger colleagues how to do various tasks via the Internet.
School 130 has begun an exchange program with a school in Detroit, US, based on Civic Literacy project, which is also conducted via the 'Net during the school year.
President Putin has announced the start of Generation.ru program, which is designed to help more and more schools become part of the international community through use of ICT. A new Regional ICT Center opened in Novosibirsk in December 2000. Every two weeks, forty regional teachers get together at the Center, to be taught how to use the computers and the Web, and to be helped with project activities. As a lecturer at ICT, I know that the initial difficulty is overcoming an inner barrier, telling oneself that it is possible to master the new skills and to make the Internet part of one's lessons. I'm acting as a regional project coordinator now. I also answer innumerable questions from the regional teachers by e-mail. Every month now, I publish some news for them at the ICT site http://www.edu.nsu.ru/koptug/int-Projekt.htm. I write lessons which are easy to be sent by e-mail and ready for use in the classroom. As a member of the Regional Coordinating Council for Internetization of Schools headed by the Governor, I hope to help change the life of my colleagues in Siberia.

Welcome to Academgorodok, Novosibirsk

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